Description
The 2016 cartographic boundary shapefiles are simplified
representations of selected geographic areas from the U.S. Census Bureau's Master
Address File / Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing
(MAF/TIGER) Database (MTDB). These boundary files are specifically designed for
small-scale thematic mapping. When possible, generalization is performed with the
intent to maintain the hierarchical relationships among geographies and to maintain
the alignment of geographies within a file set for a given year. Geographic areas may
not align with the same areas from another year. Some geographies are available as
nation-based files while others are available only as state-based files. Regions are
four groupings of states (Northeast, South, Midwest, and West) established by the
Census Bureau in 1942 for the presentation of census data.
Resources
| Name | Format | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shapefile Zip File | ZIP | cb_2016_us_region_500k.zip | Open resource |
| Cartographic Boundary Shapefiles | HTML | Simplified representations of selected geographic areas from the Census Bureau's MAF/TIGER geographic database | Open resource |