---
title: "Understanding OpenSanctions data"
summary: "Our data model provides a domain specific language to describe people, companies, and the relationships between them."
url: "https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/data/"
date_updated: "2026-08-04"
---

{% cardgrid %}
{% linkcard title="Entity structure" %}
[How FollowTheMoney entities and their relationships are put together](/docs/entities/)
{% /linkcard %}
{% linkcard title="Identifiers and de-duplication" %}
[How entity IDs work, and keeping stored references current](/docs/identifiers/)
{% /linkcard %}
{% linkcard title="Data enrichment" %}
[How we cross-match designated entities against reference datasets](/docs/enrichment/)
{% /linkcard %}
{% linkcard title="Monitoring workflow" %}
[Re-screen your counterparties as watchlist data changes](/docs/monitoring/)
{% /linkcard %}
{% /cardgrid %}

OpenSanctions collects data about political and economic influence and conflict. In order to correctly describe these real-world structures and the risks associated with them, we use a data model focused on the notion of **entities**.

Entities have various properties, denoting – for example – their name, creation date, and association with one or more countries. They can also use properties to reference other entities, e.g. a `Passport` entity will link to its `holder`. Some relationships are entities in their own right: a `Person` can be linked to a `Company` via an `Ownership` entity, which might document further details, like the time period and ownership percentage.

## Learn more

- See the [data dictionary](/reference/) for reference of all available entity types, their possible properties and values.
- See [entity risk tagging](/docs/topics/) for how to use this data for common use cases like sanction screening and PEP identification.
- See [statement-based data](/docs/statements/) for the more detailed data format providing full provenance linking every property value to its source.
- See the [changelog](/changelog/) to follow current and planned evolutions of the data model and metadata structure.