Area Types

Every input polygon must have less than 200,000 vertices between it and any children it has. Any polygons with more vertices than this number must be split up into multiple polygons, or an error will occur when building a map containing these polygons. Garmin's map rendering software does not display a boundary around polygons, so these split-up polygons will not look any different on the units or in MapSource than the larger polygons would have.

Name	Description	Notes
Map Bounds
DATA_BOUNDS	Bounds of map after creation.	Insert this area type into your data files in order specify the exact boundaries of the map that is created with the data file rather than using the default (smallest bounding box that encloses all loaded features). This provides a way for you to clip the data in a file to a polygon of your choosing.
Urban Areas
LARGE_CITY	Large urban area, 200,000 or more inhabitants
SMALL_CITY	Small urban area, less than 200,000 inhabitants
TOWN	Urban area, less than 50,000 inhabitants
Large Manmade Areas
AIRPORT	Airport area
AIRPORT_RUNWAYS	Airport runway area
CEMETARY	Cemetary
COLLEGE	College or university area	Supports extruded heights and 3D building models.
GOLF_COURSE	Golf course area
INDUSTRIAL_COMPLEX	Industrial complex area
MARINA	Marina area
MILITARY_BASE	Military base area
PARKING_GARAGE	Parking garage area
PARKING_LOT	Parking lot area
RESERVATION	Reservation
SHOPPING_AREA	Shopping area	Supports extruded heights and 3D building models.
SPORTS_COMPLEX	Sports arena or stadium.
HOSPITAL	Hospital area	Supports extruded heights and 3D building models.
GENERIC_MANMADE	Other or generic manmade area, such as a building	Supports extruded heights and 3D building models.
Park Areas
NATIONAL_PARK	National park
NATIONAL_PARK_MAJOR	Large or major national park
NATIONAL_PARK_OTHER	Small or misc sized national park
STATE_PARK	State or provincial park
STATE_PARK_MAJOR	Large or major state park
STATE_PARK_OTHER	Small or misc sized state park
URBAN_PARK	Small urban park, typically only a few square blocks in size
Water Areas
OCEAN	Ocean
SEA	Sea
SMALL_LAKE	Small lake, typically less than 5 sq mi in area	If you are unsure about the size of the lakes in your data. Classify them all as SMALL_LAKE and the software will attempt to automatically determine the size of the lake.
LAKE	Medium sized lake, typically between 5 and 30 sq mi in area
LARGE_LAKE	Large lake, typically between 30 and 500 sq mi in area
LAKE_LT_1MI	Small lake less then 1 sq mi in area
LAKE_1MI	Small lake, typically less than 5 sq mi but greater or equal to 1 sq mi in area
LAKE_5MI	Small lake less than 10 sq mi but greater or equal to 5 sq mi in area
LAKE_10MI	Lake less than 30 sq mi but greater or equal to 10 sq mi in area
LAKE_30MI	Lake less than 100 sq mi but greater or equal to 30 sq mi in area
LAKE_100MI	Lake less than 250 sq mi but greater or equal to 100 sq mi in area
LAKE_250MI	Lake less than 500 sq mi but greater or equal to 250 sq mi in area
LAKE_500MI	Lake less than 1000 sq mi but greater or equal to 500 sq mi  in area
LAKE_GT_1000MI	Lake greater or equal to1000 sq mi in area
MAJOR_LAKE	Major regional lake, typically larger than 500 sq mi	The US Great Lakes would be an example of a MAJOR_LAKE
INTERMITTENT_LAKE	An intermittent or dry lake
SMALL_RIVER	Minor river, typically less than 700 ft in width
LARGE_RIVER	Major river, typically at least 700 ft in width
RIVER_LT_100FT	Minor river less than 100 ft in width
RIVER_100FT	Minor river less than 700 ft but greater or equal to 100 ft in width
RIVER_GT_700FT	Major river greater or equal to 700 ft in width
Surface Cover Areas
BRIDGE	Bridge	Specify the height using the HGT_DP attribute.
FLAT	Sand/tidal/mud/etc. flat area
GLACIER	Large area of compacted snow and ice.
LAND	Land area
LAND_URBAN	Urban land area
LAND_NON_URBAN	Non-urban land area
MISC_AREA	Misc area coverage
ORCHARD	Orchard or plantation area
SCRUB	Scrub brush area
TUNDRA	Area of nearly always freezing soil
WETLAND	Wetland or swamp area
WOODS	Wooded or forested area
Isobath Areas
ISOBATH_INTERTIDAL_ZONE	Area covered and uncovered by tides
ISOBATH_DEPTH_1	Shallowest isobath area	Specify the depth using the HGT_DP attribute. The maximum depth for the isobath will be that depth, and the minimum depth will be the next smaller isobath depth in the map.
ISOBATH_DEPTH_2
ISOBATH_DEPTH_3
ISOBATH_DEPTH_4
ISOBATH_DEPTH_5	Deepest isobath area
ISOBATH_DEEP_WATER	Deep water (background)
Marine Obstruction Areas
OBSTR_DANGER	Danger area
Marine Restricted Areas
RESTR_NO_ANCHOR	Area with anchoring prohibited
RESTR_NO_FISH	Area with fishing prohibited
RESTR_PROHIBITED	Prohibited area
RESTR_RESTRICTED	Restricted area
Marine Miscellaneous Areas
MARINE_MISC_AREA	Misc marine area	Specify the color using the FEAT_COLOR attribute. Specify the drawing style using the FEAT_STYLE attribute.
ANCHORAGE	Anchorage area
Customizable Areas
CUSTOMIZABLE_AREA_1- CUSTOMIZABLE_AREA_1024	Customizable areas: The description for these types is set by the MPC user	These points can have the GRMN_TYPE string customized as well as having a custom multilingual type description specified.
Approach Areas
GOLF_CLUBHOUSE	Course clubhouse.
GOLF_TEE_BOX	Tee area.	See supported attributes.
GOLF_FAIRWAY	Fairway area.
GOLF_GREEN	Green area.
GOLF_BUNKER	Bunker area.
GOLF_WASTE	Waste area.
GOLF_TREECOVER	Tree covered area.