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Domain Chapter
Geospatial Queries
Query the world with location-based SPARQL. Work with coordinates, calculate distances, filter by regions, and visualize results on interactive maps using Wikidata's rich geographic data.
5
Topics
Maps
Visualization
Intermediate
Level
Location Data in Knowledge Graphs
Wikidata contains geographic coordinates for millions of entities: cities, landmarks, heritage sites, universities, and more. Geospatial queries let you find places near a point, within a region, or calculate distances between locations.
The Wikidata Query Service provides powerful geospatial features including:
- Coordinate storage — Latitude/longitude points using WKT format
- Distance calculation — Find entities within a radius of a point
- Bounding boxes — Query rectangular geographic regions
- Map visualization — Display results on interactive maps
- GeoSPARQL — Standard geospatial SPARQL extensions
Geospatial Topics
Coordinates
Work with latitude and longitude coordinates. Extract, parse, and use geographic points in queries.
Learn CoordinatesDistance Queries
Calculate distances between points. Find entities within a specified radius using geof:distance.
Calculate DistanceBounding Boxes
Query entities within rectangular regions. Define areas using corner coordinates.
Use Bounding BoxesRegions & Areas
Query by administrative regions, countries, or custom geographic areas.
Explore RegionsMap Visualizations
Display query results on interactive maps. Use Wikidata Query Service's built-in map view.
Create MapsGeospatial Queries by Domain
Programming: Tech Hubs Worldwide
Headquarters of Programming Language Creators
#defaultView:Map
SELECT ?lang ?langLabel ?developer ?developerLabel
?hq ?hqLabel ?coord
WHERE {
?lang wdt:P31 wd:Q9143 ;
wdt:P178 ?developer .
?developer wdt:P159 ?hq .
?hq wdt:P625 ?coord .
SERVICE wikibase:label {
bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en" .
}
}
LIMIT 100Cultural Heritage: Museums Near You
Art Museums Within 50km of Paris
#defaultView:Map
SELECT ?museum ?museumLabel ?coord ?dist
WHERE {
# Paris coordinates
BIND("Point(2.3522 48.8566)"^^geo:wktLiteral AS ?parisLoc)
SERVICE wikibase:around {
?museum wdt:P625 ?coord .
bd:serviceParam wikibase:center ?parisLoc .
bd:serviceParam wikibase:radius "50" . # km
bd:serviceParam wikibase:distance ?dist .
}
?museum wdt:P31/wdt:P279* wd:Q207694 . # art museum
SERVICE wikibase:label {
bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en,fr" .
}
}
ORDER BY ?dist
LIMIT 50Urban: City Infrastructure
Metro Stations in a City
#defaultView:Map
SELECT ?station ?stationLabel ?coord ?lineLabel
WHERE {
?station wdt:P31 wd:Q928830 ; # metro station
wdt:P131* wd:Q90 ; # in Paris
wdt:P625 ?coord .
OPTIONAL { ?station wdt:P81 ?line . } # metro line
SERVICE wikibase:label {
bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en,fr" .
}
}Geospatial Properties & Services
Key Properties
| Property | ID | Description |
|---|---|---|
| coordinate location | wdt:P625 |
Geographic coordinates (WKT point) |
| located in | wdt:P131 |
Administrative territorial entity |
| country | wdt:P17 |
Country where entity is located |
| headquarters location | wdt:P159 |
Location of headquarters |
| location | wdt:P276 |
Location of event or item |
Wikidata Geo Services
| Service | Purpose |
|---|---|
wikibase:around |
Find entities within a radius of a point |
wikibase:box |
Find entities within a bounding box |
geof:distance |
Calculate distance between two points |
Visualizing on Maps
Add #defaultView:Map as the first line of your query to automatically
display results on an interactive map in the Wikidata Query Service. The map will
plot all entities that have coordinate values in the results.
Map View Magic Comment
#defaultView:Map
SELECT ?item ?itemLabel ?coord
WHERE {
# Your query here - must include ?coord
?item wdt:P625 ?coord .
...
}Continue Learning
Multilingual →
Query across languages and scripts.
Continue