What is PostGIS?

PostGIS is the spatial extension of PostgreSQL: the open-source relational database with geometry types, spatial indexes, and SQL functions for distance, overlay, buffer, and aggregation. Many GIS stacks use PostGIS as central storage for vector data.

GeoServer publishes PostGIS tables as WFS/WMS; FME writes validated BGT and internal layers to PostGIS; QGIS edits directly on the database. In GeoApps those layers appear via web services — PostGIS runs on the server, not in the browser.

PostGIS is not a file format (shapefile, GeoPackage) or a map viewer. It is database plus spatial engine. PostgreSQL without PostGIS does not store geometry correctly; PostGIS without PostgreSQL does not exist.

The GeoApps PostgreSQL integration supports connections to spatial databases for organizations managing their own data alongside PDOK and Kadaster.