Cartographic Boundary Files

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Filenaming Conventions of the Cartographic Boundary Files A filenaming scheme has been implemented on this site to make the boundary files easily and accurately identifiable and to conform to the limited-length filenaming conventions for different platforms and GIS applications. The zipped boundary files you download from this site follow the proceeding filename convention: Geographic Area Abbreviation + State FIPS Code_Census Activity Code (if applicable) + Vintage_File Format Abbreviation followed by a .zip extension. Vintage for Congressional District files is indicated by Congress number. After files have been downloaded and unzipped, the .zip extension and the file format abbreviation are dropped and the proper file format extension is appended. Unzipping an ARC/INFO Export file produces a single file with an .e00 extension. An unzipped Arcview Shapefile is composed of a .shp file, a .shx file, and a .dbf file. Unzipping an ARC/INFO Ungenerate (ASCII) file produces 2 .dat files. One is the polygon coordinate file, the other is the polygon attribute file. For more information on ASCII files see the ASCII Metadata Page. The table below provides a complete list of the file name components and gives examples of complete file names. Geographic Area Abbreviation FIPS Codes (State FIPS = 01-78, National File=99) Vintage (Last 2 Digits of Year) d Indicates Decennial Census Activity Example of Boundary File Name and Associated ZIP File Name Alaska Native Regional Corporations an 02 d00 an02_d00.e00 an02_d00_e00.zip American Indian Areas/Alaska Native Areas/Hawaiian Home Lands (No Hawaiian Home Lands for 1990) na for 2000 files ir for 1990 files 02,99 d00,d90 na99_d00.shp na99_d00.shx na99_d00.dbf na99_d00_shp.zip Tribal Subdivisions ts 99 d00 ts99_d00.dat ts99_d00a.dat ts99_d00_ascii.zip Census Block Groups bg 01-78 d00,d90 bg06_d90.e00 bg06_d90_e00.zip Census Divisions dv 99 d00 dv99_d00.e00 dv99_d00_e00.zip Census Regions rg 99 d00 rg99_d00.e00 rg99_d00_e00.zip Census Tracts tr 01-78 d00,d90 tr42_d90.e00 tr42_d90_e00.zip Congressional Districts cd 01-78,99 108th,107th,106th,105th,104th,103rd Congresses cd24_107.e00 cd24_107_e00.zip Consolidated Cities cc 99 d00 cc99_d00.e00 cc99_d00_e00.zip County & County Equivalent Areas co 01-78,99 d00,d90 co15_d90.e00 co15_d90_e00.zip County Subdivisions (MCDs/CCDs/Barrios) cs 01-78 d00,d90 cs32_d00.e00 cs32_d00_e00.zip Incorporated Places/Census Designated Places pl 01-78 d00,d98,d90 pl72_d90.e00 pl72_d90_e00.zip Metropolitan Statistical Areas ma 99 99,90 ma99_99.e00 ma99_99_e00.zip Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Areas cm for 1999 files cmsa for 1998 and 1996 files 99 99,98,96,90 cm99_99.e00 cm99_99_e00.zip cmsa_98.e00 cmsa_98_e00.zip Primary Metropolitan Statistical Areas pm 99 99,90 pm99_99.e00 pm99_99_e00.zip Central Cities ce 99 d00 ce99_d00.e00 ce99_d00_e00.zip Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Areas and Metropolitan Statistical Areas cm_sa 99 98,96 cm_sa_96.e00 cm_sa_96_e00.zip Primary Metropolitan Statistical Areas and Metropolitan Statistical Areas pm_sa 99 98,96 pm_sa_98.e00 pm_sa_98_e00.zip New England County Metropolitan Areas ne 99 (New England States) d00 ne99_d00.e00 ne99_d00_e00.zip Oregon Urban Growth Areas ou 99 d00 ou99_d00.e00 ou99_d00_e00.zip Public Use Microdata Areas 1 Percent p1 01-56, 72 d00 p101_d00.e00 p101_d00_e00.zip Public Use Microdata Areas 5 Percent p5 01-56, 72 d00 p501_d00.e00 p501_d00_e00.zip School Districts - Elementary se 01-56 (26 States Total) d00 se25_d00.e00 se25_d00_e00.zip School Districts - Secondary ss 01-56 (18 States Total) d00 ss29_d00.e00 ss29_d00_e00.zip School Districts - Unified sn 01-72 d00 sn32_d00.e00 sn32_d00_e00.zip State & State Equivalent Areas st 01-78,99 d00,d90 st66_d90.e00 st66_d90_e00.zip State Legislative Districts - Lower/House sl 01-56 (39 States Total) d00 sl37_d00.e00 sl37_d00_e00.zip State Legislative Districts - Upper/Senate su 01-56 (40 States Total) d00 su17_d00.e00 su17_d00_e00.zip Subbarrios (Puerto Rico only) sb 72 d00 sb72_d00.e00 sb72_d00_e00.zip Traffic Analysis Zones tz 01-56 (48 States Total) d00 tz34_d00.e00 tz34_d00_e00.zip Tribal Block Groups tb 99 d00 tb99_d00.e00 tb99_d00_e00.zip Tribal Census Tracts tt 99 d00 tt99_d00.e00 tt99_d00_e00.zip Urbanized Areas ua 02,15,72,99 d00,d90 ua02_d90.e00 ua02_d90_e00.zip Voting Districts vt 01-72 (Not All States) d00 vt34_d00.e00 vt34_d00_e00.zip 5-Digit ZIP Code Tabulation Areas zt 01-72 d00 zt36_d00.e00 zt36_d00_e00.zip 3-Digit ZIP Code Tabulation Areas z3 01-72,99 d00 z399_d00.e00 z399_d00_e00.zip