Geography

The geography staff provides geographical support for all census operations. This support ranges from providing maps and an updated address list for the decennial census, to educating the general public about the various levels of geography maintained by the Census Bureau. The Dallas geography staff played a vital role in the completion of the largest peacetime activity in the history of the nation, Census 2000.

Almost all census data is linked to a geographic area. Geographic areas can range from very large, such as a state or county, to very small, such as a voting district, or census tract. No matter the scale of the geography, these areas are maintained by the geography staff in the Census Bureau’s Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing System, aka TIGER® System. The TIGER System was developed with the help of the U. S. Geological Survey, to meet the needs of the 1990 census by automating geographic activities. The TIGER database, the heart of the TIGER System, does not contain statistical data. Instead, it contains geographic information such as coordinates for legal and statistical entities, and map features such as roads, streams, railroads, etc. These map features are identified by their names, latitude and longitude, and other information. The TIGER database also contains address range information for road segments. The Census Bureau provides extracts, by county, of the TIGER database in TIGER/Line® format. TIGER/Line files can be imported into a Geographic Information System and joined with census statistical information. With the proper software, TIGER/Line files enable users to create a map of any area and to analyze information about that area. For more information go to TIGER.

The Dallas geography staff is responsible for geographic activities in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. These three states comprise 400 counties and parishes, approximately 1,800 incorporated places, and seven federally-recognized Indian Reservations. For Census 2000, the geography staff solicited help from the nearly 2,200 governmental entities mentioned above, and worked extensively on numerous other geographic programs. These programs included updating TIGER to improve features and to geocode addresses, working with local and tribal officials to update the Master Address File (MAF), working with local and tribal officials to record and update boundaries of geographic areas that will appear in data tabulations, and producing maps for use by local and tribal officials, census workers, and data users. They continue to provide input regarding future geographic programs the Census Bureau intends to pursue.

Geography Related Programs:

Boundary & Annexation Survey (BAS)
The purpose of the Boundary and Annexation Survey is to determine the inventory of legally defined entities and the correct names, political descriptions and legal boundaries of counties and equivalent areas, minor civil divisions, incorporated places, American Indian reservations, and American Indian off-reservation trust lands.

Cooperative Programs with Commercial Partners (CRADA)

2010 LUCA Promotional Workshop Participant Guide

MAF/TIGER Modernization Program

Standards, Commissions, and Committees

Geography Related Sites:

To obtain digital files for your Geographic Information System (GIS) or similar mapping system visit the Cartographic Boundary Files page, or the TIGER page.

For more information about Census Geography visit the National Census Bureau Geography Web Page.

Contact Information:

Write to: Geography
Dallas Regional Office
8585 Stemmons North Freeway, Suite 800S
Dallas, TX 75247
Phone: (214) 253-4400
Fax: (214) 655-5365

E-mail: DARO.GEOWeb@census.gov