Editing Incubator escapee wiki:WikiProject Geographical coordinates (section)

=== Which coordinates to use ===
[[National mapping agency|National mapping agencies]] such as the [[Geographic Names Information System]] (GNIS), [[Ordnance Survey]] (OS), and [[Geographical Names Board of Canada]] (GNBC) are usually [[WP:RS|reliable sources]] for coordinates. The [[GEOnet Names Server]] (GNS) database is not reliable. Always double check the coordinates on an internet mapping service. For other locations, the following points should be considered:
* For villages, towns, communities, etc., use the current centre. Where this is difficult, choose the earliest known settlement of that name.  Be aware that the GNIS coordinates may be an arbitrarily chosen civic feature, as that was the usual rule.
* For military and industrial establishments (e.g., castles, barracks, dockyards, car plants) use the main gate.
* For administrative districts, use the head office.
* For geographical features with an area, such as lakes, reservoirs, and islands, use a point reasonably in the center of the feature. (Remember not to specify too much precision; see [[#Precision guidelines|Precision guidelines]] below.)
* For linear features, see [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Geographical coordinates/Linear]].  Be aware that the GNIS primary coordinates will usually be of the feature "mouth" and thus may differ.