django-cities-light
Simple alternative to django-cities
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, installs with low friction, and solves a straightforward problem—importing and managing geographic reference data in Django. It's appropriate for applications that need simple location lookups without spatial query requirements. The MIT license carries no restrictions. Install it if you need to populate countries, regions, and cities in your Django app.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Django >= 4.2 and Python >= 3.10; needs MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQLite database.
- Low friction install with five straightforward runtime dependencies.
- Actively maintained with recent commits and production-stable status.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions.
last release 2026-02-16 (179 days) · last repo commit 2026-04-22 · 350 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 75,189 downloads/mo, #14,743 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install django-cities-light
# In settings.py, add to INSTALLED_APPS:
INSTALLED_APPS = [
...
'cities_light',
]
# Then run:
./manage.py migrate
./manage.py cities_light- Performance characteristics of the import command on large datasets or with all city types enabled
- Whether GraphQL, Rest-Framework, and Ajax Select integrations work out-of-the-box or require additional configuration
What it is and what it does
django-cities-light is a Django app that syncs geographic reference data—countries, regions, subregions, and cities—from GeoNames into your database. It provides models and a management command to download and import this data, with options to filter by country, language, and city type. The package is designed for simple use cases like address books or location dropdowns, not for spatial queries or complex geographic analysis.
Once installed and configured, you run a single management command to populate your database. The app includes built-in Django admin support, GraphQL integration, and Rest-Framework compatibility. It handles data updates and can export/import via fixtures to avoid repeated downloads. Configuration is done through Django settings, allowing you to exclude unwanted data and manage index size issues on large imports.
Use it for
- Build a user registration form with country and city dropdowns populated from GeoNames data
- Create a simple address book or contact management system with geographic location fields
- Populate a shipping or billing address selector with validated countries and cities
- Set up a location-based filtering system for a directory or marketplace without spatial queries
- Migrate geographic reference data between development, staging, and production servers using fixtures
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, installs with low friction, and solves a straightforward problem—importing and managing geographic reference data in Django. It's appropriate for applications that need simple location lookups without spatial query requirements. The MIT license carries no restrictions. Install it if you need to populate countries, regions, and cities in your Django app.
Install
django-cities-light on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction install with five straightforward runtime dependencies. Actively maintained with recent commits and production-stable status.
Requires Django >= 4.2 and Python >= 3.10; needs MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQLite database.
License in practice
MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions.
Quickstart
pip install django-cities-light
# In settings.py, add to INSTALLED_APPS:
INSTALLED_APPS = [
...
'cities_light',
]
# Then run:
./manage.py migrate
./manage.py cities_light
Verify before relying
- Performance characteristics of the import command on large datasets or with all city types enabled
- Whether GraphQL, Rest-Framework, and Ajax Select integrations work out-of-the-box or require additional configuration
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Not specified |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 5 packagespytzpsutilunidecodedjango-autoslugprogressbar2 |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 179 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 75,189 / month, #14,743 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableEnvironment :: Web EnvironmentFramework :: DjangoFramework :: Django :: 3.2Framework :: Django :: 4.0Framework :: Django :: 4.1Framework :: Django :: 4.2Framework :: Django :: 5.0Framework :: Django :: 5.1Framework :: Django :: 5.2Framework :: Django :: 6.0Intended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Topic :: Internet :: WWW/HTTPTopic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python Modules |
Evidence: django_cities_light-3.11-py3-none-any.whl
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See also django-autocomplete-light · django-postgres-copy · geonamescache · django-countries · geotext · reverse-geocode · django-localflavor · django-fixture-magic · countryinfo · dj-materialized-views