QGIS is a

geographic information system A geographic information system (GIS) consists of integrated computer hardware and Geographic information system software, software that store, manage, Spatial analysis, analyze, edit, output, and Cartographic design, visualize Geographic data ...

(GIS) software that is free and open-source. QGIS supports

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

, and

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

. It supports viewing, editing, printing, and analysis of geospatial data in a range of data formats. Its name comes from an abbreviation of its previous name, Quantum GIS.

Functionality

QGIS functions as geographic information system (GIS) software, allowing users to analyze and edit spatial information, in addition to composing and exporting graphical maps. QGIS supports raster, vector, mesh, and point cloud layers. Vector data is stored as either point, line, or polygon features. Multiple formats of raster images are supported, and the software can georeference images. QGIS supports shapefiles, personal geodatabases, dxf, MapInfo,

PostGIS PostGIS ( ) is an open source software program that adds support for geographic objects to the PostgreSQL object-relational database. PostGIS follows the Simple Features for SQL specification from the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). PostGIS is ...

, and other industry-standard formats. Web services, including Web Map Service and Web Feature Service, are also supported to allow use of data from external sources. QGIS integrates with other open-source GIS packages, including

, GRASS GIS, SAGA GIS, and MapServer. Plugins written in Python or C++ extend QGIS's capabilities. Plugins can geocode using the Google Geocoding API, perform geoprocessing functions similar to those of the standard tools found in ArcGIS, and interface with PostgreSQL/

, SpatiaLite and

MySQL MySQL () is an Open-source software, open-source relational database management system (RDBMS). Its name is a combination of "My", the name of co-founder Michael Widenius's daughter My, and "SQL", the acronym for Structured Query Language. A rel ...

databases. QGIS is built on top of, and standard installs include, broadly-used open-source GIS format and projection conversion libraries GDAL and proj.

Development

Gary Sherman began the development of Quantum GIS in early 2002, and it became an incubator project of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation in 2007. Version 1.0 was released in January 2009. In 2013, along with release of version 2.0 the name was officially changed from ''Quantum GIS'' to ''QGIS'' to avoid confusion as both names had been used in parallel. Written mainly in C++, QGIS makes extensive use of the Qt library. In addition to Qt, required dependencies of QGIS include GEOS and SQLite. GDAL, GRASS GIS,

, and PostgreSQL are also recommended, as they provide access to additional data formats. QGIS-Android screenshot

, QGIS is available for multiple operating systems including Mac OS X,

Unix Unix (, ; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multi-user computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, a ...

, and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. There are several third-party apps that allow use of QGIS on mobile devices such as QField (Android, iOS and Windows), Mergin Maps (Android, iOS and Windows) and IntraMaps Roam (Windows). QGIS can also be used as a graphical user interface to GRASS. QGIS has a small install footprint on the host file system compared to commercial GISs and generally requires less RAM and processing power; hence it can be used on older hardware or running simultaneously with other applications where CPU power may be limited. QGIS is maintained by volunteer developers who regularly release updates and bug fixes. , developers have translated QGIS into 48 languages and the application is used internationally in academic and professional environments. Several companies offer support and feature development services.

Function

QGIS enables users to visualize their data using maps, charts, and diagrams while customizing the presentation with a variety of symbology choices. The capabilities for geographical analysis provided by QGIS include buffer construction, spatial querying, and geoprocessing. For more complex geographical analysis, users can additionally make use of plugins and algorithms. QGIS also makes it simple to share and publish geospatial data as maps, online services, or print maps in a variety of file formats, such as shapefiles, GeoTIFFs, and KML files. Print composer in QGIS

In order to prepare printed map with QGIS, Print Layout is used. It can be used for adding multiple map views, labels, legends, etc.

Licensing

As a

free software Free software, libre software, libreware sometimes known as freedom-respecting software is computer software distributed open-source license, under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, distribut ...

application under GNU GPLv2, QGIS can be freely modified to perform different or more specialized tasks. Two examples are the QGIS Browser and QGIS Server applications, which use the same code for data access and rendering, but present different front-end interfaces.

Adoption

Many public and private organizations have adopted QGIS, including: * US National Security Agency *

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) to support national se ...

* Austrian state of

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

* Swiss cantons of Glarus and Solothurn * New Zealand's Land Information public service department

References

External links

* {{Authority control Free GIS software Free software programmed in C++ Software that uses Qt