How to Create a Database in PostgreSQL
Last updated July 25, 2026 · By the SaturnSQL team
Use CREATE DATABASE name, optionally setting OWNER and ENCODING. It cannot run inside a transaction block, so execute it as a standalone statement. New databases are cloned from template1 unless you specify another TEMPLATE.
CREATE DATABASE analytics;With owner and template
CREATE DATABASE analytics_staging
OWNER analytics_admin
TEMPLATE analytics
ENCODING 'UTF8';Cloning from a TEMPLATE copies all its objects and data, but fails if anyone else is connected to the template database. Because CREATE DATABASE cannot run in a transaction, some GUI clients that auto-wrap statements will reject it; run it from psql or with autocommit on.
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