The data is organized in two ways: a massive global file or country-by-country.
GADM data version 3.6 is free for academic, educational, and non-commercial use. Commercial use requires a separate license, so ensure your project aligns with these terms before deployment. To help tailor any further GIS steps, please let me know:
belgium <- gadm(country = "BEL", level = 1, version = "3.6", path = tempdir()) download gadm data version 36 work
print(gdf.crs) # EPSG:4326 print(gdf.head())
The GADM project provides high-resolution spatial data, mapping administrative areas "for all countries, at all levels, at any point in time". Version 3.6 specifically delineates , providing a detailed snapshot of political subdivisions around the world. The data is organized in two ways: a
Because GADM prominently features its latest version on its primary landing page, users often download the wrong dataset and break legacy pipelines. Follow these exact steps to pull Version 3.6: Download GADM data (version 3.6)
The GADM website recommends downloading data by country due to the large file sizes of global datasets. For each country, you can choose from a variety of file formats, including: To help tailor any further GIS steps, please
You can access version 3.6 data through several official and community-supported channels:
Available in Shapefiles, Geopackages, and R-ready formats.
✅ Download from the legacy /download_world36.html page ✅ Verify MD5 checksum ✅ Prefer GeoPackage over Shapefile ✅ Load with sf (R), GeoPandas (Python), or QGIS ✅ Check encoding (UTF-8) if text appears broken ✅ Cite correctly ✅ Remember disputed boundaries disclaimer
NAME_0 , NAME_1 , NAME_2 : The corresponding names of the administrative regions.
"*" indicates required fields