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 Denver 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 Denver geography staff is responsible for
geographic activities in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Montana,
Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah,
and Wyoming. These ten states comprise 449 counties, approximately
2,131 incorporated places, and 90 federally-recognized Indian
Reservations. For Census 2000, the geography staff solicited
help from the nearly 5,400 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:
The purpose of the Boundary
& Annexation Survey (BAS) 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)
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 Census Bureau's
Geography Web Page
Contact Information:
Write to:
Geography Section
Denver Regional Office
6900 W Jefferson Avenue, Suite 100
Denver, CO 80235-2032
Phone: (303) 264-0290
Fax: (303) 969-6777
