Summary

Description

The 2014 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. For the 2010 Census, subMCDs only exist in Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico the subMCDs are termed subbarrios and are legally defined subdivisions of the minor civil division (MCD) named barrios-pueblo and barrios. The boundaries of the subbarrios are as of January 1, 2010 and were provided to the Census Bureau by the Puerto Rico Planning Board.