The following description of the City Point Database furnished with the Garmin     G-12XL/G-II+/G-48XL/G-12CX has been updated by Garmin as of February 18,1999.

First of all,  What is a City Point database and how do I use it?

The City Point database is a collection of waypoints corresponding to the location of cities and towns throughout the world.  These tens of thousands of cities,  towns and even village waypoints provide an excellent method of orienting yourself on the G-12XL/G-II+ GPS units without the necessity of referring to a map.  It is possible to change GPS display control settings such that smaller cities are not displayed all the way up to cities of 200,000 and greater population.  It is not possible to turn off the waypoints of cities of more than 200,000 population,  but this does not compromise use of the unit.  Just for reference, there are more than 22,500 (G-12CX>32,500) cities,  towns,  and villages shown JUST IN THE USA  not counting Canada,  Mexico,  etc in the North American City Point Database.

When you get a GPS with the City Point Database,  you get to pick ONE of the SIX CityPoint Databases available.  (Your choice.)  These are NOT changable at present.   (Originally,  Garmin planned to allow users to pay a fee and change their city database via download.  However,  this plan has been scrapped.)

Note:  Other than the G-12CX having 32,500+ cities/towns in the NORTH AMERICAN DATABASE ONLY (Others 22,500+),  the other five CityPoint data bases are the same for the G-12XL and the G-12CX.

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  GPS-12XL City Point database

The City Point Database is available in six versions, each providing a high level worldwide map, and more detailed coverage for a specific geographic region. The standard worldwide map coverage for the City Point Database included in all versions is as follows:

1) Cities of population 200,000 or greater

For a specific geographic region, more detailed map coverage for the City Point Databases includes:

1) Cities of all population (see below for a definition of this.)

The 6 City Point Databases available: (Please refer to the attached maps for specific boundaries)

1) North America Part # 010-00138-00

The North America City Point Database includes the United States, Alaska, Canada, northern most portion of Mexico, and the majority of the Caribbean , and covers the majority of W180 to W20 Longitude, 0 to N75 Latitude.   G12CX has 32,500+ and G12XL has 22,500+ towns/cities, etc.

2) South America Part # 010-00138-01

The South America City Point Database includes South America, Central America, Mexico, southern United States, and all of the Caribbean, and covers an area from W135 to W20 Longitude, S60 to N35 Latitude.

3) Europe Part # 010-00138-02

The Europe City Point Database includes Europe, Iceland, extreme western Russia, Mediterranean, extreme northern Africa, and covers an area from W25 to E55 Longitude, N30 to N75 Latitude.

4) Africa Part # 010-00138-03

The Africa City Point Database includes Africa, Madagascar, the Middle East, Mediterranean, and covers an area from W30 to E75 Longitude, S60 to N45 Latitude.

5) Asia Part # 010-00138-04

The Asia City Point Database includes Asia (but excludes Southeast Asia), the Middle East, eastern Russia, China, Japan, and covers the majority of E55 to E180 Longitude, N5 to N75 Latitude.

6) South Pacific Part # 010-00138-05

The South Pacific City Point Database includes Australia, Polynesia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, southern China, India, and covers an area from E65 to W135 Longitude, S60 to N30 Latitude.

GPS-II Plus  City Point Database

The GPS II Plus City Point Database is available in six versions, each providing a high level worldwide map, and more detailed coverage for a specific geographic region. The standard worldwide map coverage for the City Point Database included in all versions is as follows:

1) Cities of population 200,000 or greater

For a specific geographic region, more detailed map coverage for the City Point Databases includes:

1) Cities of all population

The 6 City Point Databases available: (Please refer to the attached maps for specific boundaries)

1) North America Part # 010-00128-00

The North America City Point Database includes the United States, Alaska, Canada, northern most portion of Mexico, and the majority of the Caribbean , and covers the majority of W180 to W20 Longitude, 0 to N75 Latitude.

2) South America Part # 010-00128-01

The South America City Point Database includes South America, Central America, Mexico, southern United States, and all of the Caribbean, and covers an area from W135 to W20 Longitude, S60 to N35 Latitude.

3) Europe Part # 010-00128-02

The Europe City Point Database includes Europe, Iceland, extreme western Russia, Mediterranean, extreme northern Africa, and covers an area from W25 to E55 Longitude, N30 to N75 Latitude.

4) Africa Part # 010-00128-03

The Africa City Point Database includes Africa, Madagascar, the Middle East, Mediterranean, and covers an area from W30 to E75 Longitude, S60 to N45 Latitude.

5) Asia Part # 010-00128-04

The Asia City Point Database includes Asia (but excludes Southeast Asia), the Middle East, eastern Russia, China, Japan, and covers the majority of E55 to E180 Longitude, N5 to N75 Latitude.

6) South Pacific Part # 010-00128-05

The South Pacific City Point Database includes Australia, Polynesia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, southern China, India, and covers an area from E65 to W135 Longitude, S60 to N30 Latitude.

                         GPS-48XL Marine Database
The GPS 48 Marine Database is available in six versions, each providing a high level worldwide map, and more detailed coverage for a specific geographic region. The standard worldwide map coverage for the Marine Database included in all versions is as follows:

1) Cities of population 200,000 or greater

For a specific geographic region, more detailed map coverage for the Marine Databases includes:

1) A collection of nautical navaids including the following:

a) Racons
b) Radio Beacons
c) Fog Horns
d) Day Beacons
e) Lit and Unlit Navaids

2) Cities of all population

The 6 Marine Databases available: (Please refer to the attached maps for specific boundaries)

1) North America Part # 010-00144-00

The North America Marine Database includes the United States, Alaska, Canada, northern most portion of Mexico, and the majority of the Caribbean , and covers the majority of W180 to W20 Longitude, 0 to N75 Latitude.

2) South America Part # 010-00144-01

The South America Marine Database includes South America, Central America, Mexico, southern United States, and all of the Caribbean, and covers an area from W135 to W20 Longitude, S60 to N35 Latitude.

3) Europe Part # 010-00144-02

The Europe Marine Database includes Europe, Iceland, extreme western Russia, Mediterranean, extreme northern Africa, and covers an area from W25 to E55 Longitude, N30 to N75 Latitude.

4) Africa Part # 010-00144-03

The Africa Marine Database includes Africa, Madagascar, the Middle East, Mediterranean, and covers an area from W30 to E75 Longitude, S60 to N45 Latitude.

5) Asia Part # 010-00144-04

The Asia Marine Database includes Asia (but excludes Southeast Asia), the Middle East, eastern Russia, China, Japan, and covers the majority of E55 to E180 Longitude, N5 to N75 Latitude.

6) South Pacific Part # 010-00144-05

The South Pacific Marine Database includes Australia, Polynesia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, southern China, India, and covers an area from E65 to W135 Longitude, S60 to N30 Latitude.

Revised June 1, 1998
Published to http://gpsinformation.net/main
Derived from information furnished by Garmin International

Still MORE information from Garmin about the configuration of the City Point Database
I asked Garmin Cartography to give us a breakdown on the classifications of cities in the Garmin "City Point" data base.
I asked how it was determined if small towns were included.
Here is their response.

Note:  If you locate a town that is NOT in the Garmin City Point database, send an Email with town name,  and lon/lat of town center to Garmin Cartography.
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Joe,

Cities are classified as follows in our database:

City Center Population  > 10M
City Center Population  5-10M
City Center Population  2-5M
City Center Population  1-2M
City Center Population  500K-1M
City Center Population  200-500K
City Center Population  100-200K
City Center Population  50-100K
City Center Population  20-50K
City Center Population  10-20K
City Center Population  5-10K
City Center Population  < 5K
City Center Population  Unknown size

Cities of all populations indicates that all of the cities we had in our database are included.  Some very small cities that actually exist are not in our database and therefore not included, but there are some cities with very small populations included.  The city points are also accurate to city limit boundaries and not exact city centers.

Best Regards,
Garmin Cartography Department
June 1998