This distribution provides an API for the GeoIP2 and GeoLite2
web services and
databases.
Installation
NuGet
We recommend installing this library with NuGet. To do this, type the
following into the Visual Studio Package Manager Console:
install-package MaxMind.GeoIP2
IP Geolocation Usage
IP geolocation is inherently imprecise. Locations are often near the center of
the population. Any location provided by a GeoIP2 database or web service
should not be used to identify a particular address or household.
Web Service Usage
To use the web service API, first create a new WebServiceClient object
with your account ID and license key:
var client = new WebServiceClient(42, "license_key1");
To query the GeoLite2 web service, you must set the host to geolite.info:
var client = new WebServiceClient(42, "license_key1", host: "geolite.info");
To query the Sandbox GeoIP2 web service, you must set the host to
sandbox.maxmind.com:
var client = new WebServiceClient(42, "license_key1", host: "sandbox.maxmind.com");
You may also specify the fall-back locales, the host, or the timeout as
optional parameters. See the API docs for more information.
This object is safe to share across threads. If you are making multiple
requests, the object should be reused to so that new connections are not
created for each request. Once you have finished making requests, you
should dispose of the object to ensure the connections are closed and any
resources are promptly returned to the system.
You may then call the sync or async method corresponding to the specific end
point, passing it the IP address you want to look up or no parameters if you
want to look up the current device.
If the request succeeds, the method call will return a response class for the
endpoint you called. This response in turn contains multiple model classes,
each of which represents part of the data returned by the web service.
See the API documentation for more details.
ASP.NET Core Usage
To use the web service API with HttpClient factory pattern as a
Typed client
you need to do the following:
Add the following lines to Startup.csConfigureServices method:
// Configure to read configuration options from MaxMind section
services.Configure<WebServiceClientOptions>(Configuration.GetSection("MaxMind"));
// Configure dependency injection for WebServiceClient
services.AddHttpClient<WebServiceClient>();
Add configuration in your appsettings.json with your account ID and license key.
...
"MaxMind": {
"AccountId": 123456,
"LicenseKey": "1234567890",
// Optionally set a timeout. The default is 3000 ms.
// "Timeout": 3000,
// Optionally set host. "geolite.info" will use the GeoLite2
// web service instead of GeoIP2. "sandbox.maxmind.com" will use the
// Sandbox GeoIP2 web service instead of the production GeoIP2 web
// service.
//
// "Host": "geolite.info"
},
...
Inject the WebServiceClient where you need to make the call and use it.
[ApiController]
[Route("[controller]")]
public class MaxMindController : ControllerBase
{
private readonly WebServiceClient _maxMindClient;
public MaxMindController(WebServiceClient maxMindClient)
{
_maxMindClient = maxMindClient;
}
[HttpGet]
public async Task<string> Get()
{
var location = await _maxMindClient.CountryAsync();
return location.Country.Name;
}
}
Web Service Example
Country Service (Sync)
// If you are making multiple requests, a single WebServiceClient
// should be shared across requests to allow connection reuse. The
// class is thread safe.
//
// Replace "42" with your account ID and "license_key" with your license
// key. Set the named host argument to "geolite.info" to use the GeoLite2
// web service instead of GeoIP2. Set the named host argument to
// "sandbox.maxmind.com" to use the Sandbox GeoIP2 web service instead of
// the production GeoIP2 web service.
using (var client = new WebServiceClient(42, "license_key"))
{
// Do the lookup
var response = client.Country("128.101.101.101");
Console.WriteLine(response.Country.IsoCode); // 'US'
Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Name); // 'United States'
Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Names["zh-CN"]); // '美国'
}
Country Service (Async)
// If you are making multiple requests, a single WebServiceClient
// should be shared across requests to allow connection reuse. The
// class is thread safe.
//
// Replace "42" with your account ID and "license_key" with your license
// key. Set the named host argument to "geolite.info" to use the GeoLite2
// web service instead of GeoIP2. Set the named host argument to
// "sandbox.maxmind.com" to use the Sandbox GeoIP2 web service instead of
// the production GeoIP2 web service.
using (var client = new WebServiceClient(42, "license_key"))
{
// Do the lookup
var response = await client.CountryAsync("128.101.101.101");
Console.WriteLine(response.Country.IsoCode); // 'US'
Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Name); // 'United States'
Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Names["zh-CN"]); // '美国'
}
City Plus Service (Sync)
// If you are making multiple requests, a single WebServiceClient
// should be shared across requests to allow connection reuse. The
// class is thread safe.
//
// Replace "42" with your account ID and "license_key" with your license
// key. Set the named host argument to "geolite.info" to use the GeoLite2
// web service instead of GeoIP2. Set the named host argument to
// "sandbox.maxmind.com" to use the Sandbox GeoIP2 web service instead of
// the production GeoIP2 web service.
using (var client = new WebServiceClient(42, "license_key"))
{
// Do the lookup
var response = client.City("128.101.101.101");
Console.WriteLine(response.Country.IsoCode); // 'US'
Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Name); // 'United States'
Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Names["zh-CN"]); // '美国'
Console.WriteLine(response.MostSpecificSubdivision.Name); // 'Minnesota'
Console.WriteLine(response.MostSpecificSubdivision.IsoCode); // 'MN'
Console.WriteLine(response.City.Name); // 'Minneapolis'
Console.WriteLine(response.Postal.Code); // '55455'
Console.WriteLine(response.Location.Latitude); // 44.9733
Console.WriteLine(response.Location.Longitude); // -93.2323
}
City Plus Service (Async)
// If you are making multiple requests, a single WebServiceClient
// should be shared across requests to allow connection reuse. The
// class is thread safe.
//
// Replace "42" with your account ID and "license_key" with your license
// key. Set the named host argument to "geolite.info" to use the GeoLite2
// web service instead of GeoIP2. Set the named host argument to
// "sandbox.maxmind.com" to use the Sandbox GeoIP2 web service instead of
// the production GeoIP2 web service.
using (var client = new WebServiceClient(42, "license_key"))
{
// Do the lookup
var response = await client.CityAsync("128.101.101.101");
Console.WriteLine(response.Country.IsoCode); // 'US'
Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Name); // 'United States'
Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Names["zh-CN"]); // '美国'
Console.WriteLine(response.MostSpecificSubdivision.Name); // 'Minnesota'
Console.WriteLine(response.MostSpecificSubdivision.IsoCode); // 'MN'
Console.WriteLine(response.City.Name); // 'Minneapolis'
Console.WriteLine(response.Postal.Code); // '55455'
Console.WriteLine(response.Location.Latitude); // 44.9733
Console.WriteLine(response.Location.Longitude); // -93.2323
}
Insights Service (Sync)
// If you are making multiple requests, a single WebServiceClient
// should be shared across requests to allow connection reuse. The
// class is thread safe.
//
// Replace "42" with your account ID and "license_key" with your license
// key. The GeoLite2 web service does not support Insights. Set the named
// host argument to "sandbox.maxmind.com" to use the Sandbox GeoIP2 web
// service instead of the production GeoIP2 web service.
using (var client = new WebServiceClient(42, "license_key"))
{
// Do the lookup
var response = client.Insights("128.101.101.101");
Console.WriteLine(response.Country.IsoCode); // 'US'
Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Name); // 'United States'
Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Names["zh-CN"]); // '美国'
Console.WriteLine(response.MostSpecificSubdivision.Name); // 'Minnesota'
Console.WriteLine(response.MostSpecificSubdivision.IsoCode); // 'MN'
Console.WriteLine(response.City.Name); // 'Minneapolis'
Console.WriteLine(response.Postal.Code); // '55455'
Console.WriteLine(response.Location.Latitude); // 44.9733
Console.WriteLine(response.Location.Longitude); // -93.2323
}
Insights Service (Async)
// If you are making multiple requests, a single WebServiceClient
// should be shared across requests to allow connection reuse. The
// class is thread safe.
//
// Replace "42" with your account ID and "license_key" with your license
// key. The GeoLite2 web service does not support Insights. Set the named
// host argument to "sandbox.maxmind.com" to use the Sandbox GeoIP2 web
// service instead of the production GeoIP2 web service.
using (var client = new WebServiceClient(42, "license_key"))
{
// Do the lookup
var response = await client.InsightsAsync("128.101.101.101");
Console.WriteLine(response.Country.IsoCode); // 'US'
Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Name); // 'United States'
Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Names["zh-CN"]); // '美国'
Console.WriteLine(response.MostSpecificSubdivision.Name); // 'Minnesota'
Console.WriteLine(response.MostSpecificSubdivision.IsoCode); // 'MN'
Console.WriteLine(response.City.Name); // 'Minneapolis'
Console.WriteLine(response.Postal.Code); // '55455'
Console.WriteLine(response.Location.Latitude); // 44.9733
Console.WriteLine(response.Location.Longitude); // -93.2323
}
Database Usage
To use the database API, you must create a new DatabaseReader with a string
representation of the path to your GeoIP2 database. You may also specify the
file access mode. You may then call the appropriate method (e.g., city) for
your database, passing it the IP address you want to look up.
If the lookup succeeds, the method call will return a response class for the
GeoIP2 lookup. This class in turn contains multiple model classes, each of
which represents part of the data returned by the database.
We recommend reusing the DatabaseReader object rather than creating a new
one for each lookup. The creation of this object is relatively expensive as it
must read in metadata for the file.
using (var reader = new DatabaseReader("GeoLite2-ASN.mmdb"))
{
var response = reader.Asn("85.25.43.84");
Console.WriteLine(response.AutonomousSystemNumber); // 217
Console.WriteLine(response.AutonomousSystemOrganization); // 'University of Minnesota'
Console.WriteLine(response.IPAddress); // '128.101.101.101'
}
City Database
// This creates the DatabaseReader object, which should be reused across
// lookups.
using (var reader = new DatabaseReader("GeoIP2-City.mmdb"))
{
// Replace "City" with the appropriate method for your database, e.g.,
// "Country".
var city = reader.City("128.101.101.101");
Console.WriteLine(city.Country.IsoCode); // 'US'
Console.WriteLine(city.Country.Name); // 'United States'
Console.WriteLine(city.Country.Names["zh-CN"]); // '美国'
Console.WriteLine(city.MostSpecificSubdivision.Name); // 'Minnesota'
Console.WriteLine(city.MostSpecificSubdivision.IsoCode); // 'MN'
Console.WriteLine(city.City.Name); // 'Minneapolis'
Console.WriteLine(city.Postal.Code); // '55455'
Console.WriteLine(city.Location.Latitude); // 44.9733
Console.WriteLine(city.Location.Longitude); // -93.2323
}
Connection-Type Database
using (var reader = new DatabaseReader("GeoIP2-Connection-Type.mmdb"))
{
var response = reader.ConnectionType("128.101.101.101");
Console.WriteLine(response.ConnectionType); // 'Corporate'
Console.WriteLine(response.IPAddress); // '128.101.101.101'
}
Domain Database
using (var reader = new DatabaseReader("GeoIP2-Domain.mmdb"))
{
var response = reader.Domain("128.101.101.101");
Console.WriteLine(response.Domain); // 'umn.edu'
Console.WriteLine(response.IPAddress); // '128.101.101.101'
}
Enterprise Database
using (var reader = new DatabaseReader("/path/to/GeoIP2-Enterprise.mmdb"))
{
// Use the Enterprise(ip) method to do a lookup in the Enterprise database
var response = reader.enterprise("128.101.101.101");
var country = response.Country;
Console.WriteLine(country.IsoCode); // 'US'
Console.WriteLine(country.Name); // 'United States'
Console.WriteLine(country.Names["zh-CN"]); // '美国'
Console.WriteLine(country.Confidence); // 99
var subdivision = response.MostSpecificSubdivision;
Console.WriteLine(subdivision.Name); // 'Minnesota'
Console.WriteLine(subdivision.IsoCode); // 'MN'
Console.WriteLine(subdivision.Confidence); // 77
var city = response.City;
Console.WriteLine(city.Name); // 'Minneapolis'
Console.WriteLine(city.Confidence); // 11
var postal = response.Postal;
Console.WriteLine(postal.Code); // '55455'
Console.WriteLine(postal.Confidence); // 5
var location = response.Location;
Console.WriteLine(location.Latitude); // 44.9733
Console.WriteLine(location.Longitude); // -93.2323
Console.WriteLine(location.AccuracyRadius); // 50
}
ISP Database
using (var reader = new DatabaseReader("GeoIP2-ISP.mmdb"))
{
var response = reader.Isp("128.101.101.101");
Console.WriteLine(response.AutonomousSystemNumber); // 217
Console.WriteLine(response.AutonomousSystemOrganization); // 'University of Minnesota'
Console.WriteLine(response.Isp); // 'University of Minnesota'
Console.WriteLine(response.Organization); // 'University of Minnesota'
Console.WriteLine(response.IPAddress); // '128.101.101.101'
}
Exceptions
Database
If the database is corrupt or otherwise invalid, a
MaxMind.Db.InvalidDatabaseException will be thrown.
If an address is not available in the database, a
AddressNotFoundException will be thrown.
If the web service returns an explicit error document, this is thrown as a
AddressNotFoundException, a AuthenticationException, a
InvalidRequestException, or a OutOfQueriesException.
If some sort of transport error occurs, an HttpException is thrown. This is
thrown when some sort of unanticipated error occurs, such as the web service
returning a 500 or an invalid error document. If the web service request
returns any status code besides 200, 4xx, or 5xx, this also becomes a
HttpException.
Finally, if the web service returns a 200 but the body is invalid, the client
throws a GeoIP2Exception. This exception also is the parent exception to the
above exceptions.
Values to use for Database or Dictionary Keys
We strongly discourage you from using a value from any Names property as
a key in a database or dictionary.
These names may change between releases. Instead we recommend using one of the
following:
MaxMind.GeoIP2.Model.City - City.GeoNameId
MaxMind.GeoIP2.Model.Continent - Continent.Code or Continent.GeoNameId
MaxMind.GeoIP2.Model.Country and MaxMind.GeoIP2.Model.RepresentedCountry
Country.IsoCode or Country.GeoNameId
MaxMind.GeoIP2.Model.Subdivision - Subdivision.IsoCode or
Subdivision.GeoNameId
Multi-Threaded Use
This API fully supports use in multi-threaded applications. When using the
DatabaseReader in a multi-threaded application, we suggest creating one
object and sharing that among threads.
What data is returned?
While many of the end points return the same basic records, the attributes
which can be populated vary between end points. In addition, while an end
point may offer a particular piece of data, MaxMind does not always have every
piece of data for any given IP address.
Because of these factors, it is possible for any end point to return a record
where some or all of the attributes are unpopulated.
The only piece of data which is always returned is the ipAddress attribute
in the MaxMind.GeoIP2.Traits record.
Integration with GeoNames
GeoNames offers web services and downloadable
databases with data on geographical features around the world, including
populated places. They offer both free and paid premium data. Each feature is
unique identified by a geonameId, which is an integer.
Many of the records returned by the GeoIP2 web services and databases include
a geonameId property. This is the ID of a geographical feature (city,
region, country, etc.) in the GeoNames database.
Some of the data that MaxMind provides is also sourced from GeoNames. We
source things like place names, ISO codes, and other similar data from the
GeoNames premium data set.
If you find some other sort of mistake, like an incorrect spelling, please
check the GeoNames site first. Once you've
searched for a place and found it on the GeoNames map view, there are a number
of links you can use to correct data ("move", "edit", "alternate names",
etc.). Once the correction is part of the GeoNames data set, it will be
automatically incorporated into future MaxMind releases.
If you are a paying MaxMind customer and you're not sure where to submit a
correction, please contact MaxMind
support for help.
If you are having an issue with a MaxMind service that is not specific to the
client API, please see our support page.
Contributing
Patches and pull requests are encouraged. Please include unit tests whenever
possible.
Versioning
The API uses Semantic Versioning. However, adding new
methods to IGeoIP2Provider, IGeoIP2DatabaseReader, and
IGeoIP2WebServicesClient will not be considered a breaking change. These
interfaces only exist to facilitate unit testing and dependency injection.
They will be updated to match additional methods added to the DatabaseReader
and WebServiceClient. Such additions will be accompanied by a minor version
bump (e.g., 1.2.x to 1.3.0).
Copyright and License
This software is Copyright (c) 2013-2025 by MaxMind, Inc.
This is free software, licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.
