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SpatialNews Press Release
TIGER Files Available for Download in GIS Format
Redistricting TIGER/Line 2000 Data Now Available
Via Geography Network
Redlands, California- ESRI today announced it is providing the Census Redistricting
2000 TIGER/Line data as it is released by the Census Bureau in ArcView GIS shapefile
format for download from Geography Network.
Geography Network is a collaborative and multiparticipant system for publishing,
sharing, and using digital geographic information on the Internet. It can be thought of as a
large online library of distributed Geographic Information System (GIS) information,
available to everyone. It can be found at www.geographynetwork.com.
Every decade the Census Bureau creates a Census Geography that defines the areas it
uses to tabulate its counts. Previously, census geography has been released in hard-copy
maps and TIGER/Line files. To be used in GIS, the TIGER/Line files need to be
translated into other formats, which can be a somewhat lengthy, multistep process. ESRI
has provided the 1995 TIGER/Line data through ArcData Online since 1997 and is now
providing this updated data via Geography Network. Users can quickly and easily
download TIGER/Line data in the de facto standard ArcView GIS shapefile format. With
ArcView GIS, the most popular desktop GIS in the world, most GIS systems will be able
to use these Census Geography boundary files directly and will not have to do any
additional conversion to make the census data usable as part of their GIS analysis. In
addition, the Census Bureau has added a tremendous number of new features and entities
to the TIGER/Line files in preparation for the Census, and the release of this data will be
an important source of updates for many GIS users.
Currently 29 states are converted. The data is being released by the Census Bureau as
it is completed and then being converted and uploaded to Geography Network.
“The 2000 TIGER/Line data can be used by organizations in virtually every industry today
including private business, government, and nonprofit organizations,” says Earl Nordstrand,
Geography Network product manager, ESRI. “The 2000 Census Geography contained in the
TIGER/Line data will be used for all of the 2000 Census tabulations. In other words, the maps
made from TIGER/Line data will be the basis for the presentation of all the 2000 Census results.
By providing the translated files for users everywhere, we hope to facilitate greater use of this
important data set.”
The key initial market will be redistricting, which is the process of defining new
Congressional and Legislative districts necessitated by the population shifts over the last decade.
In addition, almost all governmental and business users are interested in knowing how their
population and markets have shifted over the last 10 years. Census data is used for evaluating
many government programs, so the geography of the Census is a critical part of the evaluation.
For more than 30 years, ESRI has been the leading developer of geographic information
system (GIS) software with more than 300,000 clients worldwide. ESRI also provides
consulting, implementation, and technical support services. In addition to its headquarters
in California, ESRI has regional offices throughout the United States, international
distributors in more than 90 countries, and more than 1,050 business partners. ESRI’s
goal is to provide users with comprehensive tools to help them quickly and efficiently
manage and use geographic information to make a real difference in the world around
them. ESRI can be found on the Web at www.esri.com.
.
ESRI, ArcView, and the ESRI globe logo are trademarks of ESRI, registered in the United States and
certain other countries; registration is pending in the European Community. GIS by ESRI is a trademark
and Geography Network, www.geographynetwork.com, www.esri.com, and @esri.com are service marks
of ESRI. Other companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective trademark owners.
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