OpenStreetMap Belgium basemap is up to date again

25.04.2024 - Julien Minet

The OpenStreetMap Belgium base maps have been updated! OpenStreetMap Belgium has been offering free OpenStreetMap background maps for almost 7 years now. But what are these backgrounds? Well, we turn the huge and complex OpenStreetMap data into simple images or “tiles”, that can be used in any website or app.

Why are we doing this? Well, we saw that many websites use the default tiles from the openstreetmap.org website. However, this server is not meant to be used in production in live projects. To make it easier to switch to OpenStreetMap, you may use our tile server for your projects. And it does get used: many municipal websites use our tiles, as do other websites such as local tourist offices. The background maps are available for free, subject to reasonable use (see https://github.com/osmbe/openstreetmap-carto-be/wiki/Tile-Usage-Policy).

The OpenStreetMap Belgium map backgrounds come in 3 versions: a Dutch-language version, a French-language version and a standard version showing the default language. The map style is largely the same as the default on openstreetmap.org, with a few minor adaptations: zoom in on your favourite chip shop or brewery and you’ll see a specific icon!

By the way, we’re calling on anyone who would like to make the cartographic style more Belgian: we’d like to see special icons for the SNCB, pharmacies, Bpost, pelota ball courts and other local features! For this, a minimum of OpenStreetMap skills is required (e.g. knowledge of the tags used). Any member of the community can take charge of developing the cartographic style of OpenStreetMap Belgium, which is hosted here: https://github.com/osmbe/openstreetmap-carto-be.

The OpenStreetMap data for these tiles dates from 2/4/2024. In the future, we hope to update the layers every six months.

Previously, Geo-6 provided this service to the community. As they were unable to keep this up, the tiles have not been updated in quite a while. This update - and more styles yet to come! - is provided by our partner Champs-Libres as part of their Corporate Membership commitment.

We also keep a copy of the historical versions of these tiles. You can see them via tile.osm.be or our historical map to consult the 2019, 2020 and 2022 versions.