3.2.1. Rules for drawing administrative units
You must follow these rules when drawing an administrative division:
- 3.2.1.1
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Draw borders in accordance with the general techniques for drawing composite polygonal items.
- 3.2.1.2
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Borders are drawn in accordance with 2.7.1. General rules for drawing polygonal items
Note. When drawing the borders of administrative divisions, border bends are not artificially rounded (the Round all corners operation). Smooth rendering is only applied to the rounded contours of hydrographic items and island coastlines if administrative division borders match them. - 3.2.1.3. Source of information
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- 3.2.1.3.1
- Draw administrative divisions based on information about official borders. Main sources of information (if their use does not violate the rules for using third-party sources of information; see Section 3.1.2.1.2):
- General city maps (on the official site for that administration, including city planning management)
- Various legal documents attesting to changes in division borders, to the re-categorization of villages as sub-districts or vice versa (on official websites)
- Descriptions of borders (on official sites)
- Open cadastral state maps.
- Layouts, signs, or resolutions of organizations that have given unofficial names to streets or addresses on their territory.
- Topographic or other paper maps
- Electronic maps in the public domain
- Yandex maps
- Other maps or diagrams
Note. Statistical units (for example, polling stations) are not drawn on the map as administrative division units. - 3.2.1.3.2
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If there is no information about the location of an administrative border, then follow this advice:
- Borders should circumscribe land plots adjoining private property, but should not run through fields, woods, etc.
- Borders should not run through buildings, structures, or the land plots surrounding residential buildings.
- If a locality runs along a riverbank, then its border may either run along the riverbank or through the middle of the riverbed. This applies in cases when the outlines of development areas can't be distinguished on a satellite image.
- Shared borders of administrative divisions should not intersect.
- Use one line to map shared borders of administrative divisions (rather than two parallel lines).
- 3.2.1.4
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When drawing administrative divisions:
- 3.2.1.4.1
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Administrative divisions should be unique. Map items with the same name should differ by type or by their location within the administrative division.
- 3.2.1.4.2
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Each administrative division must have a parent map item (see Section 3.2.2.3. Administrative subordination) that fully includes lower-level administrative divisions.
- 3.2.1.4.3
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Administrative division polygons may partially overlap with each other, and a specific section of an administrative border may also form part of several other polygons:
- 3.2.1.4.4
- Administrative division borders should be closed.
They may, however, be mapped as several closed polygons. For example, the “federal city of Moscow” consists of several closed polygons (highlighted in the drawing):
- 3.2.1.4.5
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Sometimes administrative divisions can be drawn as a centerpoint without a polygon around it. The point should be placed around the area's geometric center.
You don't need to draw polygons for the following types of administrative divisions:
Individual homes and small structures on farms that have proper names but no numbered addresses.
These are level 7 administrative divisions (Blocks).
Residential complexes consisting of one building as well as buildings with proper names that are not architectural monuments.
These are level 7 administrative divisions (Blocks).
Previously inhabited areas where the territory of anthropogenic influence cannot be discerned via satellite imagery.
These are level 6 administrative divisions (Named territories).
Administrative divisions that are located in the same development area as municipalities and don't have documented borders (for example, mevkii and semty in Turkey).
These are level 6 administrative divisions (Named territories).
Crossroads and small at-grade junctions with proper names.
Such crossroads and junctions are considered level-6 administrative divisions (Named territories).
In addition to marking the center for this type of administrative division, you can also represent it drawing a polygon around the center.
For example, a private named farmstead in Latvia:
- 3.2.1.5
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When drawing administrative divisions, we recommend indicating the position of the item's center (see Section 3.2.3. Drawing the center of an administrative unit).
The center of an administrative division should be located within that division's polygon. If that item consists of several polygons, then the center should be inside one of them.
The center of an administrative unit should be marked in the geographical center of that item on the map (or close to it).
Deleting a previously drawn center is considered an error.
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- 3.2.1.5.1
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You can't put the center of a division inside a building polygon if it will cover over address points and other places.
Administrative divisions that can be drawn without using polygons (see 3.2.1.4.5) and centers of administrative division units which are territories that gave names to streets and addresses (such as garage co-ops) are the exception to this rule. In this case, the administrative center should be placed within a building polygon.
- 3.2.1.5.2
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The center of an administrative division of the “locality” type is placed:
- On the central square of the locality (if this will be legible on the map)
- In the center of the oldest fortress or kremlin of that locality (especially if that fortress/kremlin is the main attraction in that locality)
- Next to one of the central intersections of that locality (please note: don't place it directly on the road or crossing, but rather in the vicinity of it)
- 3.2.1.5.3
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If the actual center of a “locality” does not match its geographical center, then the map should reflect the actual historical center. For example, in Moscow, the center is traditionally linked to Red Square:
If a locality consists of several areas that form different building developments, then mark the most important area as the center (based on the rules given in point 3.2.1.5.2).
- 3.2.1.5.4
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If the geographical center of a “city district” is in an industrial or undeveloped territory, then draw the center on the territory of a residential development within the borders of that administrative division.
- 3.2.1.6
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When drawing internal polygons, follow 2.7.2. Rules for using internal polygons.
- 3.2.1.7
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The rules for drawing administrative divisions that don't have clear borders are established in the administration documentation (for blocks, named territories, etc.):
- 3.2.1.7.1
- If possible, draw administrative divisions as a single polygon.
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- 3.2.1.7.2
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Draw the territories of multi-storey and individual buildings the same way. Use a single polygon to draw blocks that contain both multi-storey (green arrow) and individual (blue arrow) buildings:
- 3.2.1.7.3
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An administrative district polygon may contain items that don't have a specific territory. This includes small areas of vegetation in courtyards and small hydrographic items such as ponds, small rivers, and streams:
- 3.2.1.7.4
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If an administrative division is bordered by large objects, such as a river or a body of water, woodlands, industrial site, agricultural land, or railways, then its border runs along the edge of the building plots. If it's impossible to distinguish the outlines of the areas at the border of a locality, such as an unfenced industrial area, then the border is drawn along the edges of large objects:
