Building Footprints Across Nepal from OpenStreetMap

OpenStreetMap exports provide building footprints across Nepal, including every feature tagged as a building. The data is compiled by the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) and was last updated on 2026-05-14. Completeness varies by region, with urban areas likely being more well-mapped than remote areas.

Use Cases

• Population estimation based on building density and type.
• Damage assessment for natural disasters using building footprint locations.
• Urban planning and infrastructure development based on the spatial distribution of buildings.

Strengths

• Includes every OpenStreetMap feature tagged as a building (`building=*`).
• Covers a wide range of building types from residential homes to hospitals, schools, and places of worship.
• Available in multiple geospatial file formats including GEOPACKAGE, SHP, and JSON.

Limitations

• Completeness varies by region; remote areas may be incomplete.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

OpenStreetMap

Collection Method

Volunteer-contributed mapping via the OpenStreetMap platform.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 22:07:04.123300; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Nepal