GeoPandas Skill

geopandas spatial data library for Python: manipulation, analysis, and visualization of geographic data. Covers GeoDataFrames, spatial joins, CRS/projections, vector operations, raster integration (rasterio, xarray), choropleth mapping, interactive maps (folium), basemap tiles (contextily), spatial autocorrelation, and the PySAL ecosystem. Use when working with geographic data, reading/writing spatial files (Shapefile, GeoPackage, GeoParquet), making maps, or running spatial statistics. For interactive web-based geographic charts without spatial analysis, use plotly.

Comprehensive skill for spatial data analysis with geopandas and the broader Python geospatial stack. Use the decision trees below to find the right guidance, then load detailed references as needed.

Version Notes

This skill targets geopandas 1.x (tested with 1.1.3). Key changes from earlier versions:

• Shapely >= 2.0 required (PyGEOS backend removed, vectorized ops built-in)
• pyogrio is the default I/O engine (replacing fiona, 5-10x faster)
• cascaded_union removed — use union_all() instead
• GeoSeries.unary_union property renamed to GeoSeries.union_all() method

What is GeoPandas?

GeoPandas extends pandas with spatial data types and operations: