Do you want to get a detailed map of Nigeria or just any country in shapefile format? Then you are reading the right article.
When you search online for a map of Nigeria, the commonest results that shows up are images/pictures of map of Nigeria. As a GIS professional you would love to get a map in shapefile format and within its corrected geographical context.
Today, I will show you how to download the map of Nigeria in shapefile format.
What is a shapefile?
Before I show you where you can get maps in shapefile format, lets quickly see what a shapefile is.
A shapefile is a simple, non-topological format for storing the geometric location and attribute information of geographic features. Geographic features in a shapefile can be represented by points, lines, or polygons (areas). Shapefile is developed and regulated by Esri as a (mostly) open specification for data interoperability among Esri and other GIS software products.
A shapefile isn't just a single file but it is made up of a collection of files with a common filename prefix, stored in the same directory/folder. The three mandatory files have filename extensions .shp, .shx, and .dbf. The actual shapefile relates specifically to the .shp file, but alone is incomplete for distribution as the other supporting files are required.
For example, complete Nigeria shapefile will be these files: NGA_adm0.shp, NGA_adm0.shx and NGA_adm0.dbf
Downloading map of Nigeria in shapefile format
To get this map, you need to visit one of the Spatial Data providers to download it. I will recommend DIVA-GIS as I have downloaded several Free Spatial Data from there.
So head over to DIVA-GIS and select Free Spatial Data then Download country level data
Select the "Country" and the "Subject" you want and click "Ok" to start downloading your maps in shapefile.
That is all you need to do!
If you need any mapping customization feel free to contact me on 08039508010 or through my website www.umaryusuf.com
Thanks for reading and happy mapping.
Nice one yusuf
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