             |
|
     |
Cartographic Boundary Files Descriptions and Metadata Geographic Area Descriptions | Metadata
Geographic Area Description States are the primary governmental divisions of the United States. The District of Columbia is treated as a statistical equivalent of a state for decennial census purposes, as are Puerto Rico and the Island Areas: American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth if the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands of the United States. Each state and statistically equivalent entity is assigned a two-digit numeric Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) code in alphabetical order by state name, followed in alphabetical order by the Island Areas and Puerto Rico. Each state and statistically equivalent entity also is assigned a two-letter FIPS/U.S. Postal Service code and a two-digit census code. The census code is assigned on the basis of the geographic sequence of each state within each census division; the first digit of the code identifies the respective division, except for Puerto Rico and the Island Areas, which are not assigned to any region or division. Return
to Top | Geographic Area Descriptions | Metadata Metadata
|
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division,
Cartographic Products Management Branch
Created: July 18, 2001
Last Revised: April 20, 2005 at 06:02:31 PM
