Place Validation API

Overview

The Place Validation API ensures that user-provided addresses—from country level down to specific districts—are geographically consistent. Because address data in certain regions can be inconsistent, our API uses a probabilistic matching engine to provide a "Confidence Level" for each part of the address.

The Probability Logic

In regions like Ethiopia, geographic data can be scarce or inconsistently mapped. Our API doesn't just return a "Yes/No" answer. Instead:

• Similarity Scoring: We calculate the phonetic and string similarity between the input and our database.

• Parent-Child Validation: We verify that a sub-location (e.g., a Borough) actually belongs to the parent location (e.g., a Municipality).

• Confidence Levels: We return high, medium, or low confidence. This allows developers to handle "fuzzy" matches gracefully rather than rejecting valid but slightly misspelled inputs.

Use Cases

Usage

To use the Place Validation API, send a POST request:

curl https://mapapi.gebeta.app/api/v1/place/validation

Request Example (POST)

curl --request POST \
--url 'https://mapapi.gebeta.app/api/v1/place/validation' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
  "country": "Ethiopia",
  "province": "Addis Ababa",
  "county": "Addis Ababa",
  "municipality": "Addis Ababa",
  "borough": "Bole",
  "district": "woreda 14"
}'

Confidence Levels Explained

API Limits and Restrictions

The Place Validation API follows the standard Gebeta Maps rate limits:

Rate Limit: 50 requests per second per token.

• Data Note: For certain districts in Ethiopia, confidence may be "Medium" even with correct spelling due to evolving administrative boundaries.