Map Layer Info
| Two Million-Scale County Boundaries of the United States | |
What this map layer shows: The boundaries for counties and county equivalents at a scale of 1:2,000,000 as of 2001. |
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| Background Information | |
Sample Map
Counties play widely varying roles within the governments of the States. Historically, the framers of the Constitution of the United States gave exclusive powers to the States to establish their own local governments. As a result, local governments reflect the history, philosophies, geography, and needs of each State. Most of the counties and county equivalents in the United States have fully functioning governments, although in the States of Connecticut and Rhode Island, none of the county subdivisions have functioning governments. Traditionally, counties have provided services to their citizens, such as record keeping, maintenance of rural roads, property assessment, the administration of elections, and other public services. Today, many county governments are moving into areas such as economic development, consumer protection, planning and zoning, and water quality. The 2-Million-Scale County Boundaries map layer features boundaries for counties and county equivalents for the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Historic county boundaries map layers for 1980, 1990, and 2000 are also available as is a more recent map layer published in 2012 at a scale of 1:1,000,000. The National Atlas of the United States compiled all these map layers, using a variety of sources; the sources are listed in the National Atlas Metadata. Descriptive information includes county and State names and the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) codes for each county. FIPS codes are standardized numeric codes used to ensure uniform identification of geographic entities through all Federal Government agencies. In cooperation with national mapping programs in Canada and Mexico, we also produce a map layer of political boundaries across North America. |
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| Boundaries |
| Map Maker Sample |
| County Boundaries 2001 |
