Web Vocabulary (JSON-LD)

The UN/LOCODE Web Vocabulary is a linked data representation of UN/LOCODE, published as JSON-LD using the UNCEFACT vocabulary namespace. It provides machine-readable, semantically rich access to the full code list — countries, locations, subdivisions, and function codes — as part of the UN/CEFACT Buy-Ship-Pay Reference Data Model.

Browse the Vocabulary

The vocabulary is hosted at vocabulary.uncefact.org and provides browsable views of:

Resource	Description	Browse
Countries	All ISO 3166-1 country codes used in UN/LOCODE	Browse
Country Subdivisions	ISO 3166-2 administrative divisions (states, provinces, etc.)	Browse
Functions	Transport and facility function classifiers (port, airport, rail, etc.)	Browse

Data Model

The vocabulary defines the following classes and properties:

Classes

Class	URI	Description
Country	unlcdv:Country	ISO 3166-1 two-letter country code
UNLOCODE	unlcdv:UNLOCODE	A trade and transport location identified by a 5-character code
Subdivision	unlcdv:Subdivision	ISO 3166-2 administrative subdivision
Function	unlcdv:Function	Transport mode or facility function classifier

Properties

Property	Domain	Range	Description
unlcdv:countryCode	UNLOCODE, Subdivision	Country	Links to the ISO 3166-1 country
unlcdv:countrySubdivision	UNLOCODE	Subdivision	Links to the ISO 3166-2 subdivision
unlcdv:functions	UNLOCODE	Function	Transport/facility function codes
unlcdv:subdivisionType	Subdivision	string	Type of administrative division

Namespaces

Prefix	URI
unlcdv:	https://vocabulary.uncefact.org/unlocode-vocab/
unlcd:	https://vocabulary.uncefact.org/unlocode#
unlcdc:	https://vocabulary.uncefact.org/unlocode-countries#
unlcdf:	https://vocabulary.uncefact.org/unlocode-functions#
unlcds:	https://vocabulary.uncefact.org/unlocode-subdivisions#

Accessing via Content Negotiation

The vocabulary supports content negotiation. To retrieve JSON-LD programmatically:

curl -H "Accept: application/ld+json" https://vocabulary.uncefact.org/unlocode-vocab-context.jsonld

Example Entry

A single UN/LOCODE entry in JSON-LD:

{
  "@id": "unlcd:GBLON",
  "@type": "unlcdv:UNLOCODE",
  "rdf:value": "GBLON",
  "rdfs:label": { "@language": "en", "@value": "London" },
  "unlcdv:countryCode": { "@id": "unlcdc:GB" },
  "unlcdv:functions": [
    { "@id": "unlcdf:1" },
    { "@id": "unlcdf:5" }
  ]
}

Relationship to SKOS

The Web Vocabulary uses a custom UNCEFACT ontology (unlcdv:) tailored to the UN/LOCODE data model. UN/LOCODE is also available as a SKOS vocabulary using W3C standard terms, which provides broader interoperability with generic semantic web tools. The two formats complement each other:

• Web Vocabulary (JSON-LD) — rich, domain-specific model using UNCEFACT classes and properties
• SKOS (Turtle) — standard code list format understood by any SKOS-aware tool

Both use the same vocabulary.uncefact.org URI space, ensuring concepts are consistently identified across formats.