# Setting Boundaries

This section guides you on how to set up boundaries which are useful in the creating an [Alert Area by polygon]() .


<!-- TODO : Link to this section above -->

The Geo Manager allows for the addition of boundaries to be used in the creation of an alert area using the admin boundary option.

![Boundary Settings](../../_static/images/cap/geomanager_boundary.png "Boundary Settings")

To access it, click on the geomanager in the explorer menu as below and select 'Boundary settings' to select the boundary data source and country/countries of interest. You will then need to add boundary data for the countries selected:

![Boundary Settings](../../_static/images/cap/geomanager_boundary_settings.png "Boundary Settings")


Select the 'boundary data source' where you will download the boundaries. The current options are:

- OCHA Administrative Boundary common Operational Datasets (COD-ABS) (*default*) https://data.humdata.org/
- Global Administrative Areas 4.1 (GADM) https://gadm.org/download_country.html

![Boundary Settings](../../_static/images/cap/geomanager_country_select.png "Boundary Settings")


Add one or more countries

To add boundary data, access the menu as below and click on 'Country Boundary Loader' and click 'Add boundary' button:

![Boundary Settings](../../_static/images/cap/geomanager_boundary_settings.png "Boundary Settings")

![Boundary Settings](../../_static/images/cap/add_admin_boundary.png "Boundary Settings")

Load country boundaries at each of different levels (level 0 to 4) in zipped shapefile format

![Boundary Loader](../../_static/images/cap/upload_boundary_file.png "Boundary Loader")

```{note}
Zip shapefiles seperately by Admin levels before upload. 
```