Cities Lookup API

GET

Match any city name to its verified population and country details.

Cities Lookup searches over 150,000 global cities to find country codes, population counts, and city size classifications by name. Paid plans add GeoJSON coordinates and custom match limits.

Try it — live request, no key required

Request

GETapi.apiverve.com/v1/citieslookup?city=San%20Francisco

Query parameters

citystring

Verification

Format

No key required to try it. Get a key to use it in your app.

Example

{
  "status": "ok",
  "error": null,
  "data": {
    "search": "San Francisco",
    "foundCities": [
      {
        "name": "San Francisco",
        "altName": "",
        "country": "US",
        "countryName": "United States",
        "featureCode": "PPLA2",
        "population": 874961,
        "populationCategory": "major",
        "loc": {
          "type": "Point",
          "coordinates": [
            -122.4194,
            37.7749
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

About the Cities Lookup API

Pass any city name to query a monthly updated catalog of over 150,000 settlements. The response lists matching places with their country name, two-letter ISO code, census population count, and population category. Free requests return one matching record, while paid plans include custom result limits and longitude-latitude coordinates.

What people use it for

Checkout Address Validation: When customers enter a city name during checkout, match official country codes and alternative names to standardize shipping records.
Retail Expansion Sizing: Retail analysts evaluate new store candidates by querying population figures and city size categories across international regions.
Fleet Dispatch Routing: For regional delivery scheduling, dispatchers convert destination city names into exact longitude and latitude coordinates on paid tiers.
Travel Destination Filtering: To help users discover vacation spots, travel search engines group destinations by population tier and resolve local alias spellings.

Ways to call it

One endpoint, many ways in — REST with JSON, XML, YAML and CSV, plus GraphQL and an MCP interface for AI agents.

JSON: Default REST response
XML: Markup format
YAML: Human-readable
CSV: Tabular export
GraphQL: Query language
MCP: For AI agents

View all integrations →

Other ways to use Cities Lookup

Same data, same APIVerve account, same credit balance — one key works on all of them.

Give it to an AI agentConnect over MCP and your agent calls it as a native tool — Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT.on VerveKit Google Sheets or ExcelA =VERVE() formula fills a column — no script, no export, recalculates in place.on VerveSheets Ground an agent on itA cited, machine-checkable fact your model can't produce on its own.on VerveContext

Questions.

Common questions about the Cities Lookup API.

Read the docs →

Which cities and geographic details does the database cover?

The database covers more than 150,000 cities worldwide. Each record includes the official name, alternative aliases if available, two-letter ISO country code, full country name, Geonames feature classification, population count, and population category.

What would 25,000 city lookups a month cost me?

A volume of 25,000 lookups requires 50,000 credits, which is fully covered by the Starter plan at 200,000 credits for $29.99 per month. That works out to about $0.0003 per lookup or $0.30 per 1,000 calls. The Free plan includes 100 lookups every month.

Can I get geographic coordinates and custom result limits on the Free plan?

No, exact latitude and longitude coordinates and the limit parameter require a paid plan. Free plan responses return basic city details without coordinate pairs. Upgrading to any paid tier, starting with Starter, unlocks full GeoJSON coordinates and custom search limits.

How large is the city database and how often is it updated?

Cities Lookup tracks over 150,000 cities globally and updates monthly. Population counts are derived from recent census figures, and city types follow standardized Geonames feature codes.

What happens when multiple cities share the same name?

The API returns an array of matching cities under the foundCities property rather than a single result. Each match includes its country name, ISO country code, and population size, allowing your application to disambiguate or display a selection list.

Can I use city lookup data inside a commercial application?

Yes, commercial use is permitted on any paid plan. You can use the city data to power location pickers, business intelligence dashboards, or market research in your own product. You may not resell or redistribute the raw dataset.

Request parameters — GET /v1/citieslookup

Sent in the query string. Premium parameters are accepted on every plan but only take effect on plans that include them. Anything not listed here is dropped rather than passed through.

Required

Parameter	Type	Example	Description
`city`Required	string	`San Francisco`	The city name for which you want to get the data (e.g., New York)

Optional

Parameter	Type	Example	Description
`limit`OptionalPremium	integer	`5`	Limit number of cities that match your search criteria default 1 · range 1-20

Example request

1
2

curl "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/citieslookup?city=San%20Francisco&limit=5" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Authentication

Send your key in the x-api-key header. That is the only auth step — no token exchange, and no per-endpoint scope to configure.

Header	When	Value
`x-api-key`Required	Every request	Your API key. Header names are case-insensitive, so `X-API-Key` is the same header.
`Authorization`Alternate	Instead of the above	`Bearer <key>` — for clients that only expose bearer auth. Resolves to the same account and the same billing.

401 is the only auth verdict

A 401 means the key is missing, invalid or expired. A 403 means the key is valid but not permitted here — blocked by a key restriction or an IP allow-list. Running out of credits is a 429.

Response — GET /v1/citieslookup

Every APIVerve endpoint returns the same three top-level keys, so one response handler covers your whole integration: status, error and data. Only data changes shape.

Sample response

{
  "status": "ok",
  "error": null,
  "data": {
    "search": "San Francisco",
    "foundCities": [
      {
        "name": "San Francisco",
        "altName": "",
        "country": "US",
        "countryName": "United States",
        "featureCode": "PPLA2",
        "population": 874961,
        "populationCategory": "major",
        "loc": {
          "type": "Point",
          "coordinates": [
            -122.4194,
            37.7749
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Response fields

Paths are relative to data. Premium fields are absent rather than zeroed on plans that do not include them, so check for presence instead of comparing to 0.

Field	Type	Example	Description
`search`	string	`"San Francisco"`	The search query used to find cities
`foundCities`	array[1]		Array of city objects matching the search criteria
`name`	string	`"San Francisco"`	Official city name
`altName`	string	`""`	Alternative city name or alias if available
`country`	string	`"US"`	Two-letter ISO country code (e.g., US)
`countryName`	string	`"United States"`	Full country name (e.g., United States)
`featureCode`	string	`"PPLA2"`	Geonames feature code for city classification type
`population`	number	`874961`	City population count derived from latest census
`populationCategory`	string	`"major"`	City size classification based on population ranges
`loc`	object	`{...}`
`type`	string	`"Point"`	GeoJSON geometry type (always Point)
`coordinates`Premium	array	`[-122.4194, ...]`	GeoJSON coordinates as [longitude, latitude] pair

Response headers

Every response carries your balance, so your own code always knows where it stands without polling anything. All four are exposed to browsers through CORS.

Header	What it carries
`x-api-remaining-credits`	Credits left in the current cycle
`x-api-credits-used`	Credits spent in the current cycle
`x-api-max-credits`	The allowance for the cycle
`x-api-version`	Version of the endpoint that answered

Errors

Read the HTTP status first, then error for the specific reason. The body names the parameter that has to change.

Status	Meaning	What to do
`400`	Input was rejected	Read `error`; it names the parameter that has to change.
`401`	Key missing or invalid	Check the header name and the key value.
`403`	Key valid, but not permitted here	A key restriction or an IP allow-list — never a bad key.
`429`	Rate limited, or out of credits	Read `error` to tell them apart, then back off or top up.

What a call costs — 2 credits per call

Credits are shared across every APIVerve API — one balance, one key, one bill. Failed requests never count against it, so a rejected input costs nothing.

Plan	Per month	Credits	Cities Lookup calls	Per 1,000 calls
Free	Free	200	100	Free
Starter	$29.99	200,000	100,000	$0.30
Pro	$99.99	1,000,000	500,000	$0.20
Mega	$299.99	4,000,000	2,000,000	$0.15

Calls are what the credits buy at this API's rate — spend them here, on any of the other APIs, or across both. Nothing is reserved per endpoint.

Compare all pricing tiers →

Call it from cURL — GET /v1/citieslookup

No SDK to install — this is a plain HTTPS call to /v1/citieslookup with your key in the x-api-key header. Swap in a real key and it runs as-is.

cURL

1
2

curl "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/citieslookup" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Resources

GitHubapiverve/citieslookup-apiSource, issues and the examples this page is built from.ReferenceCities Lookup API docsEvery parameter, every response field, and the errors.ParametersWhat this call acceptsRequired and optional inputs, with example values.

Also published for

@apiverve/citieslookupnpm apiverve-citieslookupPyPI APIVerve.API.CitiesLookupNuGet

Only the languages APIVerve ships a client for are listed — the rest call the endpoint directly over HTTPS.

Call it from Node.js — GET /v1/citieslookup

Install the Node.js SDK, then call the Cities Lookup API with your key. The client wraps the same HTTPS request, so anything it returns is what the endpoint returns.

Install — npm

npm install @apiverve/citieslookup

Node.js

const res = await fetch("https://api.apiverve.com/v1/citieslookup", {
  headers: { "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY" },
});
const { data } = await res.json();
console.log(data);

Resources

npm@apiverve/citieslookupThe published Node.js client, versioned and signed.GitHubapiverve/citieslookup-apiSource, issues and the examples this page is built from.ReferenceCities Lookup API docsEvery parameter, every response field, and the errors.ParametersWhat this call acceptsRequired and optional inputs, with example values.

Also published for

apiverve-citieslookupPyPI APIVerve.API.CitiesLookupNuGet

Only the languages APIVerve ships a client for are listed — the rest call the endpoint directly over HTTPS.

Call it from Python — GET /v1/citieslookup

Install the Python SDK, then call the Cities Lookup API with your key. The client wraps the same HTTPS request, so anything it returns is what the endpoint returns.

Install — PyPI

pip install apiverve-citieslookup

Python

import requests

res = requests.get(
    "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/citieslookup",
    headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
)
print(res.json()["data"])

Resources

PyPIapiverve-citieslookupThe published Python client, versioned and signed.GitHubapiverve/citieslookup-apiSource, issues and the examples this page is built from.ReferenceCities Lookup API docsEvery parameter, every response field, and the errors.ParametersWhat this call acceptsRequired and optional inputs, with example values.

Also published for

@apiverve/citieslookupnpm APIVerve.API.CitiesLookupNuGet

Only the languages APIVerve ships a client for are listed — the rest call the endpoint directly over HTTPS.

Call it from C# / .NET — GET /v1/citieslookup

Install the C# / .NET SDK, then call the Cities Lookup API with your key. The client wraps the same HTTPS request, so anything it returns is what the endpoint returns.

Install — NuGet

dotnet add package APIVerve.API.CitiesLookup

C# / .NET

using var client = new HttpClient();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("x-api-key", "YOUR_API_KEY");

var json = await client.GetStringAsync("https://api.apiverve.com/v1/citieslookup");
Console.WriteLine(json);

Resources

NuGetAPIVerve.API.CitiesLookupThe published C# / .NET client, versioned and signed.GitHubapiverve/citieslookup-apiSource, issues and the examples this page is built from.ReferenceCities Lookup API docsEvery parameter, every response field, and the errors.ParametersWhat this call acceptsRequired and optional inputs, with example values.

Also published for

@apiverve/citieslookupnpm apiverve-citieslookupPyPI

Only the languages APIVerve ships a client for are listed — the rest call the endpoint directly over HTTPS.

Call it from Go — GET /v1/citieslookup

No SDK to install — this is a plain HTTPS call to /v1/citieslookup with your key in the x-api-key header. Swap in a real key and it runs as-is.

req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/citieslookup", nil)
req.Header.Set("x-api-key", "YOUR_API_KEY")

res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
defer res.Body.Close()
body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
fmt.Println(string(body))

Resources

Also published for

@apiverve/citieslookupnpm apiverve-citieslookupPyPI APIVerve.API.CitiesLookupNuGet

Only the languages APIVerve ships a client for are listed — the rest call the endpoint directly over HTTPS.

Call it from PHP — GET /v1/citieslookup

No SDK to install — this is a plain HTTPS call to /v1/citieslookup with your key in the x-api-key header. Swap in a real key and it runs as-is.

PHP

$ch = curl_init("https://api.apiverve.com/v1/citieslookup");
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, ["x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"]);

$response = curl_exec($ch);
echo $response;

Resources

Also published for

@apiverve/citieslookupnpm apiverve-citieslookupPyPI APIVerve.API.CitiesLookupNuGet

Only the languages APIVerve ships a client for are listed — the rest call the endpoint directly over HTTPS.

Call it from Ruby — GET /v1/citieslookup

No SDK to install — this is a plain HTTPS call to /v1/citieslookup with your key in the x-api-key header. Swap in a real key and it runs as-is.

Ruby

require "net/http"

uri = URI("https://api.apiverve.com/v1/citieslookup")
req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
req["x-api-key"] = "YOUR_API_KEY"

res = Net::HTTP.start(uri.hostname, uri.port, use_ssl: true) { |h| h.request(req) }
puts res.body

Resources

Also published for

@apiverve/citieslookupnpm apiverve-citieslookupPyPI APIVerve.API.CitiesLookupNuGet

Only the languages APIVerve ships a client for are listed — the rest call the endpoint directly over HTTPS.

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Cities Lookup API

Try it — live request, no key required

About the Cities Lookup API

What people use it for

Ways to call it

Other ways to use Cities Lookup

Questions.

Request parameters — GET /v1/citieslookup

Required

Optional

Authentication

Response — GET /v1/citieslookup

Response fields

Response headers

Errors

What a call costs — 2 credits per call

Call it from cURL — GET /v1/citieslookup

Resources

Also published for

Call it from Node.js — GET /v1/citieslookup

Resources

Also published for

Call it from Python — GET /v1/citieslookup

Resources

Also published for

Call it from C# / .NET — GET /v1/citieslookup

Resources

Also published for

Call it from Go — GET /v1/citieslookup

Resources

Also published for

Call it from PHP — GET /v1/citieslookup

Resources

Also published for

Call it from Ruby — GET /v1/citieslookup

Resources

Also published for

Zero-code embed — one snippet, no backend

Changelog — Cities Lookup API

Geography

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