[PATCH] Improve precision for boundaries + add subdivisions of Indonesia + add autonomous regions of various countries

[westnordost]

Changes overview:

1. Revised all borders to fulfill the "Villages and mayor roads should be on the right side of the border" guideline in terms of precision.
2. Added regions (islands) of Indonesia
3. Added autonomous / self-administered subdivisions

For each change, the plus in boundaries.osm size is noted.

1. Revised all borders to fulfill the guideline in terms of precision (+691 KB)

"Villages and mayor roads should be on the right side of the border". This is the guideline I followed with earlier contributions. Yes, this was an extreme amount of work 😰

Most changes were necessary in Africa, India and China because these have become somewhat less blank in the years since this file first has been created, hence, more villages are visible when tracing the boundaries from the OSM map.

E.g. IIRC in the Congo, an area the size of Sicily (+towns) was on the wrong side of the border. In India and China, also thousands of villages were on the wrong side of the province border.

Despite the greatly increased size (=increased precision), the precision in China and India may still not be up to the cited guideline 100% even in places where the villages are already mapped because the borders are so bonkers sometimes and just go straight through populated areas, e.g. see the border between Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh: ​https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/1950071#map=11/25.2847/78.9220
(For some borders, especially in India, I also doubt that what is mapped in OSM is actually correct/precise because sometimes they have almost the same shape as a river that is mapped half a kilometer in another direction and things like that. So, no need for this data to be so precise either, then.)

I expect the file to grow somewhat even further when Africa, India and China get even less blank over time. In retrospect, the cited guidelines is a high goal to aim for. At the same time, to have every road on the right side of the border would be even better. After all, it matters also near to the border on which side you have to drive, and in which language the POIs and street names are, for example.
But at least the density of (named) roads is somewhat higher in populated areas (villages etc.), so I think this is a good compromise.

2. Added regions (islands) of Indonesia (+7 KB)

Indonesia is a big and populous country with significant cultural and language differences. (Indonesia is the most language diverse country in the world, with 500+ languages spoken, IIRC). Also, it is very cheap to add these, because they are islands (=few added geometry)

Added Indonesian subdivisions :

• Java ⁽¹⁾
• Kalimantan ⁽¹⁾
• Maluku ⁽¹⁾
• Nusa Tenggara ⁽¹⁾
• Papua ⁽¹⁾
• Sulawesi ⁽¹⁾
• Sumatera ⁽¹⁾

Added autonomous / self-administered subdivisions (+178 KB)

Autonomous regions have a great deal of autonomy and hence have the power to have different legislation for things that concern OpenStreetMap, such as traffic regulations (e.g. Scotland), have different official languages (e.g. Basque Country) or open data in general.
In general, I think this is a useful consistent point to which to include country subdivisions in this file: Other than of large (federated) countries (US, CA, AU, IN, CN, ID, ...), have those subdivisions that have (certain) autonomy, such as the republics within Russia etc.

Source: ​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_autonomous_areas_by_country

The following were ommitted because there are not any ISO 3166 codes for the self-administered zones / autonomous districts / counties mentioned in the source as autonomous: Bolivia, Myanmar, India, China, Somalia.

Antigua and Barbuda (+1 KB):

• Barbuda

Bosnia and Herzegovina (+24 KB):

(all regions are autonomous)

• Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Republika Srpska
• Brčko District

Comoros (+1 KB):

(all regions are autonomous)

• Anjouan
• Grande Comore
• Mohéli

Fiji (+1 KB):

• Rotuma ⁽¹⁾

Georgia (+5 KB):

• Abkhazia ^{(1), (2)}
• Adjara
• Shida Kartli ^{(1), (2) (Northern part only, as South Ossetia)}

Greece (+1 KB):

• Monastic community of Mount Athos

Indonesia (+ 7KB):

• Yogyakarta ^{a sultanate within republic of Indonesia}
• Aceh ^{Sharia law is offical law}
• Papua ⁽¹⁾
• West Papua ⁽¹⁾
• Highland Papua ⁽¹⁾
• Central Papua ⁽¹⁾
• South Papua ⁽¹⁾

Iraq (+ 12KB):

• Kurdistan Region ⁽¹⁾

Italy (+ 10KB):

• Aosta Valley ⁽¹⁾
• Friuli-Venezia Giulia ⁽¹⁾
• Sardinia
• Sicily
• Trentino-Alto Adige ⁽¹⁾

Mauritius (+ 1KB):

• Rodrigues

Moldavia (+ 7KB):

• Administrative-Territorial Units of the Left Bank of the Dniester ^{(1), (2) (as Transnistria)}
• Bender ^{(1), (2) (as Transnistria)}
• Gagauzia ⁽¹⁾

Nicaragua (+ 3KB):

• North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region
• South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region

Pakistan (+ 5KB):

• Azad Kashmir

Papua New Guinea (+1 KB):

• Bougainville ^{intents to become independent in a few years}

Philippines (+6 KB):

• Bangsamoro ^{Muslim mayority region}

Portugal (+1 KB):

• Azores
• Madeira

Saint Kitts and Nevis (+1 KB):

• Nevis
• Saint Kitts

São Tomé and Principe (+ 1KB):

• Principe

Serbia (+ 4KB):

• Vojvodina ⁽¹⁾

South Korea (+ 1KB):

• Jeju Province

Spain (+ 68KB):

(all regions are autonomous)

• Andalusia
• Aragon ⁽¹⁾
• Asturias ⁽¹⁾
• Balearic Islands ⁽¹⁾
• Basque Country ⁽¹⁾
• Canary Islands
• Cantabria
• Castile and León
• Castilla-La Mancha
• Catalonia ⁽¹⁾
• Extremadura
• Galicia ⁽¹⁾
• La Rioja
• Madrid
• Murcia
• Navarre ⁽¹⁾
• Valencia ⁽¹⁾

Tajikistan (+ 5KB):

• Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region

Tanzania (+ 2KB):

(actually, Zanzibar+Pemba are autonomous as one but there is no ISO code for all of the subdivisions combined)

• North Pemba ⁽¹⁾
• South Pemba ⁽¹⁾
• North Zanzibar ⁽¹⁾
• West Zanzibar ⁽¹⁾
• South Zanzibar ⁽¹⁾

Trinidad and Tobago (+ 1KB):

• Tobago

United Kingdom (+ 7KB):

• Wales ⁽¹⁾
• England ^{not an autonomous region, but the only subdivision that is missing to have them all}

Uzbekistan (+ 2KB):

• Karakalpakstan ⁽¹⁾

(1) different official languages
(2) currently independent state with limited international recognition

[westnordost]

new boundaries.osm file