ThinkGeo Maps Streets data is available in two different formats:

• A single SQLite file which is approximately 160 GB and includes the full version of the data. In addition to being used for rendering, it can also be used for routing, data analysis and other purposes. It can be used with any ThinkGeo UI Control. It is available in both Decimal Degree and Spherical Mercator projections.
• A single MBTiles file which is approximately 50 GB and contains a collection of vector tiles. These vector tiles are simplified and optimized for rendering, but cannot be used in other purposes like routing. Attribute data is also stored in each tile. It works with ThinkGeo UI Controls at version 10.5 or newer. The data is available only in the Spherical Mercator projection.

ThinkGeo Maps Streets data is sourced from OpenStreetMap and Natural Earth, both of which are open data sets. The data is updated twice a month on ThinkGeo servers. Generally speaking, Natural Earth is used at lower zoom levels, and OpenStreetMap is used at higher zoom levels.

• OpenStreetMap

  Open Street Map is built by a community of mappers that contribute and maintain data pertaining to roads, trails, cafés, railway stations, and much more, all over the world. OpenStreetMap's community is diverse, passionate, and growing every day. It's open data so you are free to use it for any purpose as long as you credit OpenStreetMap and its contributors.

• Natural Earth

  Natural Earth is a public domain map dataset available at 1:10 million (1 cm = 100 km), 1:50 million, and 1:110 million map scales. Featuring closely integrated vector and raster data, with Natural Earth one can make a variety of maps with all commonly used cartography and GIS software. Natural Earth is designed to meet the needs of experienced cartographers using a variety of software applications.

  Natural Earth was built through a collaboration of many volunteers and is supported by the North American Cartographic Information Society(NACIS). It is free for public use in any type of project.

• The SQLite version of the data can be used in all versions of ThinkGeo UI Controls. For instance, here is a sample that uses the ThinkGeo UI Desktop for WinForms edition to render a small sample of the SQLite version of the ThinkGeo Maps Streets data. The sample data is included. The styling is written in the code, you can always change it but it's not that straightforward.
• The MBTiles version of the data works with ThinkGeo UI Controls at version 10.5 or newer. We offer a selection of pre-defined styles for rendering this data, and you can easily create your own styling as well. You can find many predefined styles in ThinkGeo Demo Center. For guidance on how to create your own style, see this article.

The ThinkGeo Cloud Maps Vector Tiles service consumes the same MBTiles dataset that we've discussed in this article. Check out the Online Samples to learn more.

Here are some sample screenshots of the MBTiles dataset in action:

Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC

Downtown Shanghai