# Using PyGMT to selectively paint countries

**URL:** <https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/t/using-pygmt-to-selectively-paint-countries/1110>\
**Category:** PyGMT Q&A\
**Created:** [December 3, 2020, 8:22am UTC](https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/t/using-pygmt-to-selectively-paint-countries/1110 "2020-12-03T08:22:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![willschlitzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@willschlitzer](https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/u/willschlitzer)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 8:22am UTC](https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/t/using-pygmt-to-selectively-paint-countries/1110/1 "2020-12-03T08:22:13Z")

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Is there a way to selectively paint countries when using `pygmt.Figure.coast` like there is when using the `-E` option on `gmt coast`? It’s not listed as an available parameter on the `pygmt.Figure.coast` documentation and I’m not seeing an equivalent capability in one of its other the parameters.

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**Author:** ![weiji14](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex047/user_avatar/forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/weiji14/32/33_2.png) [@weiji14](https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/u/weiji14)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 3:54am UTC](https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/t/using-pygmt-to-selectively-paint-countries/1110/2 "2020-12-10T03:54:20Z")

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Not recommended, but you could do `fig.coast(E=...)`. But best to open up a pull request to add a long-alias for E, see e.g. [https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/481](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/481) for how it can be done 😉

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**Author:** ![willschlitzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@willschlitzer](https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/u/willschlitzer)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2021, 9:25am UTC](https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/t/using-pygmt-to-selectively-paint-countries/1110/3 "2021-01-21T09:25:13Z")

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Per my pull request, the alias is `dcw=` to selectively paint countries once v0.3 is released!

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**Author:** ![liamtoney](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex047/user_avatar/forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/liamtoney/32/2021_2.png) [@liamtoney](https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/u/liamtoney)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 6:44am UTC](https://forum.generic-mapping-tools.org/t/using-pygmt-to-selectively-paint-countries/1110/4 "2021-02-10T06:44:31Z")

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Awesome! Will be a useful addition.