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SunlightLabs API
places.getDistrictFromLatLong
Get the congressional district from a latitude and longitude.
Arguments
These are all $_GET parameters.
latitude (required)
The latitude of the location to look up.
longitude (required)
The longitude of the location to look up.
apikey (required)
your individual API key
metadata (optional)
&metadata=true provides detail about source, last update of the information etc. Click here for details
output (optional)
&output=json is set by default. You can also use &output=xml
If you intend to do mass processing you may wish to use the polipoly library.
Example Call
http://api.sunlightlabs.com/places.getDistrictFromLatLong?latitude=40.6&longitude=-74.1&output=xml &apikey=23kj234kjb3kjbcl87ds
says give me the congressional district that 40.6° N and 74.1° W (around NYC). (Note that longitude should be negative for the western hemisphere)
Example Response
For the default JSON:
{
"latitude":"40.6",
"longitude":"-74.1",
"districts": [ {"state":"NY", "district":"13"} ]
}
For XML:
<results>
<latitude>40.6</latitude>
<longitude>-75.1</longitude>
<districts>
<district state="NY">13</district>
</districts>
</results>
Error Codes
If there is an error: a plain text string will be returned:
100: invalid API key
The API key was invalid
101: API key not valid for this method
Not permitted to call this particular method with this particular API key
306: Address does not fall within a congressional district
The address in question does not appear to fall within a district, ie. it is in a foreign country
311: Invalid Latitude
The latitude provided is invalid or empty.
312: Invalid Longitude
The longitude provided is invalid or empty.