Open Location Code
encoding of geographic coordinates into a short string of characters and digits, named plus code
The Open Location Code (OLC) is a geocode based on a system of grids for identifying any place on the Earth. Google's Zürich engineering office developed the system and published it in October 2014. Geocodes in the OLC system are referred to as Plus Codes.
Open Location Code is a way of encoding location into a form that is easier to use than coordinates in latitude and longitude. Plus Codes are especially useful where there is no formal system to identify specific places.
Plus Codes are differently expressed latitude and longitude coordinates, so they can be assigned to any location. They are similar in length to a telephone number (e.g., 849VCWC8+R9) but can often be shortened to four or six digits when combined with a locality (e.g., CWC8+R9, Mountain View, California). Locations close to each other have similar codes. They can be encoded or decoded offline. The character set avoids similar-looking characters to reduce confusion and errors and avoids vowels to make it unlikely that a code spells existing words.
“Open Location Code” enters the record as encoding of geographic coordinates into a short string of characters and digits, named plus code. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Location, Code and encoding can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Open Location Code” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Location, Code and encoding provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q23582265. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2014.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Open Location Code”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Open Location Code primary sources, Open Location Code archive and Location research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Open Location Code”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Open Location Code” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.