1. A method comprising: defining a geospatial datatype for encoding a plurality of coordinate points in a two-dimensional data space into a single datum that includes respective pairs of an X-ordinate and a Y-ordinate; dividing the two-dimensional data space into a plurality of uniform Y strips, each of a defined width; converting the X-ordinates and Y-ordinates to a normalized number format; defining a data structure for the datum comprising a strip number followed by X-ordinate data followed by Y-ordinate data for each strip of the plurality of Y strips; defining a sub-type based on the X-ordinate data, Y-ordinate data and the defined width of a Y strip; and encoding the sub-type in the data structure, wherein the component fields of the data structure are arranged so that the datum can be sorted linearly as a single unsigned integer.