# \$1nearSphere
<a name="nearSphere"></a>

The `$nearSphere` operator in Amazon DocumentDB is used to find documents that are within a specified distance of a geospatial point. This operator is particularly useful for geo-spatial queries, such as finding all restaurants within a certain radius of a given location.

**Parameters**
+ `$geometry`: A GeoJSON object that represents the reference point. Must be a `Point` object with `type` and `coordinates` fields.
+ `$minDistance`: (optional) The minimum distance (in meters) from the reference point that documents must be.
+ `$maxDistance`: (optional) The maximum distance (in meters) from the reference point that documents must be.

## Example (MongoDB Shell)
<a name="nearSphere-examples"></a>

In this example, we will find all restaurants within 2 kilometers (2000 meters) of a specific location in Seattle, WA.

**Create sample documents**

```
db.usarestaurants.insert([
  {
    name: "Noodle House",
    location: { type: "Point", coordinates: [-122.3516, 47.6156] }
  },
  {
    name: "Pike Place Grill",
    location: { type: "Point", coordinates: [-122.3403, 47.6101] }
  },
  {
    name: "Seattle Coffee Co.",
    location: { type: "Point", coordinates: [-122.3339, 47.6062] }
  }
]);
```

**Query example**

```
db.usarestaurants.find({
  location: {
    $nearSphere: {
      $geometry: {
        type: "Point",
        coordinates: [-122.3516, 47.6156]
      },
      $minDistance: 1,
      $maxDistance: 2000
    }
  }
}, {
  name: 1
});
```

**Output**

```
{ "_id" : ObjectId("611f3da985009a81ad38e74b"), "name" : "Noodle House" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("611f3da985009a81ad38e74c"), "name" : "Pike Place Grill" }
```

## Code examples
<a name="nearSphere-code"></a>

To view a code example for using the `$nearSphere` command, choose the tab for the language that you want to use:

------
#### [ Node.js ]

```
const { MongoClient } = require('mongodb');

async function findNearbyRestaurants() {
  const client = await MongoClient.connect('mongodb://<username>:<password>@<cluster-endpoint>:27017/?tls=true&tlsCAFile=global-bundle.pem&replicaSet=rs0&readPreference=secondaryPreferred&retryWrites=false');
  const db = client.db('test');
  const restaurants = db.collection('usarestaurants');

  const result = await restaurants.find({
    location: {
      $nearSphere: {
        $geometry: {
          type: "Point",
          coordinates: [-122.3516, 47.6156]
        },
        $minDistance: 1,
        $maxDistance: 2000
      }
    }
  }, {
    projection: { name: 1 }
  }).toArray();

  console.log(result);
  client.close();
}

findNearbyRestaurants();
```

------
#### [ Python ]

```
from pymongo import MongoClient

def find_nearby_restaurants():
    client = MongoClient('mongodb://<username>:<password>@<cluster-endpoint>:27017/?tls=true&tlsCAFile=global-bundle.pem&replicaSet=rs0&readPreference=secondaryPreferred&retryWrites=false')
    db = client.test
    restaurants = db.usarestaurants

    result = list(restaurants.find({
        'location': {
            '$nearSphere': {
                '$geometry': {
                    'type': 'Point',
                    'coordinates': [-122.3516, 47.6156]
                },
                '$minDistance': 1,
                '$maxDistance': 2000
            }
        }
    }, {
        'name': 1
    }))

    print(result)
    client.close()

find_nearby_restaurants()
```

------