Geographic Areas Reference Manual

The Geographic Areas Reference Manual describes in great detail the basic geographic entities the Census Bureau uses in its various data tabulations and documents the purposes, definitions, standards, criteria, and procedures used to select, define, delineate, and revise these geographic entities.

Since the publication of the GARM in November 1994, there have been two major changes in geographic areas for Census 2000:

The Census Bureau will no longer include the Republic of Palau in U. S. censuses because it is an independent state.
All entities referred to as "block numbering areas" (BNAs) in 1990 will become census tracts.

If you have any questions about this or any other information on changes in geographic areas for Census 2000, please contact the Geographic Standards and Criteria Branch, Geography Division, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC 20233-7400, telephone (301) 763-3056.

[PDF] or denotes a file in Adobe’s Portable Document Format. To view the file, you will need the Adobe® Reader® available free from Adobe.

View or Download the Geographic Areas Reference Manual files:

Table of Contents (500K)
Chapter 1 - Census Bureau Geography (473K)
Chapter 2 - Geographic Overview (623K)
Chapter 3 - Local Census Statistical Areas Committees and Other Local Assistance (406K)
Chapter 4 - States, Counties, and Statistically Equivalent Entities (2M)
Chapter 5 - American Indian and Alaska Native Areas (515K)
Chapter 6 - Statistical Groupings of States and Counties (2M)
Chapter 7 - Puerto Rico and the Outlying Areas (11M)
Chapter 8 - County Subdivisions (1M)
Chapter 9 - Places (573K)
Chapter 10 - Census Tracts and Block Numbering Areas (514K)
Chapter 11 - Census Blocks and Block Groups (589K)
Chapter 12 - The Urban and Rural Classifications (532K)
Chapter 13 - Metropolitan Areas (431K)
Chapter 14 - Voting Districts (573K)
Chapter 15 - Area Measurement/Water Classification (405K)
Glossary (521K)

Census TIGER^®, TIGER^®, TIGER/Line^®, and TIGER/GICS^® are registered trademarks of the U. S. Census Bureau.