Spatially-enabled databases
In a sense, almost any database can be used to store geospatial data: simply convert a geometry to WKT format and store the results in a text column. But while this would allow you to store geospatial data in a database, it wouldn't let you query it in any useful way. All you could do is retrieve the raw WKT text and convert it back to a geometry object, one record at a time.
A spatially-enabled database, on the other hand, is aware of the notion of space, and allows you to work with spatial objects and concepts directly. In particular, a spatially-enabled database allows you to:
Store spatial data types (points, lines, polygons, and so on) directly in the database in the form of a
geometrycolumnPerform spatial queries on your data, for example,
select all landmarks within 10 km of the city named "San Francisco"Perform spatial joins on your data, for example,
select all cities and their associated countries by joining cities and countries on (city inside country...
