Feature Relation Type

• Places partially located in several places, or
• Places that contain parts of other places.

If a place is entirely contained by another feature, use the is entirely located in relationship. You might be unsure if the place is wholly contained in another place. This might happen for historical units, where you're uncertain about boundaries. In this case, use 'partially located in' to show this uncertainty.

Example: 

A historical polity covers a geographical area within part of four contemporary counties. This historical polity's area doesn't completely cover any of the counties. The historical polity is partially located in each of these four counties.

intersects with

Two features that overlap.

You may not be sure about the exact relationship between two regions, but know that they overlap in geographical territory at least partially. In this case, we recommend is the partial location of, not intersects with. If you think intersects with is preferable in your case, let us know. We'll include your case as an example in this documentation.

Example:  

A natural area, river, or mountain which spans multiple administrative units, all of which it intersects with.

is adjacent to

is near

Two features near to each other.

Example: 

A tourist site may be near to another tourist site. By including this relationship, you can help viewers plan trips.

is centered in has centered in it

Example:

• The contemporary Degé County was historically Degé Kingdom. The full extent of the historical Dege Kingdom, however, is not covered by the county and includes other contemporary administrative units. Since Dege County covers the core geographical area of the Kingdom, Degé Kingdom is centered in the modern administrative unit Degé County.

  To properly record the relationship, note that Degé Kingdom also is partially located in Degé County. This makes it clear that the contemporary county doesn't contain the full extent of the kingdom.

has as an instantiation

is an instantiation of

An instantiation of a metaphysical feature.

Examples: 

• Padmasambhava’s Copper Colored mountain is a pure land located outside of our ordinary geography, but there are many temples across the plateau understood to exemplify that pure land. Each temple is an instantiation of Padmasambhava’s Copper Colored mountain.

• Many of the great Buddhist cult mountains are considered instantiations of the great mandala of the Buddhist deity Cakrasa?vara.

• A McDonald's restaurant is an instantiation of McDonald's as a corporate entity.

has as a part

is part of

A relationship where one place is part of another, but not hierarchically or administratively. Places with this relationship usually (but not always) have the same feature type. If one place is part of another hierarchically or administratively, use has entirely located within it/is entirely located in.

Example: 

• Cultural regions can have one large cultural region and many smaller cultural regions that are "part of" it. The Degé cultural region is part of the Kham cultural region.

• A mountain is part of a mountain range.

• An individual field is part of a farm or estate (whether the field is contiguous with the farm/estate or not)

• Use has entirely located within it/is entirely located in to specify a village is part of a township, NOT has as a part/is part of.

administers

is administered by

An administrative relationship between two places.

Examples:

• A contemporary township within a county. Albermarle County "administers" Charlottesville. In this case, the authority of the county over the city is more important than the fact that Albermarle County contains Charlottesville geographically.

• Don't use: for a village located inside a township. Instead, use "is entirely located in" or "is contained by."

• Don't use: for a mountain (or other geographical feature) located inside a town. The town does not actively administer the mountain; this is different from a county that administers the town.

has as an administrative seat is the administrative seat of

The relationship a nation, historical polity, or political administrative unit has with its capitals or seats.

administrative headquarters of

has as an administrative headquarters

is mother of

is child of

A generic, hierarchical relationship between places.

is succeeded by

succeeds

Use this relationship when a place succeeds another place. Succession implies both a fundamental difference and a fundamental continuity. Succession also implies that the one feature has supplanted the previous feature. In many cases:

• both places (the original and the suceeding place) have the same name

• one place succeeds the other immediately in time

The 'is succeeded by/succeeds' relationship is independant of location. This means the geographical areacoveredbythe two places can vary. Here are some possibilities :

• both places cover roughly the same geographical area

• the original place is larger than the successor

• the original place is larger than the successor, and the successor covers the core area of the preceding feature

You can use other relationships to describe the geographical location relation between the original place and the successor.

Example: 

• A kingdom is reduced to a county in a new political formation. The county "succeeds" the kingdom.

is owner of

owned by

A relationship of ownership or property

Example:

• a monastery owns a city residence

• an estate owns a field

is affiliated with

A non-hierarchal relationship between two places. In this relationship, neither place is 'subordonate' to the other.

Example:

• Political allies are affiliated with each other.

• Sacred sites can be linked non-hierarchically.

• Poggio a Caiano in Italy is a 'sister city' of Charlottesville in the USA. Poggio a Caiano is affiliated to Charlottesville.

is in conflict with

A relationship of conflict.

Example:

• Two polities at war, or in more low-level conflict

is related to