Category: The Geography Club

For states that are united, there sure are a lot of ways to break them down.  Most, however, are nothing much to look at compared with how nature’s divisions sketch out…

Click on the map to find out what all those numbers mean on Wikipedia, or if you want to go straight to the source, the EPA’s Western Ecology Division has some beautiful pdfs available for download, including state-level maps.

Honorable mention goes to the World Wildlife Fund’s list of U.S. ecoregions.  Always good to have a second source.

It’s easy to cross the line when you know where they all are…

County Boundary Map	City/Town Boundary Map

3 Digit Zip Code Boundary Map	Zip Code Boundary Map

[All maps via Maps.Huge.info]

[Stanford Magazine via Big Think]

(click to enlarge)

[Dual map by ACM; Original U.S. maps available via U.S. Census Bureau]

Core Based Statistical Area Description: “The United States Office of Management and Budget defines metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas, which are referred to collectively as “core based statistical areas” (CBSAs). The general concept of a metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area is that of a core area containing a substantial population nucleus, together with adjacent communities having a high degree of economic and social integration with that core. Metropolitan statistical areas contain at least one urbanized area of 50,000 or more population. Micropolitan statistical areas contain at least one urban cluster of at least 10,000 and less than 50,000 population. CBSAs are composed of entire counties. There are 374 metropolitan statistical areas, of which 11 are subdivided into 29 metropolitan divisions, and 579 micropolitan statistical areas in the United States and Puerto Rico, as of November 2008.”

(click for enlarged Census Bureau versions)

[U.S. Office of Management and Budget home; Wall map versions available via U.S. Census Bureau; more Statistical Area info here (MSA) and here (CBSA)]