for what it’s worth, i think the simplification that tiwane is referring to is actually applicable only in some visualizations (for example, see https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/errors-with-imported-kml/43905/5). i don’t think there’s actually any simplification of boundaries for geospatial querying purposes, beyond any simplification that existed in the original source boundaries. in other words, any problems with boundaries is likely just problems in the original source for the boundaries, and it seems like it’s probably just a difficult challenge to get a single source of administrative boundaries that covers the entire world.
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