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 provide data tabulations for these new areas, the Census Bureau’s processing operation must subdivide the standard units and recombine their data into sets appropriate for the new geographic areas.

Most of the basic legal/administrative areas appearing in the Census Bureau’s tabulations are specified in Federal, State, and local law. The Census Bureau must collect information about the boundaries of these areas, understand their legal relationships, organize the names of the areas, and present the hierarchical relationships among them accurately and meaningfully. In many States, the hierarchy of geographic areas follows a straightforward pattern. There are, however, many departures that reflect the highly varied pattern of existing legal and statistical entities. In such situations, the Census Bureau strives for an impartial, neutral statement of an area’s geographic status. For example, the Census Bureau treats Puerto Rico and the Outlying Areas as the statistical equivalents of States. Counties and entities equivalent to them are treated similarly. In most States, the counties are active, functioning, general-purpose governments that provide basic services to the population; hence, they are legally defined governmental units. There are, however, some exceptions that demand a different approach. See, “States, Counties, and Statistically Equivalent Entities.”

At the county subdivision level, the pattern of geographic units is even more varied, consisting of legal entities, statistical entities, places not part of any legal county subdivision, and a combination of these types of entities. , “County Subdivisions,” provides detailed explanations for the United States. , “Puerto Rico and the Outlying Areas,” discusses similar entities in the U.S. territories. At the place level, the situation also is mixed; that is, the Census Bureau shows concentrations of population as legal entities where incorporated places exist, and as statistical units (CDPs) in situations where the settlements contain a specified minimum population. and provide further information. 2-20Geographic Overview