---
id: geolib
version: "1.0.7"
license: unclear
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: abandoned
---

# geolib — A library for geohash encoding, decoding and associated functions

License: permissive · Maintenance: abandoned · Downloads: 139.1K/mo

## What it is and what it does

Geolib is a Python port of Chris Veness' geohash library, providing tools to convert between geographic coordinates (latitude/longitude) and geohash strings—a compact spatial encoding scheme. It supports encoding coordinates to geohashes at variable precision levels, decoding geohashes back to coordinate pairs, and computing neighboring cells and directional bounds for spatial proximity operations.

The library is designed for applications that need efficient spatial indexing or proximity queries without heavy dependencies. It depends only on the future package for Python 2/3 compatibility. However, the project is abandoned and has not been updated since 2019, so it may lack support for modern Python versions and will not receive maintenance or bug fixes.

Use it for:

- Build a location-based service that groups nearby coordinates into grid cells for efficient spatial queries.
- Implement a map tile or spatial database index using geohashes to partition geographic data.
- Find all geohash neighbors of a given location to identify adjacent regions in a grid-based system.
- Compress latitude/longitude pairs into short strings for storage or transmission in location-aware applications.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Encodes and decodes geographic coordinates as geohashes, and computes neighboring cells and directional bounds for spatial indexing and proximity queries.

Yes, if you need geohash encoding/decoding for a stable, non-critical feature and can accept an unmaintained package. The code is simple and low-friction to install, and the MIT license is permissive. No, if you require active maintenance, support for the latest Python versions, or bug fixes—consider a maintained alternative or fork.

## Install

pip install geolib
uv add geolib
poetry add geolib

## Installing geolib

Before you install: Low install friction with a single lightweight dependency (future). However, the package is abandoned—last release was 2019-05-04 and no commits since 2023-05-26. It will not receive bug fixes or updates for modern Python versions.

License in practice: MIT license (permissive) allows free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions, making it suitable for both open-source and commercial projects.

Quickstart:

pip install geolib

from geolib import geohash

# Encode latitude, longitude to geohash
code = geohash.encode('70.2995', '-27.9993', 7)
print(code)  # 'gkkpfve'

# Decode geohash back to coordinates
lat, lon = geohash.decode('gkkpfve')
print(lat, lon)  # (70.2995, -27.9993)

# Find neighboring cells
neighbours = geohash.neighbours('gcpuyph')
print(neighbours.ne)  # 'gcpuypm'

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package works reliably on Python versions released after 2019 or if modern dependency versions introduce incompatibilities.
- Whether the port from Chris Veness' JavaScript implementation has been validated against the original for edge cases or precision issues.

## Package facts

- License: not declared (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: abandoned
- Downloads: 139.1K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

geohash encoding decoding, geographic coordinate hashing, spatial grid cells, latitude longitude to geohash, geohash neighbors adjacent, geo spatial indexing, location proximity queries, geospatial, spatial-indexing, abandoned

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/geolib) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/geolib/)