U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division, Cartographic Products and Services Branch
201703
2016 Cartographic Boundary File, Current State and Equivalent for United States, 1:5,000,000
vector digital data
Cartographic Boundary Files
2016
https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/GENZ2016/shp/cb_2016_us_state_5m.zip
The 2016 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.
States and equivalent entities are the primary governmental divisions of the United States. In addition to the fifty states, the Census Bureau treats the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and each of the Island Areas (American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) as the statistical equivalents of states for the purpose of data presentation.
These files were specifically created to support small-scale thematic mapping. To improve the appearance of shapes at small scales, areas are represented with fewer vertices than detailed TIGER/Line Shapefiles. Cartographic boundary files take up less disk space than their ungeneralized counterparts. Cartographic boundary files take less time to render on screen than TIGER/Line Shapefiles. You can join this file with table data downloaded from American FactFinder by using the AFFGEOID field in the cartographic boundary file. If detailed boundaries are required, please use the TIGER/Line Shapefiles instead of the generalized cartographic boundary files.
201703
201703
publication date
None planned. No changes or updates will be made to this version of the cartographic boundary files. New versions of the cartographic boundary files will be produced on an annual release schedule. Types of geography released may vary from year to year.
-179.14734
179.77847
71.352561
-14.552549
ISO 19115 Topic Categories
Boundaries
None
2016
SHP
Cartographic Boundary
Generalized
State
ISO 3166 Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions
United States
US
None
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.
U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division, Geographic Customer Services Branch
mailing
4600 Silver Hill Road
Washington
DC
20233-7400
United States
301.763.1128
301.763.4710
geo.geography@census.gov
Accurate against American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Publication INCITS 446-2008 (Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)) at the 100% level for the codes and base names present in the file. The remaining attribute information has been examined but has not been fully tested for accuracy.
The Census Bureau performed automated tests to ensure logical consistency of the source database. Segments making up the outer and inner boundaries of a polygon tie end-to-end to completely enclose the area. All polygons were tested for closure. The Census Bureau uses its internally developed geographic update system to enhance and modify spatial and attribute data in the Census MAF/TIGER database. Standard geographic codes, such as INCITS (formerly FIPS) codes for states, counties, municipalities, county subdivisions, places, American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian areas, and congressional districts are used when encoding spatial entities. The Census Bureau performed spatial data tests for logical consistency of the codes during the compilation of the original Census MAF/TIGER database files. Feature attribute information has been examined but has not been fully tested for consistency.
For the cartographic boundary files, the Point and Vector Object Count for the G-polygon SDTS Point and Vector Object Type reflects the number of records in the file's data table. For multi-polygon features, only one attribute record exists for each multi-polygon rather than one attribute record per individual G-polygon component of the multi-polygon feature. Cartographic Boundary File multi-polygons are an exception to the G-polygon object type classification. Therefore, when multi-polygons exist in a file, the object count will be less than the actual number of G-polygons.
The cartographic boundary files are generalized representations of extracts taken from the MAF/TIGER Database. Generalized boundary files are clipped to a simplified version of the U.S. outline. As a result, some off-shore areas may be excluded from the generalized files. Some small geographic areas, holes, or discontiguous parts of areas may not be included in generalized files if they are not visible at the target scale.
Data are not accurate. Data are generalized representations of geographic boundaries at 1:5,000,000.
U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division, Geographic Customer Services Branch
Unpublished material
Census MAF/TIGER database
Geo-spatial Relational Database
201506
201605
The dates describe the effective date of 2016 cartographic boundaries.
MAF/TIGER
All spatial and feature data
Spatial data were extracted from the MAF/TIGER database and processed through a U.S. Census Bureau batch generalization system.
withheld
201703
INCITS (formerly FIPS) codes
Vector
Simple
FALSE
0
TRUE
FALSE
North American Datum of 1983
Geodetic Reference System 80
6378137.000000
298.257222
cb_2016_us_state_5m.shp
Current State and Equivalent (national)
U.S. Census Bureau
Feature Class
0
OBJECTID
OBJECTID
OID
4
0
0
Internal feature number.
Esri
Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
Shape
Shape
Geometry
0
0
0
Feature geometry.
Esri
Coordinates defining the features.
STATEFP
Current state Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) code
U.S. Census Bureau
National Standard Codes (ANSI INCITS 38-2009), Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) - States/State Equivalents
U.S. Census Bureau
STATEFP
String
2
0
0
STATENS
Current state Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) code
U.S. Census Bureau
INCITS 446:2008 (Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)), Identifying Attributes for Named Physical and Cultural Geographic Features (Except Roads and Highways) of the United States, Its Territories, Outlying Areas, and Freely Associated Areas, and the Waters of the Same to the Limit of the Twelve-Mile Statutory Zone
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
STATENS
String
8
0
0
AFFGEOID
American FactFinder summary level code + geovariant code + '00US' + GEOID
U.S. Census Bureau
American FactFinder geographic identifier
U.S. Census Bureau
AFFGEOID
String
11
0
0
ID
ID
String
2
0
0
STUSPS
Current United States Postal Service state abbreviation
U.S. Postal Service
Publication 28 - Postal Addressing Standards
U.S. Postal Service
STUSPS
String
2
0
0
NAME
Current State name
U.S. Census Bureau
National Standard Codes (ANSI INCITS 38-2009), Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) - States/State Equivalents
U.S. Census Bureau
NAME
String
100
0
0
LSAD
Current legal/statistical area description code for state
U.S. Census Bureau
00
Blank
U.S. Census Bureau
LSAD
String
2
0
0
ALAND
Current land area (square meters)
U.S. Census Bureau
0
9,999,999,999,999
square meters
ALAND
Double
8
0
0
AWATER
Current water area (square meters)
U.S. Census Bureau
0
9,999,999,999,999
square meters
AWATER
Double
8
0
0
Shape_Length
Shape_Length
Double
8
0
0
Length of feature in internal units.
Esri
Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.
Shape_Area
Shape_Area
Double
8
0
0
Area of feature in internal units squared.
Esri
Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.
U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division, Geographic Customer Services Branch
mailing
4600 Silver Hill Road
Washington
DC
20233-7400
United States
301.763.1128
301.763.4710
geo.geography@census.gov
No warranty, expressed or implied is made with regard to the accuracy of these data, and no liability is assumed by the U.S. Government in general or the U.S. Census Bureau in specific as to the spatial or attribute accuracy of the data. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty and no responsibility is assumed by the U.S. government in the use of these files. The boundary information is for small-scale mapping purposes only; boundary depiction and designation for small-scale mapping purposes do not constitute a determination of jurisdictional authority or rights of ownership or entitlement and they are not legal land descriptions.
SHP
PK-ZIP, version 1.93A or higher
https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/GENZ2016/shp/cb_2016_us_state_5m.zip
The online cartographic boundary files may be downloaded without charge.
To obtain more information about ordering Cartographic Boundary Files visit https://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger.
The cartographic boundary files contain geographic data only and do not include display mapping software or statistical data. For information on how to use cartographic boundary file data with specific software package users shall contact the company that produced the software.
201703
U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division, Geographic Customer Services Branch
mailing
4600 Silver Hill Road
Washington
DC
20233-7400
United States
301.763.1128
301.763.4710
geo.geography@census.gov
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata
FGDC-STD-001-1998
20240423
12112800
1.0
FGDC CSDGM Metadata
FALSE
hvc_states_webmerc
002
Projected
GCS_WGS_1984
Linear Unit: Meter (1.000000)
WGS_1984_Web_Mercator_Auxiliary_Sphere
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20180606
08554400
20180606
08554400
Version 6.2 (Build 9200) ; Esri ArcGIS 10.5.0.6491
hvc_states_webmerc
File Geodatabase Feature Class
dataset
EPSG
8.8(9.3.1.2)
0
20180606