Geographic Information Systems Software (GIS)

Geographic information systems software (GIS) is designed to collect, store, organize, manipulate, interpret, display, and disseminate geographically-referenced information. Governments, businesses, and other organizations use GIS software to analyze and visualize data in order to find patterns, relationships, and trends. Typically, geographic information systems software (GIS) is linked to a map of a city, state, province, region, or country. Some GIS products are simple mapping programs. Others allow users to add data to an on-line mapping tool and create a mash-up. To describe data according to geography, GIS software may provide a database view, a map view, and a model view. Geographic databases, so-called "smart maps", and various geo-modeling technologies support queries, analysis, and editing for a variety of GIS applications.