17/10/2026
π’ GIS ACADEMY GIS TIP: HOW TO DOWNLOAD FREE GIS DATA
Did you know you can download free geospatial data for use in QGIS?
Follow these simple steps using Overpass Turbo:
1οΈβ£ Visit https://overpass-turbo.eu/
2οΈβ£ Navigate to your area of interest on the map.
3οΈβ£ Open the Query Wizard and enter what you want to find, such as roads, shops, buildings or schools.
4οΈβ£ Click Run to retrieve available OpenStreetMap data.
5οΈβ£ Click Export β GeoJSON to download the data.
6οΈβ£ Open QGIS, select Layer β Add Layer β Add Vector Layer, and load your downloaded GeoJSON file.
7οΈβ£ Save the layer as a GeoPackage or Shapefile for further GIS analysis.
π What can you do with this data? Create maps, analyse road networks, locate businesses, map facilities and conduct spatial analysis.
Note: Data availability and accuracy vary by location. Always check the attributes, licence and source of your downloaded data.
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