A GIS is a system that links geographic information (where things are) with descriptive information (what things are). Unlike a flat paper map, where "what you see is what you get," a GIS can present many layers of different information. It is a collaboration of people, hardware, software, data, and procedures designed to support the capture, management, manipulation, analysis, modelling, and display of spatially referenced data for solving complex planning and management problems. GIS automates the integration of spatial data models to geographic features and associated descriptive and business data.
Importantly, a GIS is not simply a computer system for making maps it is a tool that helps us better understand and visualise our data and information. A GIS does not hold maps or pictures; rather, it holds a geographic database from which we can produce and consume map based information. Database systems provide the means of storing a wide range of information and updating it without the need to rewrite applications or programs as new data is entered. GIS tools then let us perform just about any type of analysis one can imagine.
