Hierarchical Diagrams of Census Bureau Geography

• American Indian Area/Alaska Native Area/Hawaiian Home Lands diagram [PDF]
• Census Bureau Legal and Statistical Geographic Entities [PDF]

Census Regions and Divisions of the United States

• [PDF] or [Text]

Geographic Glossaries and Guides

• Geographic Terms and Concepts
  • 2010 [PDF] [HTML]
  • 2008 [PDF] [TXT]
  • 2000 [PDF] [HTML]
• Guide to State and Local Census Geography
• 2007 Economic Census Geography Definitions
• Geographic Changes for Census 2000 + Glossary
• Geographic Areas Reference Manual (GARM) (1990 Census)
• Guide to Online Cartographic and Geographic Resources [PDF]
• Substantial County Changes 1970-Present
• Geographic Boundary Change Notes 2000 - Present

Geographic Presentations and How-To Guides

• Census Tract Presentation [PPT]  |  [PDF]
  
  • Learn the definition and history of census tracts, how they are updated and how to compare census tract boundaries decade to decade.
• Working with TIGER/Line Shapefiles How-To Guides

Geography Related Census Blog Postings

• Collecting and Maintaining our Geographic Data
• Decoding State-County Census Tracts versus Tribal Census Tracts
• The Census Bureau at the Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting
• U.S. Census Bureau Releases Updated Version of TIGERweb
• Mapping at the U.S. Census Bureau
• How Do We Measure Urban Areas
• Mapping the 2010 Census
• U.S. Census Bureau Releases 2010 Guide to State and Local Census Geography
• What Are Census Blocks?
• Why Geography Is Important

Geographic Area Criteria, Geographic Codes and Census Tract Resources

• Urban and Rural Classification
  
  • 2010, 2000 and 1990 Census Federal Register Notices; Urban Area Files; Urban Cluster Files; Major Airports
• County Adjacency File
• Census Tract Locating Resources
• American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Codes (formerly FIPS)
• Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas
• ZCTAs™ (ZIP Code™ Tabulation Areas)
  
  • Area representations of USPS ZIP Code service areas.
• U.S. Postal Service ZIP Code data
  
  • Information on the Census Bureau's position regarding ZIP Code data

Cartographic and Geographic Information Systems

• Map Image Metafile (MIM)
  
  • ASCII coded, device independent, cartographic data format
• Cartographic Boundary Files
  
  • Generalized boundary files in ARC/INFO EXPORT (.e00), ArcView Shapefile (.shp) and ARC/INFO Ungenerate (ASCII) formats

Census 2000 Reference Files

• 2000 U.S. Gazetteer
  
  • Places, ZIP Code Tabulation AreasTM, County Subdivision and County files extracted from Census 2000 SF1.
• Census 2000 Tabulation Tallies
  
  • Number of Census Tracts, Block Groups and Blocks by State and State Equivalent Area for Census 2000.

1990 Census Reference Files

• 1990 Area and Population Density using Land Area
  
  • For States, Counties, Metropolitan Areas, and Places.
• 1990 Urbanized Area Codes and Names [PDF]
• 1990 Census Tract/Block Numbering Areas
  
  • CensusTracts/BNA codes listed by County within State

---

[PDF] or denotes a file in Adobe’s Portable Document Format. To view the file, you will need the Adobe® Reader® available free from Adobe.

---

The letters PPT indicate a document is in the Microsoft® PowerPoint® Format (PPT). To view the file, you will need the Microsoft® PowerPoint® Viewer available for free from Microsoft®.

---

This symbol indicates a link to a non-government web site. Our linking to these sites does not constitute an endorsement of any products, services or the information found on them. Once you link to another site you are subject to the policies of the new site.

---

Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Geography Division
Created: January 18, 2002
Last revised: September 06, 2012
Click to subscribe