I downloaded GADM administrative level 0 worldwide and it seems very simple file: 255 rows of polygons representing countries. But the size of the file is very large: >500 MB. Why it's happening? Usually table with 255 rows should be roughly few MB's.
[GIS] Why the shapefile of worldwide country boundaries is so large (>500 MB)
gadmshapefile
Best Answer
The dataset is so large, because the borders are very detailed.
If you are looking for a worldwide overview, you better take the data from Natural Earth. They provide datasets suitable for different scales. https://www.naturalearthdata.com/http//www.naturalearthdata.com/download/110m/cultural/110m_cultural.zip is the smallest one.