Due to its nearly 1.5 million ha extension and the aimed fine mapping resolution, classical vegetation mapping was not suitable method to prepare the habitat map of Duna-Tisza köze region (Hungary). We developed a novel mapping method. By this method the actual status of more than 12,000 patches of semi-natural vegetation was recorded, documented previously as grasslands, wetlands, open forests and grasslands with scattered trees and shrubs in the middle of the 1980s. A digital layer of 272,387 ha at 1 : 25,000 resolution was created as the background of the analysis. Vegetation type was classified at 46,930 points in the mapping area. The collaboration of 59 colleagues resulted in the development of the digital geographical database of the study area (D-TMap GIS Point database). One-third of the data relies on field data, while the other two-thirds on satellite interpretation. Landscape pattern and the accuracy of the statistical data of the habitats, generated from the point database, are improved by the polygonised version of the point database (D-TMap GIS Polygon database). In this paper we show how the GIS Point database was generated, and summarise the ecological content, availability, and limitation of the derived point and polygon based actual habitat maps. Analysis of the database and the landscape scale pattern of the habitats are discussed in a further paper.