| Abstract
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These data are the Redistricting Census 2000 TIGER geographic files. The data are in TIGER format and must be converted by 3rd-party software for use with geographic information systems.The data are available by request from the Montana State Library archive and, at the time of the writing of this metadata in 2015, they were available for download from the U.S. Census Bureau web site at the locations given in the distribution information.The TIGER/Line files contain data describing three major types of features/entities;
Line Features -
1) Roads
2) Railroads
3) Hydrography
4) Miscellaneous transportation features and selected power lines and pipe lines
5) Political and statistical boundariesLandmark Features -
1) Point landmarks, e.g., schools and churches.
2) Area landmarks, e.g., Parks and cemeteries.
3) Key geographic locations (KGLs), e.g., shopping centers and factories.Polygon features -
1) Geographic entity codes for areas used to tabulate the Census 2000 census statistical data and 1990 geographic areas
2) Locations of area landmarks
3) Locations of KGLsThe line features and polygon information form the majority of data in the TIGER/Line files. Some of the data/attributes describing the lines include coordinates, feature identifiers (names), CFCCs (used to identify the most noticeable characteristic of a feature), address ranges, and geographic entity codes. The TIGER/Line files contain point and area labels that describe landmark features and provide locational reference. Area landmarks consist of a feature name or label and feature type assigned to a polygon or group of polygons. Landmarks may overlap or refer to the same set of polygons. The Census TIGER data base uses collections of spatial objects (points, lines, and polygons) to model or describe real-world geography. The Census Bureau uses these spatial objects to represent features such as streets, rivers, and political boundaries and assigns attributes to these features to identify and describe specific features such as the 500 block of Market Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.TIGER, TIGER/Line, and Census TIGER are registered trademarks of the Bureau of the Census. The Redistricting Census 2000 TIGER/Line files are an extract of selected geographic and cartographic information from the Census TIGER data base. The geographic coverage for a single TIGER/Line file is a county or statistical equivalent entity, with the coverage area based on January 1, 2000 legal boundaries.The Census TIGER data base represents a seamless national file with no overlaps or gaps between parts. However, each county-based TIGER/Line file is designed to stand alone as an independent data set.The Redistricting Census 2000 TIGER/Line files do NOT contain the ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) and the address ranges are of approximately the same vintage as those appearing in the 1999 TIGER/Line files. That is, the Census Bureau is producing the Redistricting Census 2000 TIGER/Line files in advance of the computer processing that will ensure that the address ranges in the TIGER/Line files agree with the final Master Address File (MAF) used for tabulating Census 2000.The files contain information distributed over a series of record types for the spatial objects of a county. There are 17 record types, including the basic data record, the shape coordinate points, and geographic codes that can be used with appropriate software to prepare maps. Other geographic information contained in the files includes attributes such as feature identifiers/census feature class codes (CFCC) used to differentiate feature types, address ranges and ZIP Codes, codes for legal and statistical entities, latitude/longitude coordinates of linear and point features, landmark point features, area landmarks, key geographic features, and area boundaries. The Redistricting Census 2000 TIGER/Line data dictionary contains a complete list of all the fields in the 17 record types.
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| Purpose
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In order for others to use the information in the Census TIGER data base in a geographic information system (GIS) or for other geographic applications, the Census Bureau releases to the public extracts of the data base in the form of TIGER/Line files. Various versions of the TIGER/Line files have been released; previous versions include the 1990 Census TIGER/Line files, the 1992 TIGER/Line files, the 1994 TIGER/Line files, the 1995 TIGER/Line files, the 1997 TIGER/Line files, the 1998 TIGER/Line files, and the 1999 TIGER/Line files. The Redistricting Census 2000 TIGER/Line files were originally produced to support the Census 2000 Redistricting Data Program.
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