# Reverse geocoding: from a GPS fix to an address

> geolith reverse geocoding turns a latitude and longitude into the nearest addresses and places: GET https://api.geolith.app/v1/reverse?point.lat=18.922&point.lon=72.8346 returns GeoJSON features nearest first, each with its distance in kilometres. In the India benchmark (20 Oct 2026) the first result was right for 99.5% of 200 points. A companion endpoint, /v1/nearby, lists places around a point for "what is near me" screens.

## What is reverse geocoding?

Reverse geocoding is the opposite of geocoding: it turns a latitude and longitude into the nearest address or named place. geolith answers GET /v1/reverse with the closest places first and the distance to each in kilometres, so an app can label a GPS fix or a dropped map pin.

## Parameters

Reverse looks within a radius around the point and returns the nearest places first.

- point.lat and point.lon: the point, required.
- boundary.circle.radius: search radius in km, default 1, at most 100.
- size: 1 to 40 results, default 10.
- layers: for example address for street addresses only, or venue for POIs.
- lang: return names in a language such as hi.

Request:

```bash
curl "https://api.geolith.app/v1/reverse?point.lat=35.6586&point.lon=139.7454&size=1" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

# -> "UMEIYA, 芝公園四丁目, 港区, 東京都, 日本", properties.distance 0.003 (km)
```

## Nearby places

/v1/nearby takes the same point and returns places within up to 50 km, nearest first. Add layers=venue to list only points of interest, for example the shops and stations around a delivery partner.

## Where reverse geocoding is used

Delivery apps label a dropped pin, fleet tools turn GPS pings into street names, photo apps name where a picture was taken, and field apps fill in an address from the phone’s location.

## Questions

### What unit is the distance in?

Kilometres. Each reverse and nearby result has properties.distance, for example 0.006 for 6 metres.

### Can I store reverse geocoding results?

Yes. geolith results may be stored permanently; you only need to keep showing the OpenStreetMap and Overture attribution where you display them.

### How accurate is reverse geocoding?

In the India benchmark the first result was right for 99.5% of 200 points; Nominatim scored 100, Photon 98.5 and Pelias 98.0 on the same set.

## Guides

- https://geolith.app/guides/reverse-geocoding-javascript

## Sources

1. [geolith search benchmarks: engines](https://docs.geolith.app/search/benchmarks/engines), geolith (read 2026-10-22)

Get a free API key (100,000 requests a month): https://console.geolith.app/signup