U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Data Element: STATE NUMERIC CODE
You are invited to read the definitions of terms used in this data standard.
| Name |
State Numeric Code |
| Description |
Unique two-digit Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) numeric codes for representing the 50 States, the District of Columbia and the outlying areas of the United States, and associated areas. |
| Type |
Character Field (to allow leading zeros in this data field when required) |
| Syntax |
NN, where each N represents a number from 0 through 9. |
| Recommended Field Name | STATECODE |
| Values |
The values to be used for this data element are described in the reference and are current as of the date shown on the last FIPS PUBLICATION CHANGE NOTICE issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology. |
| Source |
An electronic copy of the values to be used for the 50 States, the
District of Columbia, the outlying areas of the United States (American Samoa, Guam,
Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands, and Virgin Islands),
the freely associated states (Federated States of Micronesia and Marshall Islands), and
the trust territory of Palau is available here in ASCII (.txt)
format. An electronic copy of the values to be used for the individual island territories (which form the aggregate entity U.S. Minor Outlying Islands) is also available here in ASCII (.txt) format. This file should be used only when an individual territory must be uniquely identified, and a field for the FIPS County Code is not available to be used in combination with the FIPS State Code for U.S. Minor Outlying Islands (74 or UM). A FIPS County Code for each territory is specified in FIPS PUB 6-4. The two ASCII .txt files, as well as electronic copies of the values in Access (.mdb) and dbase III (.dbf) formats, are also available here for download. The .txt, .mdb, and .dbf files are zipped using PKZip. If you need a copy, PKZip is available for download by clicking here (pkzipdoc.exe). Some browsers may require the user to right-click on the hyperlink text with the mouse, left-click on "Select Target As" or "Save Link As" from the dialog box menu, and save the zipped file to the appropriate user directory. These electronic copies are current as of April 24, 2000. Related information is also available. For electronic copies of codes for named populated places, primary county divisions (such as townships and census county divisions), American Indian and Alaska Native areas, and several kinds of facilities, visit the Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 55-3, 1994 December 28, "Codes for Named Populated Places, Primary County Divisions, and Other Locational Entities of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Outlying Areas." Flat ASCII files, zip files, tar files, and text files of the FIPS 55 codes for the 50 States, Washington, D.C., and nine outlying areas are available for download or printing from this site. |
| Reference(s) |
Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 5-2, 1987 May 28, "Codes for the Identification of the States, the District of Columbia and the Outlying Areas of the United States, and Associated Areas." FIPS PUB 5-2 also contains unique numeric codes for the individual island territories which form the aggregate entity, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands. |
| Use Instructions |
As of the approval date, this data element will be used in any new
automated system, data set, database, or information application, including new Geographic
Information System (GIS) data and applications. This data element will also be used in any
major modifications to existing systems or versions of these data-related items that use
numeric codes to uniquely identify the 50 States, the District of Columbia, outlying areas
of the United States (American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S.
Minor Outlying Islands, and Virgin Islands), the freely associated states (Federated
States of Micronesia and Marshall Islands), and the trust territory of Palau. To ensure compliance with the Service Information and Technology Architecture (SITA), Service staff are strongly encouraged to utilize this data element in existing systems, data sets, databases, and information applications. Where existing systems and data-related items are not in compliance, they should be modified to achieve compatibility and implement this data standard. State numeric codes, State names, and the two-letter State alphabetic codes will be handled as separate data fields in any new or modified automated system, and will not be combined in a single data field. |
| Phase |
Adopted |
| Approval Date |
July 13, 1999 |
| Validation Date |
April 24, 2000 |
| Data Steward |
Barbara White, National Data Administrator, Branch of Data and Systems Services, Division of Information Technology Management |
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These pages are maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Information Technology Management. Please feel free to contact Barb White with any questions and comments.
Keywords=state, United States, outlying area, island, possession,
territory, FIPS, data, standards, elements
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