$box

  • 08/14/2025

The $box operator defines a rectangular area for geospatial queries using two coordinate pairs. It's useful for finding locations within a rectangular geographical boundary.

Syntax

The syntax for the $box operator is as follows:

{
  <location field>: {
    $geoWithin: {
      $box: [
        [<lower_left_longitude>, <lower_left_latitude>],
        [<upper_right_longitude>, <upper_right_latitude>]
      ]
    }
  }
}

Parameters

Parameter Description
location field The field containing the geospatial data
lower_left An array of [longitude, latitude] specifying the bottom-left corner
upper_right An array of [longitude, latitude] specifying the top-right corner

Example

Using the stores collection, let's find stores within a rectangular region:

db.stores.find(
  {
    location: {
      $geoWithin: {
        $box: [
          [-142.0012, -51.3041],  // Lower left corner
          [123.3403, 70.1272]     // Upper right corner
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  {
    name: 1,
    location: 1
  }
).limit(2)

This query returns all stores that fall within the rectangular region defined by these coordinates.

  {
    "_id": "923d2228-6a28-4856-ac9d-77c39eaf1800",
    "name": "Lakeshore Retail | Home Decor Hub - Franciscoton",
    "location": {
      "lat": 61.3945,
      "lon": -3.6196
    }
  },
  {
    "_id": "44fdb9b9-df83-4492-8f71-b6ef648aa312",
    "name": "Fourth Coffee | Storage Solution Gallery - Port Camilla",
    "location": {
      "lat": 78.3889,
      "lon": 0.6784
    }
  }

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