GeoNames
A wikipedia for geographical data… how great is that? Very. GeoNames is just that and what makes it even more interesting, are its aggregation of data from various countries and the webservices it offers. Dopplr (see my previous post) also uses their webservices. Especially the postal code services are of great value for many applications where a lookup by zip code is sufficient. Data is also available for download if you’d prefer to integrate it into your application.
Users can also add/edit data in a wiki style edit interface. This is using the power of the internet: users from all over the world contribute to GeoNames. Hats off!
Another great post about GeoNames at TechCrunch.