Which areas contain a point

is_in answers the reverse question: which areas contain this point? It is the quickest way to find the right admin_level and name for an area query.

The query

[out:json][timeout:25];
is_in(47.3769,8.5417)->.a;
area.a["admin_level"];
out tags;

Run it

Live result from overpass.ch, cached for up to 12 hours. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

How it works

1. is_in(lat,lon) returns every area containing the point: boundaries, postcodes, parks, …
2. area.a["admin_level"] keeps only administrative boundaries.
3. out tags; prints their tags without geometry. The result table below lists them.

Variations

• Use the names and levels you see here in search inside a city.
• Area IDs start at 3,600,000,000 plus the relation ID.

Run it from your code

curl https://api.overpass.ch/v1/YOUR_API_KEY/interpreter \
  --data-urlencode 'data@query.overpassql'

import requests

query = open("query.overpassql").read()
r = requests.post("https://api.overpass.ch/v1/YOUR_API_KEY/interpreter",
                  data={"data": query}, timeout=120)
r.raise_for_status()
print(r.json()["elements"][:3])

const res = await fetch("https://api.overpass.ch/v1/YOUR_API_KEY/interpreter", {
  method: "POST",
  body: new URLSearchParams({ data: query }),
});
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(await res.text());
console.log(await res.json());

Save the query as query.overpassql. It works the same in Overpass Turbo, QGIS and JOSM.