4.58. Geolocation Routing

What is Geolocation Routing?

A Route 53 routing policy that returns records based on the geographic location of the user making the DNS query.

How is the user location determined?

Based on the IP address of the DNS resolver (or sometimes the end user).

What are the supported geolocation types?

• Subdivision (U.S. states)

• Country (ISO 3166 country codes)

• Continent (e.g. NA, EU, AS)

• Default (fallback if no match)

How does record matching work?

Route 53 checks in order:

1. Subdivision (state)

2. Country

3. Continent

4. Default

Returns the first matching record.

Does geolocation routing pick the closest endpoint?

❌ No. It only returns applicable records based on matching location tags.

What happens if no record matches and there's no default?

Route 53 returns no answer (NXDOMAIN).

Use case: Content restriction?

✅ Yes. For example, serve different content in the U.S. vs. Europe or restrict access to specific countries.

Use case: Language-specific content?

✅ Yes. Deliver French content to France, Spanish content to Mexico, etc.

Can geolocation routing be combined with health checks?

✅ Yes. If the selected record is unhealthy, no record is returned unless there's a fallback.

Key exam distinction vs. latency routing?

Geolocation is based on legal/administrative boundaries (not distance); latency routing is based on network performance.