Help - What is a TopoJSON File

Help Center Knowledge Base What is a TOPOJSON file?

What is a TOPOJSON file?


A TopoJSON file format is a format that encodes topology. TopoJSON is an extension of geoJSON. This format contains both geospatial data (arcs) and attribute data. In contrast to other GIS formats topoJSON uses arcs. Arcs are sequences of points, while line strings and polygons are defined as sequences of arcs. Each arc is defined only once, but can be referenced several times by different shapes, thus reducing redundancy and decreasing the file size. The topoJSON format is a format that is used by software like Microsoft PowerBI.


A complete topoJSON dataset contains the following specifications when exporting from Spotzi:

What is a TOPOJSON?
  • The first part contains all the arcs and extra information for plotting the data on the map;
  • The second part includes more information about the geometry;
  • The last part includes more information about the attribute.

Associated filename extensions

  • .geojson
  • .topojson
  • .json

Related blog posts

Interested in our solutions? Please contact our sales team.
