Shapefile
Tags
Boundaries, 2016, SHP, Cartographic Boundary, Generalized, Lower Chamber, Lower District, State, State Legislative District
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.
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. SLDL stands for State Legislative District Lower Chamber. State Legislative Districts (SLDs) are the areas from which members are elected to state legislatures. The SLDs embody the upper (senate) and lower (house) chambers of the state legislature. Nebraska has a unicameral legislature and the District of Columbia has a single council, both of which the Census Bureau treats as upper-chamber legislative areas for the purpose of data presentation; there are no data by SLDL for either Nebraska or the District of Columbia. A unique three-character census code, identified by state participants, is assigned to each SLD within a state. In Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, and Puerto Rico, the Redistricting Data Program (RDP) participant did not define the SLDs to cover all of the state or state equivalent area. In these areas with no SLDs defined, the code "ZZZ" has been assigned, which is treated as a single SLD for purposes of data presentation. The boundaries of the 2016 state legislative districts were provided by state-level participants through the RDP and reflect the districts used to elect members in or prior to the November 2016 election.
There are no credits for this item.
The intended display scale for this file is 1:500,000. This file should not be displayed at scales larger than 1:500,000. 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.
Extent
| West | -124.409605 | East | -114.131222 |
| North | 42.009523 | South | 32.534161 |
| Maximum (zoomed in) | 1:5,000 |
| Minimum (zoomed out) | 1:150,000,000 |
The intended display scale for this file is 1:500,000. This file should not be displayed at scales larger than 1:500,000. 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.
Current State Legislative District-Lower Chamber (state-based)
U.S. Census Bureau
Internal feature number.
Esri
Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
Feature geometry.
Esri
Coordinates defining the features.
Current state Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) code
U.S. Census Bureau
Current state legislative district (lower chamber) code
U.S. Census Bureau
Any ASCII alphabetic or numeric character combination plus hyphens from one to three characters. A code of ZZZ represents a State legislative district (lower chamber) that has not been defined.
American FactFinder summary level code + geovariant code + '00US' + GEOID
U.S. Census Bureau
State legislative district lower chamber identifier; a concatenation of current state Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) code and state legislative district lower chamber code
U.S. Census Bureau
The GEOID attribute is a concatenation of the state FIPS code followed by the state legislative district lower chamber code. No spaces are allowed between the two codes. The state FIPS code is taken from "National Standard Codes (ANSI INCITS 38-2009), Federal Information Processing Series(FIPS) - States". The state legislative district lower chamber code is taken from the "SLDLST" attribute.
Current state legislative district (lower chamber) name
U.S. Census Bureau
Values for this attribute are composed of a set of names. As such, they do not exist in a known, predefined set.
Current legal/statistical area description code for state legislative district (lower chamber)
U.S. Census Bureau
Legislative session year
U.S. Census Bureau
Current land area (square meters)
U.S. Census Bureau
Current water area (square meters)
U.S. Census Bureau
The 2017 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. SLDL stands for State Legislative District Lower Chamber. State Legislative Districts (SLDs) are the areas from which members are elected to state legislatures. The SLDs embody the upper (senate) and lower (house) chambers of the state legislature. Nebraska has a unicameral legislature and the District of Columbia has a single council, both of which the Census Bureau treats as upper-chamber legislative areas for the purpose of data presentation; there are no data by SLDL for either Nebraska or the District of Columbia. A unique three-character census code, identified by state participants, is assigned to each SLD within a state. In Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, and Puerto Rico, the Redistricting Data Program (RDP) participant did not define the SLDs to cover all of the state or state equivalent area. In these areas with no SLDs defined, the code "ZZZ" has been assigned, which is treated as a single SLD for purposes of data presentation. The boundaries of the 2016 state legislative districts were provided by state-level participants through the RDP and reflect the districts used to elect members in or prior to the November 2016 election.
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.
publication date
None
The intended display scale for this file is 1:500,000. This file should not be displayed at scales larger than 1:500,000.
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.
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 1:500,000.
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.
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.
To obtain more information about ordering Cartographic Boundary Files visit https://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger.