Natural Earth 10m Admin-0 Shapefile Download
Quick answer: For a Natural Earth country boundary download, choose the 10m admin-0 Shapefile or GeoJSON layer. It is public domain, global, and ready for GIS maps — or start from the hosted 110m preview on this page.
About this dataset
Public-domain global country boundaries and related admin layers — with a hosted 110m GeoJSON you can map and summarise on this page.
Download free Natural Earth country boundary data with direct links, global coverage, and GIS-friendly formats for maps and reference layers. This page also hosts the lightweight 1:110m admin-0 layer (177 countries and territories, roughly 270 KB) so the map preview and per-continent summary load instantly.
Actual dataset map screenshot; map and basemap credits are shown in the image. Captured 30 September 2026.
How to download
- 1 Inspect the hosted 110m preview above — it renders instantly and the summary below counts by continent.
- 2 For web work, grab the same 110m GeoJSON from the mirror or use the hosted file directly.
- 3 For cartographic detail, download the 10m cultural zip and extract admin-0 countries.
- 4 Load the layer in QGIS, GeoDataViewer Studio, or your web map as a reference basemap.
FAQ
Is Natural Earth good for quick global maps?
Yes. Natural Earth is ideal when you need lightweight global boundaries without registration or complex extraction steps — the 110m layer on this page loads in under a second.
Does Natural Earth offer GeoJSON?
The official downloads focus on shapefiles, while the nvkelso mirror publishes per-layer GeoJSON at 10m, 50m, and 110m. This page hosts the 110m countries GeoJSON directly.
Why 110m here and 10m in the download links?
110m fits the site's 10 MB hosting rule and renders everywhere; 10m carries far more detail (and tens of MB), so it stays a direct download from Natural Earth.