Bounding Boxes - SPARQLqueries

The wikibase:box Service

Use wikibase:box to find entities within a rectangular region defined by southwest and northeast corner coordinates.

Parameter	Description
`wikibase:cornerSouthWest`	Southwest corner point (min lat, min long)
`wikibase:cornerNorthEast`	Northeast corner point (max lat, max long)

Basic Bounding Box Query

All Places in a Region

Run ↗

#defaultView:Map
SELECT ?place ?placeLabel ?coord
WHERE {
  # Define bounding box for Île-de-France region
  SERVICE wikibase:box {
    ?place wdt:P625 ?coord .
    bd:serviceParam wikibase:cornerSouthWest
      "Point(1.4 48.1)"^^geo:wktLiteral .
    bd:serviceParam wikibase:cornerNorthEast
      "Point(3.6 49.3)"^^geo:wktLiteral .
  }

  # Filter to museums
  ?place wdt:P31/wdt:P279* wd:Q33506 .  # museum

  SERVICE wikibase:label {
    bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en,fr" .
  }
}

Geospatial Service: wikibase:box

Cultural Heritage: Heritage Sites in a Country

UNESCO Sites in Mediterranean Region

Run ↗

#defaultView:Map
SELECT ?site ?siteLabel ?coord ?country ?countryLabel
WHERE {
  # Mediterranean bounding box
  SERVICE wikibase:box {
    ?site wdt:P625 ?coord .
    bd:serviceParam wikibase:cornerSouthWest
      "Point(-6 30)"^^geo:wktLiteral .
    bd:serviceParam wikibase:cornerNorthEast
      "Point(36 46)"^^geo:wktLiteral .
  }

  ?site wdt:P1435 wd:Q9259 ;  # UNESCO site
        wdt:P17 ?country .

  SERVICE wikibase:label {
    bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en" .
  }
}

Geospatial Domain: Cultural Heritage | Mediterranean region

Urban: City Infrastructure

Train Stations in Manhattan

Run ↗

#defaultView:Map
SELECT ?station ?stationLabel ?coord
WHERE {
  # Manhattan bounding box
  SERVICE wikibase:box {
    ?station wdt:P625 ?coord .
    bd:serviceParam wikibase:cornerSouthWest
      "Point(-74.02 40.70)"^^geo:wktLiteral .
    bd:serviceParam wikibase:cornerNorthEast
      "Point(-73.90 40.88)"^^geo:wktLiteral .
  }

  # Railway or metro stations
  { ?station wdt:P31 wd:Q55488 . }  # railway station
  UNION
  { ?station wdt:P31 wd:Q928830 . } # metro station

  SERVICE wikibase:label {
    bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en" .
  }
}

Geospatial Domain: Urban | Transit in Manhattan

Manual Bounding Box with FILTER

You can also create bounding boxes manually using FILTER on extracted coordinates. This is more flexible but less performant than the service.

Manual Lat/Long Filtering

Run ↗

#defaultView:Map
SELECT ?city ?cityLabel ?coord ?lat ?long
WHERE {
  ?city wdt:P31/wdt:P279* wd:Q515 ;
        wdt:P625 ?coord .

  BIND(geof:latitude(?coord) AS ?lat)
  BIND(geof:longitude(?coord) AS ?long)

  # Manual bounding box for Europe
  FILTER(?lat >= 35 && ?lat <= 70)
  FILTER(?long >= -10 && ?long <= 40)

  SERVICE wikibase:label {
    bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en" .
  }
}
LIMIT 500

Geospatial Alternative: Manual FILTER approach