&& Returns TRUE if A's bounding box overlaps B's. boolean && geometry A geometry B boolean && geography A geography B The && operator returns TRUE if the bounding box of geometry A overlaps the bounding box of geometry B. This operand will make use of any indexes that may be available on the geometries. Availability: 1.5.0 support for geography was introduced. &curve_support; SELECT tbl1.column1, tbl2.column1, tbl1.column2 && tbl2.column2 AS overlaps FROM ( VALUES (1, 'LINESTRING(0 0, 3 3)'::geometry), (2, 'LINESTRING(0 1, 0 5)'::geometry)) AS tbl1, ( VALUES (3, 'LINESTRING(1 2, 4 6)'::geometry)) AS tbl2; column1 | column1 | overlaps ---------+---------+---------- 1 | 3 | t 2 | 3 | f (2 rows) , , , , , &< Returns TRUE if A's bounding box overlaps or is to the left of B's. boolean &< geometry A geometry B The &< operator returns TRUE if the bounding box of geometry A overlaps or is to the left of the bounding box of geometry B, or more accurately, overlaps or is NOT to the right of the bounding box of geometry B. This operand will make use of any indexes that may be available on the geometries. SELECT tbl1.column1, tbl2.column1, tbl1.column2 &< tbl2.column2 AS overleft FROM ( VALUES (1, 'LINESTRING(1 2, 4 6)'::geometry)) AS tbl1, ( VALUES (2, 'LINESTRING(0 0, 3 3)'::geometry), (3, 'LINESTRING(0 1, 0 5)'::geometry), (4, 'LINESTRING(6 0, 6 1)'::geometry)) AS tbl2; column1 | column1 | overleft ---------+---------+---------- 1 | 2 | f 1 | 3 | f 1 | 4 | t (3 rows) , , , &<| Returns TRUE if A's bounding box overlaps or is below B's. boolean &<| geometry A geometry B The &<| operator returns TRUE if the bounding box of geometry A overlaps or is below of the bounding box of geometry B, or more accurately, overlaps or is NOT above the bounding box of geometry B. &curve_support; This operand will make use of any indexes that may be available on the geometries. SELECT tbl1.column1, tbl2.column1, tbl1.column2 &<| tbl2.column2 AS overbelow FROM ( VALUES (1, 'LINESTRING(6 0, 6 4)'::geometry)) AS tbl1, ( VALUES (2, 'LINESTRING(0 0, 3 3)'::geometry), (3, 'LINESTRING(0 1, 0 5)'::geometry), (4, 'LINESTRING(1 2, 4 6)'::geometry)) AS tbl2; column1 | column1 | overbelow ---------+---------+----------- 1 | 2 | f 1 | 3 | t 1 | 4 | t (3 rows) , , , &> Returns TRUE if A' bounding box overlaps or is to the right of B's. boolean &> geometry A geometry B The &> operator returns TRUE if the bounding box of geometry A overlaps or is to the right of the bounding box of geometry B, or more accurately, overlaps or is NOT to the left of the bounding box of geometry B. This operand will make use of any indexes that may be available on the geometries. SELECT tbl1.column1, tbl2.column1, tbl1.column2 &> tbl2.column2 AS overright FROM ( VALUES (1, 'LINESTRING(1 2, 4 6)'::geometry)) AS tbl1, ( VALUES (2, 'LINESTRING(0 0, 3 3)'::geometry), (3, 'LINESTRING(0 1, 0 5)'::geometry), (4, 'LINESTRING(6 0, 6 1)'::geometry)) AS tbl2; column1 | column1 | overright ---------+---------+----------- 1 | 2 | t 1 | 3 | t 1 | 4 | f (3 rows) , , , << Returns TRUE if A's bounding box is strictly to the left of B's. boolean << geometry A geometry B The << operator returns TRUE if the bounding box of geometry A is strictly to the left of the bounding box of geometry B. This operand will make use of any indexes that may be available on the geometries. SELECT tbl1.column1, tbl2.column1, tbl1.column2 << tbl2.column2 AS left FROM ( VALUES (1, 'LINESTRING (1 2, 1 5)'::geometry)) AS tbl1, ( VALUES (2, 'LINESTRING (0 0, 4 3)'::geometry), (3, 'LINESTRING (6 0, 6 5)'::geometry), (4, 'LINESTRING (2 2, 5 6)'::geometry)) AS tbl2; column1 | column1 | left ---------+---------+------ 1 | 2 | f 1 | 3 | t 1 | 4 | t (3 rows) , , <<| Returns TRUE if A's bounding box is strictly below B's. boolean <<| geometry A geometry B The <<| operator returns TRUE if the bounding box of geometry A is strictly below the bounding box of geometry B. This operand will make use of any indexes that may be available on the geometries. SELECT tbl1.column1, tbl2.column1, tbl1.column2 <<| tbl2.column2 AS below FROM ( VALUES (1, 'LINESTRING (0 0, 4 3)'::geometry)) AS tbl1, ( VALUES (2, 'LINESTRING (1 4, 1 7)'::geometry), (3, 'LINESTRING (6 1, 6 5)'::geometry), (4, 'LINESTRING (2 3, 5 6)'::geometry)) AS tbl2; column1 | column1 | below ---------+---------+------- 1 | 2 | t 1 | 3 | f 1 | 4 | f (3 rows) , , = Returns TRUE if A's bounding box is the same as B's. boolean = geometry A geometry B The = operator returns TRUE if the bounding box of geometry A is the same as the bounding box of geometry B. PostgreSQL uses the =, <, and > operators defined for geometries to perform internal orderings and comparison of geometries (ie. in a GROUP BY or ORDER BY clause). This is cause for a lot of confusion. When you compare geometryA = geometryB it will return true even when the geometries are clearly different IF their bounding boxes are the same. To check for true equality use or This operand will NOT make use of any indexes that may be available on the geometries. &curve_support; SELECT 'LINESTRING(0 0, 0 1, 1 0)'::geometry = 'LINESTRING(1 1, 0 0)'::geometry; ?column? ---------- t (1 row) SELECT ST_AsText(column1) FROM ( VALUES ('LINESTRING(0 0, 1 1)'::geometry), ('LINESTRING(1 1, 0 0)'::geometry)) AS foo; st_astext --------------------- LINESTRING(0 0,1 1) LINESTRING(1 1,0 0) (2 rows) -- Note: the GROUP BY uses the "=" to compare for geometry equivalency. SELECT ST_AsText(column1) FROM ( VALUES ('LINESTRING(0 0, 1 1)'::geometry), ('LINESTRING(1 1, 0 0)'::geometry)) AS foo GROUP BY column1; st_astext --------------------- LINESTRING(0 0,1 1) (1 row) , , >> Returns TRUE if A's bounding box is strictly to the right of B's. boolean >> geometry A geometry B The >> operator returns TRUE if the bounding box of geometry A is strictly to the right of the bounding box of geometry B. This operand will make use of any indexes that may be available on the geometries. SELECT tbl1.column1, tbl2.column1, tbl1.column2 >> tbl2.column2 AS right FROM ( VALUES (1, 'LINESTRING (2 3, 5 6)'::geometry)) AS tbl1, ( VALUES (2, 'LINESTRING (1 4, 1 7)'::geometry), (3, 'LINESTRING (6 1, 6 5)'::geometry), (4, 'LINESTRING (0 0, 4 3)'::geometry)) AS tbl2; column1 | column1 | right ---------+---------+------- 1 | 2 | t 1 | 3 | f 1 | 4 | f (3 rows) , , @ Returns TRUE if A's bounding box is contained by B's. boolean ~= geometry A geometry B The @ operator returns TRUE if the bounding box of geometry A is completely contained by the bounding box of geometry B. This operand will make use of any indexes that may be available on the geometries. SELECT tbl1.column1, tbl2.column1, tbl1.column2 @ tbl2.column2 AS contained FROM ( VALUES (1, 'LINESTRING (1 1, 3 3)'::geometry)) AS tbl1, ( VALUES (2, 'LINESTRING (0 0, 4 4)'::geometry), (3, 'LINESTRING (2 2, 4 4)'::geometry), (4, 'LINESTRING (1 1, 3 3)'::geometry)) AS tbl2; column1 | column1 | contained ---------+---------+----------- 1 | 2 | t 1 | 3 | f 1 | 4 | t (3 rows) , |&> Returns TRUE if A's bounding box overlaps or is above B's. boolean |&> geometry A geometry B The |&> operator returns TRUE if the bounding box of geometry A overlaps or is above the bounding box of geometry B, or more accurately, overlaps or is NOT below the bounding box of geometry B. This operand will make use of any indexes that may be available on the geometries. SELECT tbl1.column1, tbl2.column1, tbl1.column2 |&> tbl2.column2 AS overabove FROM ( VALUES (1, 'LINESTRING(6 0, 6 4)'::geometry)) AS tbl1, ( VALUES (2, 'LINESTRING(0 0, 3 3)'::geometry), (3, 'LINESTRING(0 1, 0 5)'::geometry), (4, 'LINESTRING(1 2, 4 6)'::geometry)) AS tbl2; column1 | column1 | overabove ---------+---------+----------- 1 | 2 | t 1 | 3 | f 1 | 4 | f (3 rows) , , , |>> Returns TRUE if A's bounding box is strictly above B's. boolean |>> geometry A geometry B The |>> operator returns TRUE if the bounding box of geometry A is strictly to the right of the bounding box of geometry B. This operand will make use of any indexes that may be available on the geometries. SELECT tbl1.column1, tbl2.column1, tbl1.column2 |>> tbl2.column2 AS above FROM ( VALUES (1, 'LINESTRING (1 4, 1 7)'::geometry)) AS tbl1, ( VALUES (2, 'LINESTRING (0 0, 4 2)'::geometry), (3, 'LINESTRING (6 1, 6 5)'::geometry), (4, 'LINESTRING (2 3, 5 6)'::geometry)) AS tbl2; column1 | column1 | above ---------+---------+------- 1 | 2 | t 1 | 3 | f 1 | 4 | f (3 rows) , , ~ Returns TRUE if A's bounding box contains B's. boolean ~ geometry A geometry B The ~ operator returns TRUE if the bounding box of geometry A completely contains the bounding box of geometry B. This operand will make use of any indexes that may be available on the geometries. SELECT tbl1.column1, tbl2.column1, tbl1.column2 ~ tbl2.column2 AS contains FROM ( VALUES (1, 'LINESTRING (0 0, 3 3)'::geometry)) AS tbl1, ( VALUES (2, 'LINESTRING (0 0, 4 4)'::geometry), (3, 'LINESTRING (1 1, 2 2)'::geometry), (4, 'LINESTRING (0 0, 3 3)'::geometry)) AS tbl2; column1 | column1 | contains ---------+---------+---------- 1 | 2 | f 1 | 3 | t 1 | 4 | t (3 rows) , ~= Returns TRUE if the geometry A is the same as B. boolean ~= geometry A geometry B boolean ~= geography A geography B The ~= operator returns TRUE if geometry A is the same as geometry B. It tests actual geometric equality of two features. So if A and B are the same feature, vertex-by-vertex, the operator returns TRUE. This operand will make use of any indexes that may be available on the geometries. Availability: 1.5.0 support for geography was introduced. SELECT tbl1.column1, tbl2.column1, tbl1.column2 ~= tbl2.column2 AS same FROM ( VALUES (1, 'LINESTRING (0 0, 2 2)'::geometry)) AS tbl1, ( VALUES (2, 'LINESTRING (0 0, 1 1, 2 2)'::geometry), (3, 'LINESTRING (2 2, 0 0)'::geometry), (4, 'LINESTRING (0 0, 2 2)'::geometry)) AS tbl2; column1 | column1 | same ---------+---------+------ 1 | 2 | f 1 | 3 | f 1 | 4 | t (3 rows) , ,