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 To help governmental officials, scholars, researchers, market analysts, and other data users better understand the Census Bureau’s geographic entities, the Census Bureau is publishing this Geographic Areas Reference Manual. The purpose of the Geographic Areas Reference Manual is to provide information about the basic geographic entities the Census Bureau uses in its various data tabulations and to document the purposes, definitions, standards, criteria, and procedures used to select, define, delineate, and revise these geographic entities. The manual serves as a composite source of information to serve the needs of the broad community of data users. It is a reference tool for Census Bureau staff; Members of Congress; officials in Federal, American Indian, Alaska Native, State, and local government agencies. It is also useful to data users in the business and academic communities, data analysts with an interest in demographic and/or economic statistics, and the general reader with an interest in geography. It provides a guide for the tribal and State officials and local Census Statistical Areas Committees that assist the Census Bureau in its geographic programs. It also provides information needed by the many other agencies and groups working with the Census Bureau to maintain and improve its treatment of geographic areas.

The information, knowledge, and insights gained from data users and from the past are a significant part of the presentations in the Geographic Areas Reference Manual. In this way, the manual represents a step toward an improved knowledge and understanding of these geographic entities and their role in the Census Bureau’s processes. The manual also offers a perspective on the pragmatic problems associated with using these geographic entities, and describes how the Census Bureau responds to these problems. By enabling data users to better understand the concepts underlying the geographic entities for which it presents data, the Census Bureau anticipates that data users can make more effective use of these data. The role of the Census Bureau includes functions such as publishing guidelines, providing information on changes in geographic concepts, and cooperating with the data user community. 1-6Census Bureau Geography