giscoR 
giscoR is a API package that helps to retrieve data from Eurostat - GISCO (the Geographic Information System of the COmmission). It also provides some lightweight data sets ready to use without downloading. Currently only the Administrative Units / Statistical Units data sets are supported.
GISCO (FAQ) is a geospatial open data repository including several data sets as countries, coastal lines, labels or NUTS levels. The data sets are usually provided at several resolution levels (60M/20M/10M/03M/01M) and in 3 different projections (4326/3035/3857).
Note that the package does not provide metadata on the downloaded files, the information is available on the API webpage.
Installation
Install giscoR from
CRAN:
install.packages("giscoR")You can install the developing version of giscoR with:
library(remotes)
install_github("dieghernan/giscoR")Usage
This script highlights some features of giscoR:
library(giscoR)
library(sf)
# Different resolutions
DNK_res60 <- gisco_get_countries(resolution = "60", country = "DNK")
DNK_res20 <-
gisco_get_countries(resolution = "20", country = "DNK")
DNK_res10 <-
gisco_get_countries(resolution = "10", country = "DNK")
DNK_res03 <-
gisco_get_countries(resolution = "03", country = "DNK")
opar <- par(no.readonly = TRUE)
par(mfrow = c(2, 2), mar = c(3, 0, 2, 0))
plot(st_geometry(DNK_res60), main = "60M", col = "tomato")
plot(st_geometry(DNK_res20), main = "20M", col = "tomato")
plot(st_geometry(DNK_res10), main = "10M", col = "tomato")
plot(st_geometry(DNK_res03), main = "03M", col = "tomato")
title(sub = gisco_attributions(), line = 1)
par(opar)
# Different projections
cntr_4326 <- gisco_get_countries(epsg = "4326")
cntr_3857 <- gisco_get_countries(epsg = "3857")
cntr_3035 <- gisco_get_countries(epsg = "3035")
opar <- par(no.readonly = TRUE)
par(mar = c(3, 0, 0, 0))
# epsg 4326
g1 <- st_graticule(cntr_4326, lon = seq(-180, 180, 20), lat = seq(-90, 90, 20))
plot(st_geometry(cntr_4326), col = "bisque", graticule = g1)
title(sub = gisco_attributions(), line = 1)
# epsg 3857
g2 <- st_graticule(cntr_3857, lon = seq(-180, 180, 20), lat = seq(-90, 90, 20))
plot(
st_geometry(cntr_3857),
col = "bisque",
graticule = g2,
ylim = c(-13000000, 13000000)
)
title(sub = gisco_attributions(), line = 1)
# epsg 3035
g3 <- st_graticule(cntr_3035, lon = seq(-180, 180, 20), lat = seq(-90, 90, 20))
plot(st_geometry(cntr_3035), col = "bisque", graticule = g3)
title(sub = gisco_attributions(), line = 1)
par(opar)
# Labels and Lines available
labs <- gisco_get_countries(spatialtype = "LB", region = "Africa", epsg = "3857")
coast <- gisco_get_countries(spatialtype = "COASTL", epsg = "3857")
opar <- par(no.readonly = TRUE)
par(mar = c(3, 0, 0, 0))
plot(st_geometry(labs),
col = c("springgreen4", "darkgoldenrod1", "red2"), cex = 2,
pch = 19
)
plot(st_geometry(coast), col = "deepskyblue4", lwd = 6, add = TRUE)
title(sub = gisco_attributions(), line = 1)
par(opar)A note on caching
Some data sets (as Local Administrative Units - LAU, or high-resolution
files) may have a size larger than 50MB. You can use giscoR to create
your own local repository at a given local directory passing the
following option:
options(gisco_cache_dir = "./path/to/location")When this option is set, giscoR would look for the cached file and it
will load it, speeding up the process.
You can also download manually the files (.geojson format) and store
them on your local directory.
Recommended packages
API data packages
It is recommended to install the eurostat package
(https://ropengov.github.io/eurostat/), that is another API package
that queries Eurostat for statistical
information.
wbstats (https://nset-ornl.github.io/wbstats/) is another
interesting R API packages that provides access to The World Bank
Data API.
Plotting sf objects
Some packages recommended for visualization are:
Contribute
Check the Github page for source code.
Contributions are very welcome:
- Use issue tracker for feedback and bug reports.
- Send pull requests
- Star us on the Github page
Copyright notice
From GISCO > Geodata > Reference data > Administrative Units / Statistical Units
When data downloaded from this page is used in any printed or electronic publication, in addition to any other provisions applicable to the whole Eurostat website, data source will have to be acknowledged in the legend of the map and in the introductory page of the publication with the following copyright notice:
EN: © EuroGeographics for the administrative boundaries
FR: © EuroGeographics pour les limites administratives
DE: © EuroGeographics bezüglich der Verwaltungsgrenzen
For publications in languages other than English, French or German, the translation of the copyright notice in the language of the publication shall be used.
If you intend to use the data commercially, please contact EuroGeographics for information regarding their licence agreements.
Disclaimer
This package is in no way officially related to or endorsed by Eurostat.
