The 2022 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. This file depicts the shape of the United States clipped back to a generalized coastline. This nation layer covers the extent of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and each of the Island Areas (American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) when scale appropriate.
U.S. Government Workshttps://www.usa.gov/government-works
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The USGS Governmental Unit Boundaries dataset from The National Map (TNM) represents major civil areas for the Nation, including States or Territories, counties (or equivalents), Federal and Native American areas, congressional districts, minor civil divisions, incorporated places (such as cities and towns), and unincorporated places. Boundaries data are useful for understanding the extent of jurisdictional or administrative areas for a wide range of applications, including mapping or managing resources, and responding to natural disasters. Boundaries data also include extents of forest, grassland, park, wilderness, wildlife, and other reserve areas useful for recreational activities, such as hiking and backpacking. Boundaries data are acquired from a variety of government sources. The data represents the source data with minimal editing or review by USGS. Please refer to the feature-level metadata ...
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This dataset represents States and equivalent entities, which are the primary governmental divisions of the United States. The TIGER/Line shapefiles and related database files (.dbf) are an extract of selected geographic and cartographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau's Master Address File / Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) Database (MTDB). The MTDB represents a seamless national file with no overlaps or gaps between parts, however, each TIGER/Line shapefile is designed to stand alone as an independent data set, or they can be combined to cover the entire nation. In addition to the fifty States, the Census Bureau treats the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and each of the Island Areas (American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) as the statistical equivalents of States for the purpose of data presentation.
The 2023 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. Block Groups (BGs) are clusters of blocks within the same census tract. Each census tract contains at least one BG, and BGs are uniquely numbered within census tracts. BGs have a valid code range of 0 through 9. BGs have the same first digit of their 4-digit census block number from the same decennial census. For example, tabulation blocks numbered 3001, 3002, 3003,.., 3999 within census tract 1210.02 are also within BG 3 within that census tract. BGs coded 0 are intended to only include water area, no land area, and they are generally in territorial seas, coastal water, and Great Lakes water areas. Block groups generally contain between 600 and 3,000 people. A BG usually covers a contiguous area but never crosses county or census tract boundaries. They may, however, cross the boundaries of other geographic entities like county subdivisions, places, urban areas, voting districts, congressional districts, and American Indian / Alaska Native / Native Hawaiian areas. The generalized BG boundaries in this release are based on those that were delineated as part of the Census Bureau's Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP) for the 2020 Census.
Important Note: This item is in mature support as of June 2024 and will retire in December 2026. A new version of this item is available for your use.This layer presents the USA 2020 Census State boundaries of the United States in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The geography is sourced from US Census Bureau 2020 TIGER FGDB (National Sub-State) and edited using TIGER Hydrology to add a detailed coastline for cartographic purposes.Attribute fields include 2020 total population from the US Census PL94 data.The boundaries are sourced from US Census TIGER files. These were published in May 2023. A new layer will be published in 12-18 months. Other administrative boundaries for this country are also available: Country County ZIP Code Tract BlockGroup
The 2020 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.
A consolidated city is a unit of local government for which the functions of an incorporated place and its county or minor civil division (MCD) have merged. This action results in both the primary incorporated place and the county or MCD continuing to exist as legal entities, even though the county or MCD performs few or no governmental functions and has few or no elected officials. Where this occurs, and where one or more other incorporated places in the county or MCD continue to function as separate governments, even though they have been included in the consolidated government, the primary incorporated place is referred to as a consolidated city. The Census Bureau classifies the separately incorporated places within the consolidated city as place entities and creates a separate place (balance) record for the portion of the consolidated city not within any other place.
The generalized boundaries of the consolidated cities in this file are based on those as of January 1, 2020, as reported through the Census Bureau's Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS).
Three feature layers of Unites States internal state boundaries at different scales: 1:500K, 1:5M, and 1:20M. These layers are intended for use as a cartographic product. It is up to the user to determine which layer is most appropriate for their map.Derived from 2019 US Census Bureau Cartographic Boundary Files for state boundaries using ArcGIS Pro 2.4.3. Process:Original files were downloaded from US Census for the three different scales.Polygons were then converted to lines using the Polygon-to-Line tool.To remove the coastlines, all rows not having a LEFT_FID or RIGHT_FID attribute equal to -1 were then exported to a new geodatabase feature class.The geodatabase was zipped and uploaded to ArcGIS Online.For more information on Cartographic Boundary Files visit https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/technical-documentation/naming-convention/cartographic-boundary-file.html and https://www.census.gov/geographies/mapping-files/time-series/geo/cartographic-boundary.html.Created by Ryan Davis (RDavis9@cdc.gov) on behalf of CDC/ATSDR/DTHHS/GRASP.
This map service contains the most current version of the USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD) from The National Map (TNM). The WBD defines the perimeter of drainage areas formed by the terrain and other landscape characteristics. These drainage areas or Hydrologic Unit (HU) polygon boundaries are available for the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The drainage areas are nested within each other so that a large drainage area, such as the Upper Mississippi River, will be composed of multiple smaller drainage areas, such as the Wisconsin River. Each of these smaller areas can further be subdivided into smaller and smaller drainage areas. The WBD uses six different levels in this hierarchy, with the smallest averaging about 30,000 acres. The WBD is made up of polygons nested into six levels of data respectively defined by Regions, Subregions, Basins, Subbasins, Watersheds, and Subwatersheds.The data is a seamless National representation of HU boundaries from 2 to 14 digits compiled from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD) sources. Purpose: This data is intended primarily for geographic display and analysis of regional and national data, and can also be used for illustration purposes at intermediate or small scales (1:250,000 to 1:2,000,000). For additional information on the WBD, go to https://nhd.usgs.gov/wbd.html.
These are full-resolution boundary files, derived from TIGER/Line Shapefiles, the fully-supported, core geographic products from the US Census Bureau. They are extracts of selected geographic and cartographic information from the US Census Bureau's Master Address File/Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) database. These include information for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Island areas (American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands). These include polygon boundaries of geographic and statistical areas, linear features including roads and hydrography, and point features. These files are converted and made available in BigQuery by the Cloud Public Datasets Program to support geospatial analysis through BigQuery GIS . The dataset describes the boundaries of the following US areas: States Counties 115th & 116th US Congressional Districts Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas Urban Areas City Limits Combined Statistical Areas Coastline Populated Places National border For more details on each dataset, see the technical documentation published by the Census Bureau. This public dataset is hosted in Google BigQuery and is included in BigQuery's 1TB/mo of free tier processing. This means that each user receives 1TB of free BigQuery processing every month, which can be used to run queries on this public dataset. Watch this short video to learn how to get started quickly using BigQuery to access public datasets. What is BigQuery .</
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The TIGER/Line shapefiles and related database files (.dbf) are an extract of selected geographic and cartographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau's Master Address File / Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) Database (MTDB). The MTDB represents a seamless national file with no overlaps or gaps between parts, however, each TIGER/Line shapefile is designed to stand alone as an independent data set, or they can be combined to cover the entire nation. The primary legal divisions of most states are termed counties. In Louisiana, these divisions are known as parishes. In Alaska, which has no counties, the equivalent entities are the organized boroughs, city and boroughs, municipalities, and for the unorganized area, census areas. The latter are delineated cooperatively for statistical purposes by the State of Alaska and the Census Bureau. In four states (Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia), there are one or more incorporated places that are independent of any county organization and thus constitute primary divisions of their states. These incorporated places are known as independent cities and are treated as equivalent entities for purposes of data presentation. The District of Columbia and Guam have no primary divisions, and each area is considered an equivalent entity for purposes of data presentation. The Census Bureau treats the following entities as equivalents of counties for purposes of data presentation: Municipios in Puerto Rico, Districts and Islands in American Samoa, Municipalities in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Islands in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The entire area of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Island Areas is covered by counties or equivalent entities. The boundaries for counties and equivalent entities are as of January 1, 2017, primarily as reported through the Census Bureau's Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS).
The 2019 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.
Contains:World HillshadeWorld Street Map (with Relief) - Base LayerLarge Scale International Boundaries (v11.3)World Street Map (with Relief) - LabelsDoS Country Labels DoS Country LabelsCountry (admin 0) labels that have been vetted for compliance with foreign policy and legal requirements. These labels are part of the US Federal Government Basemap, which contains the borders and place names that have been vetted for compliance with foreign policy and legal requirements.Source: DoS Country Labels - Overview (arcgis.com)Large Scale International BoundariesVersion 11.3Release Date: December 19, 2023DownloadFor more information on the LSIB click here: https://geodata.state.gov/ A direct link to the data is available here: https://data.geodata.state.gov/LSIB.zipAn ISO-compliant version of the LSIB metadata (in ISO 19139 format) is here: https://geodata.state.gov/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/3bdb81a0-c1b9-439a-a0b1-85dac30c59b2 Direct inquiries to internationalboundaries@state.govOverviewThe Office of the Geographer and Global Issues at the U.S. Department of State produces the Large Scale International Boundaries (LSIB) dataset. The current edition is version 11.3 (published 19 December 2023). The 11.3 release contains updates to boundary lines and data refinements enabling reuse of the dataset. These data and generalized derivatives are the only international boundary lines approved for U.S. Government use. The contents of this dataset reflect U.S. Government policy on international boundary alignment, political recognition, and dispute status. They do not necessarily reflect de facto limits of control.National Geospatial Data AssetThis dataset is a National Geospatial Data Asset managed by the Department of State on behalf of the Federal Geographic Data Committee's International Boundaries Theme.DetailsSources for these data include treaties, relevant maps, and data from boundary commissions and national mapping agencies. Where available and applicable, the dataset incorporates information from courts, tribunals, and international arbitrations. The research and recovery process involves analysis of satellite imagery and elevation data. Due to the limitations of source materials and processing techniques, most lines are within 100 meters of their true position on the ground.Attribute StructureThe dataset uses thefollowing attributes:Attribute NameCC1COUNTRY1CC2COUNTRY2RANKSTATUSLABELNOTES These attributes are logically linked:Linked AttributesCC1COUNTRY1CC2COUNTRY2RANKSTATUS These attributes have external sources:Attribute NameExternal Data SourceCC1GENCCOUNTRY1DoS ListsCC2GENCCOUNTRY2DoS ListsThe eight attributes listed above describe the boundary lines contained within the LSIB dataset in both a human and machine-readable fashion. Other attributes in the release include "FID", "Shape", and "Shape_Leng" are components of the shapefile format and do not form an intrinsic part of the LSIB."CC1" and "CC2" fields are machine readable fields which contain political entity codes. These codes are derived from the Geopolitical Entities, Names, and Codes Standard (GENC) Edition 3 Update 18. The dataset uses the GENC two-character codes. The code ‘Q2’, which is not in GENC, denotes a line in the LSIB representing a boundary associated with an area not contained within the GENC standard.The "COUNTRY1" and "COUNTRY2" fields contain human-readable text corresponding to the name of the political entity. These names are names approved by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) as incorporated in the list of Independent States in the World and the list of Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty maintained by the Department of State. To ensure the greatest compatibility, names are presented without diacritics and certain names are rendered using commonly accepted cartographic abbreviations. Names for lines associated with the code ‘Q2’ are descriptive and are not necessarily BGN-approved. Names rendered in all CAPITAL LETTERS are names of independent states. Other names are those associated with dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, or are otherwise presented for the convenience of the user.The following fields are an intrinsic part of the LSIB dataset and do not rely on external sources:Attribute NameMandatoryContains NullsRANKYesNoSTATUSYesNoLABELNoYesNOTESNoYesNeither the "RANK" nor "STATUS" field contains null values; the "LABEL" and "NOTES" fields do.The "RANK" field is a numeric, machine-readable expression of the "STATUS" field. Collectively, these fields encode the views of the United States Government on the political status of the boundary line.Attribute NameValueRANK123STATUSInternational BoundaryOther Line of International Separation Special Line A value of "1" in the "RANK" field corresponds to an "International Boundary" value in the "STATUS" field. Values of "2" and "3" correspond to "Other Line of International Separation" and "Special Line", respectively.The "LABEL" field contains required text necessarily to describe the line segment. The "LABEL" field is used when the line segment is displayed on maps or other forms of cartographic visualizations. This includes most interactive products. The requirement to incorporate the contents of the "LABEL" field on these products is scale dependent. If a label is legible at the scale of a given static product a proper use of this dataset would encourage the application of that label. Using the contents of the "COUNTRY1" and "COUNTRY2" fields in the generation of a line segment label is not required. The "STATUS" field is not a line labeling field but does contain the preferred description for the three LSIB line types when lines are incorporated into a map legend. Using the "CC1", "CC2", or "RANK" fields for labeling purposes is prohibited.The "NOTES" field contains an explanation of any applicable special circumstances modifying the lines. This information can pertain to the origins of the boundary lines, any limitations regarding the purpose of the lines, or the original source of the line. Use of the "NOTES" field for labeling purposes is prohibited.External Data SourcesGeopolitical Entities, Names, and Codes Registry: https://nsgreg.nga.mil/GENC-overview.jspU.S. Department of State List of Independent States in the World: https://www.state.gov/independent-states-in-the-world/U.S. Department of State List of Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty: https://www.state.gov/dependencies-and-areas-of-special-sovereignty/The source for the U.S.—Canada international boundary (NGDAID97) is the International Boundary Commission: https://www.internationalboundarycommission.org/en/maps-coordinates/coordinates.phpThe source for the “International Boundary between the United States of America and the United States of Mexico” (NGDAID82) is the International Boundary and Water Commission: https://catalog.data.gov/dataset?q=usibwcCartographic UsageCartographic usage of the LSIB requires a visual differentiation between the three categories of boundaries. Specifically, this differentiation must be between:- International Boundaries (Rank 1);- Other Lines of International Separation (Rank 2); and- Special Lines (Rank 3).Rank 1 lines must be the most visually prominent. Rank 2 lines must be less visually prominent than Rank 1 lines. Rank 3 lines must be shown in a manner visually subordinate to Ranks 1 and 2. Where scale permits, Rank 2 and 3 lines must be labeled in accordance with the “Label” field. Data marked with a Rank 2 or 3 designation does not necessarily correspond to a disputed boundary.Additional cartographic information can be found in Guidance Bulletins (https://hiu.state.gov/data/cartographic_guidance_bulletins/) published by the Office of the Geographer and Global Issues.ContactDirect inquiries to internationalboundaries@state.gov.CreditsThe lines in the LSIB dataset are the product of decades of collaboration between geographers at the Department of State and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency with contributions from the Central Intelligence Agency and the UK Defence Geographic Centre.Attribution is welcome: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Geographer and Global Issues.Changes from Prior ReleaseThe 11.3 release is the third update in the version 11 series.This version of the LSIB contains changes and accuracy refinements for the following line segments. These changes reflect improvements in spatial accuracy derived from newly available source materials, an ongoing review process, or the publication of new treaties or agreements. Notable changes to lines include:• AFGHANISTAN / IRAN• ALBANIA / GREECE• ALBANIA / KOSOVO• ALBANIA/MONTENEGRO• ALBANIA / NORTH MACEDONIA• ALGERIA / MOROCCO• ARGENTINA / BOLIVIA• ARGENTINA / CHILE• BELARUS / POLAND• BOLIVIA / PARAGUAY• BRAZIL / GUYANA• BRAZIL / VENEZUELA• BRAZIL / French Guiana (FR.)• BRAZIL / SURINAME• CAMBODIA / LAOS• CAMBODIA / VIETNAM• CAMEROON / CHAD• CAMEROON / NIGERIA• CHINA / INDIA• CHINA / NORTH KOREA• CHINA / Aksai Chin• COLOMBIA / VENEZUELA• CONGO, DEM. REP. OF THE / UGANDA• CZECHIA / GERMANY• EGYPT / LIBYA• ESTONIA / RUSSIA• French Guiana (FR.) / SURINAME• GREECE / NORTH MACEDONIA• GUYANA / VENEZUELA• INDIA / Aksai Chin• KAZAKHSTAN / RUSSIA• KOSOVO / MONTENEGRO• KOSOVO / SERBIA• LAOS / VIETNAM• LATVIA / LITHUANIA• MEXICO / UNITED STATES• MONTENEGRO / SERBIA• MOROCCO / SPAIN• POLAND / RUSSIA• ROMANIA / UKRAINEVersions 11.0 and 11.1 were updates to boundary lines. Like this version, they also contained topology fixes, land boundary terminus refinements, and tripoint adjustments. Version 11.2 corrected a few errors in the attribute data and ensured that CC1 and CC2 attributes are in alignment with an updated version of the Geopolitical Entities, Names, and Codes (GENC) Standard, specifically Edition 3 Update 17.LayersLarge_Scale_International_BoundariesTerms of
US Census Bureau Cartographic Boundary File of county boundaries for each state in the Unites States.
From the US Census Bureau: "The cartographic boundary files are simplified representations of selected geographic areas from the Census Bureau’s MAF/TIGER geographic database. These boundary files are specifically designed for small scale thematic mapping."
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Northeastern United States State Boundary data are intended for geographic display of state boundaries at statewide and regional levels. Use it to map and label states on a map. These data are derived from Northeastern United States Political Boundary Master layer. This information should be displayed and analyzed at scales appropriate for 1:24,000-scale data. The State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection (CTDEP) assembled this regional data layer using data from other states in order to create a single, seamless representation of political boundaries within the vicinity of Connecticut that could be easily incorporated into mapping applications as background information. More accurate and up-to-date information may be available from individual State government Geographic Information System (GIS) offices. Not intended for maps printed at map scales greater or more detailed than 1:24,000 scale (1 inch = 2,000 feet.)
This dataset contains shapefile boundaries for CA State, counties and places from the US Census Bureau's 2023 MAF/TIGER database. Current geography in the 2023 TIGER/Line Shapefiles generally reflects the boundaries of governmental units in effect as of January 1, 2023.
The 2022 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. The primary legal divisions of most states are termed counties. In Louisiana, these divisions are known as parishes. In Alaska, which has no counties, the equivalent entities are the organized boroughs, city and boroughs, municipalities, and for the unorganized area, census areas. The latter are delineated cooperatively for statistical purposes by the State of Alaska and the Census Bureau. In four states (Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia), there are one or more incorporated places that are independent of any county organization and thus constitute primary divisions of their states. These incorporated places are known as independent cities and are treated as equivalent entities for purposes of data presentation. The District of Columbia and Guam have no primary divisions, and each area is considered an equivalent entity for purposes of data presentation. The Census Bureau treats the following entities as equivalents of counties for purposes of data presentation: Municipios in Puerto Rico, Districts and Islands in American Samoa, Municipalities in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Islands in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The entire area of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Island Areas is covered by counties or equivalent entities. The generalized boundaries for counties and equivalent entities are based on those as of January 1, 2022, primarily as reported through the Census Bureau's Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS).
The international boundary data featured in this shapefile consists of the boundary between the United States and Canada and the United States and Mexico. Each country's section is administered independently. The United States and Canada border data was provided by the International Boundary Commission, United States and Canada (IBC). The International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) provided the United States and Mexico section of the border data. Geospatial data files provided individually by the IBC and IBWC were used to re-align the Census Bureau's MAF/TIGER System data for the agency's representation of the international boundaries of United States with Canada and Mexico. The Census Bureau's MAF/TIGER System and the IBWC source file data for the portion of the United States and Mexico border featured a gap between Cameron County, Texas and the three-mile limit in the Gulf of Mexico. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coast Survey Office's representation of the United States and Mexico boundary used to fill this gap.Download: https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/TIGER2023/INTERNATIONALBOUNDARY/tl_2023_us_internationalboundary.zipMetadata: https://meta.geo.census.gov/data/existing/decennial/GEO/GPMB/TIGERline/Current_19115/tl_2023_us_internationalboundary.shp.iso.xml
The 2020 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. School Districts are single-purpose administrative units within which local officials provide public educational services for the area's residents. The Census Bureau obtains the boundaries, names, local education agency codes, grade ranges, and school district levels for school districts from state officials for the primary purpose of providing the U.S. Department of Education with estimates of the number of children in poverty within each school district. This information serves as the basis for the Department of Education to determine the annual allocation of Title I funding to states and school districts. The cartographic boundary files include separate files for elementary, secondary and unified school districts. The generalized school district boundaries in this file are based on those in effect for the 2019-2020 school year, i.e., in operation as of January 1, 2020.
Each drainage area is considered a Hydrologic Unit (HU) and is given a Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) which serves as the unique identifier for the area. HUC 2s, 6s, 8s, 10s, & 12s, define the drainage Regions, Subregions, Basins, Subbasins, Watersheds and Subwatersheds, respectively, across the United States. Their boundaries are defined by hydrologic and topographic criteria that delineate an area of land upstream from a specific point on a river and are determined solely upon science based hydrologic principles, not favoring any administrative boundaries, special projects, or a particular program or agency. The Watershed Boundary Dataset is delineated and georeferenced to the USGS 1:24,000 scale topographic basemap.Hydrologic Units are delineated to nest in a multi-level, hierarchical drainage system with corresponding HUCs, so that as you move from small scale to large scale the HUC digits increase in increments of two. For example, the very largest HUCs have 2 digits, and thus are referred to as HUC 2s, and the very smallest HUCs have 12 digits, and thus are referred to as HUC 12s.Dataset SummaryPhenomenon Mapped: Watersheds in the United States, as delineated by the Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD)Geographic Extent: Contiguous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, US Virgin Islands, Northern Marianas Islands and American SamoaProjection: Web MercatorUpdate Frequency: AnnualVisible Scale: Visible at all scales, however USGS recommends this dataset should not be used for scales of 1:24,000 or larger.Source: United States Geological Survey (WBD)Data Vintage: January 7, 2025What can you do with this layer?This layer is suitable for both visualization and analysis acrossthe ArcGIS system. This layer can be combined with your data and other layers from the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World in ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Pro to create powerful web maps that can be used alone or in a story map or other application. Because this layer is part of the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World it is easy to add to your map:In ArcGIS Online, you can add this layer to a map by selecting Add then Browse Living Atlas Layers. A window will open. Type "Watershed Boundary Dataset" in the search box and browse to the layer. Select the layer then click Add to Map. In ArcGIS Pro, open a map and select Add Data from the Map Tab. Select Data at the top of the drop down menu. The Add Data dialog box will open on the left side of the box, expand Portal if necessary, then select Living Atlas. Type "Watershed Boundary Dataset" in the search box, browse to the layer then click OK.Questions?Please leave a comment below if you have a question about this layer, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
From the US Census Bureau: "The cartographic boundary files are simplified representations of selected geographic areas from the Census Bureau’s MAF/TIGER geographic database. These boundary files are specifically designed for small scale thematic mapping."
The 2022 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. This file depicts the shape of the United States clipped back to a generalized coastline. This nation layer covers the extent of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and each of the Island Areas (American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) when scale appropriate.