Lab 7: Census 2000 Data

This map shows the percentage of black people relative to the total population in the U.S. According to this map, the black population is mostly concentrated in the Southeast region of the country. This pattern makes sense, as the black population were enslaved in the South for centuries. In contrast, there is a very small black population in the North and Northwest parts of the country. There are small pockets of black people in the Midwest and Northeast, as well as California.  

This map shows the percentage of Asians living in the country relative to the total population. The Asian population is mostly concentrated in the West, particularly in California. As in the previous map, this trend makes historical sense, as large waves of Asian immigrants arrived in California in the Twentieth Century. The second largest concentration is in the Northeast, and there are smaller pockets located in Florida and the Midwest. 

This map shows the percentage of people who identify as some race that is different from the racial categories specified by the Census Bureau. In the West and Southwest, there is a high percentage of people who fall into this category. One possible explanation for this trend is that immigrants often locate in the states that share a border with Mexico, including Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California. There are additional pockets of people who identify with this category in Florida and parts of the Northeast, however there are very few in the Midwest and Northern regions of the country.  

These geographic maps, derived from Census 2000 are very interesting because they illustrate that people of different backgrounds tend to live in the same areas. Overall, GIS is an excellent tool that can be used to create visual images of spatial data, such as the dispersion of demographic groups in the United States, fairly easily.