How does one select the LAST N rows from a table?

From Oracle 9i onwards, the RANK() and DENSE_RANK() functions can be used to determine the LAST N or BOTTOM N rows. Examples:

Get the bottom 10 employees based on their salary


SELECT ename, sal
FROM ( SELECT ename, sal, RANK() OVER (ORDER BY sal) sal_rank
FROM emp )
WHERE sal_rank <= 10;


Select the employees getting the lowest 10 salaries



SELECT ename, sal
FROM ( SELECT ename, sal, DENSE_RANK() OVER (ORDER BY sal) sal_dense_rank
FROM emp )
WHERE sal_dense_rank <= 10;