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2023 Cartographic Boundary File (SHP), County and Equivalent for United States, 1:5,000,000

Metadata Updated: May 16, 2024

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.

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, 2023, primarily as reported through the Census Bureau's Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS).

Access & Use Information

License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Date 2024-05
Metadata Created Date May 16, 2024
Metadata Updated Date May 16, 2024
Reference Date(s) 2024-05 (publication), 2024-05 (creation), 2024-05 (lastUpdate)
Frequency Of Update notPlanned

Metadata Source

Harvested from Cartographic Boundary Files - 2023

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Date 2024-05
Metadata Created Date May 16, 2024
Metadata Updated Date May 16, 2024
Reference Date(s) 2024-05 (publication), 2024-05 (creation), 2024-05 (lastUpdate)
Responsible Party U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division (Point of Contact)
Contact Email
Guid cb_2023_us_county_5m.shp.iso.xml
Access Constraints Access constraints: None, Use Constraints: The intended display scale for this file is 1:5,000,000. This file should not be displayed at scales larger than 1:5,000,000. These products are free to use in a product or publication, however acknowledgement must be given to the U.S. Census Bureau as the source. The boundary information is for visual display at appropriate small scales only. Cartographic boundary files should not be used for geographic analysis including area or perimeter calculation. Files should not be used for geocoding addresses. Files should not be used for determining precise geographic area relationships.
Bbox East Long 179.77847
Bbox North Lat 71.352561
Bbox South Lat -14.552549
Bbox West Long -179.14734
Coupled Resource
Frequency Of Update notPlanned
Harvest Object Id 2e78a358-5723-413a-ae4f-95f10e88ad1b
Harvest Source Id 9d9b1acb-1b2c-4e76-b857-fc796f36bba2
Harvest Source Title Cartographic Boundary Files - 2023
Licence
Lineage
Metadata Language eng; USA
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-179.14734, -14.552549], [179.77847, -14.552549], [179.77847, 71.352561], [-179.14734, 71.352561], [-179.14734, -14.552549]]]}
Progress completed
Spatial Data Service Type
Spatial Reference System urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::4269
Spatial Harvester True

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