Identification_Information:
  Citation:
    Citation_Information:
      Originator: U.S. Geological Survey
      Publication_Date: 200202
      Title: 2000 County Boundaries of the United States
      Publication_Information:
        Publication_Place: Reston, VA
        Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey
      Online_Linkage: <http://nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html>

  Description:
    Abstract:
      This data set portrays the 2000 State and county boundaries of the United 
      States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  The data set was 
      created by extracting county polygon features from the individual 
      1:2,000,000-scale State boundary Digital Line Graph (DLG) files produced 
      by the U.S. Geological Survey.  These files were then merged into a single
      file.

    Purpose: 
      These data are intended for geographic display and analysis at the 
      national level, and for large regional areas.  The data should be 
      displayed and analyzed at scales appropriate for 1:2,000,000-scale data.  
      No responsibility is assumed by the U.S. Geological Survey in the use of
      these data. 

  Time_Period_of_Content:
    Time_Period_Information:
      Range_of_Dates/Times:
        Beginning_Date: 1972
        Ending_Date: 2000
    Currentness_Reference: Ground Condition

  Status:
    Progress: Complete
    Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: Irregular
  Spatial_Domain:
    Bounding_Coordinates:
      West_Bounding_Coordinate: 170
      East_Bounding_Coordinate: -64
      North_Bounding_Coordinate: 72
      South_Bounding_Coordinate: 17

  Keywords:
    Theme:
      Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
      Theme_Keyword: Boundaries
      Theme_Keyword: States
      Theme_Keyword: State boundaries
      Theme_Keyword: Counties
      Theme_Keyword: County boundaries
      Theme_Keyword: 2000 County boundaries
    Place:
      Place_Keyword_Thesaurus:
        U.S. Department of Commerce, 1995, Countries, Dependencies, Areas of 
        Special Sovereignty, and Their Principal Administrative Divisions 
        (Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 10-4): Washington, DC, 
        National Institute of Standards and Technology.
      Place_Keyword: United States
    Place:
      Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
      Place_Keyword: USA
    Place:
      Place_Keyword_Thesaurus:  
        U.S. Department of Commerce, 1987, Codes for the Identification of the 
        States, the District of Columbia and the Outlying Areas of The United
        States, and Associated Areas (Federal Information Processing Standard
        5-2):  Washington, DC, National Institute of Standards and Technology.
      Place_Keyword: Alabama
      Place_Keyword: Alaska
      Place_Keyword: Arizona
      Place_Keyword: Arkansas
      Place_Keyword: California
      Place_Keyword: Colorado
      Place_Keyword: Connecticut
      Place_Keyword: Delaware
      Place_Keyword: District of Columbia
      Place_Keyword: Florida
      Place_Keyword: Georgia
      Place_Keyword: Hawaii
      Place_Keyword: Idaho
      Place_Keyword: Illinois
      Place_Keyword: Indiana
      Place_Keyword: Iowa
      Place_Keyword: Kansas
      Place_Keyword: Kentucky
      Place_Keyword: Louisiana
      Place_Keyword: Maine
      Place_Keyword: Maryland
      Place_Keyword: Massachusetts
      Place_Keyword: Michigan
      Place_Keyword: Minnesota
      Place_Keyword: Mississippi
      Place_Keyword: Missouri
      Place_Keyword: Montana
      Place_Keyword: Nebraska
      Place_Keyword: Nevada
      Place_Keyword: New Hampshire
      Place_Keyword: New Jersey
      Place_Keyword: New Mexico
      Place_Keyword: New York
      Place_Keyword: North Carolina
      Place_Keyword: North Dakota
      Place_Keyword: Ohio
      Place_Keyword: Oklahoma
      Place_Keyword: Oregon
      Place_Keyword: Pennsylvania
      Place_Keyword: Rhode Island
      Place_Keyword: South Carolina
      Place_Keyword: South Dakota
      Place_Keyword: Tennessee
      Place_Keyword: Texas
      Place_Keyword: Utah
      Place_Keyword: Vermont
      Place_Keyword: Virginia
      Place_Keyword: Washington
      Place_Keyword: West Virginia
      Place_Keyword: Wisconsin
      Place_Keyword: Wyoming
      Place_Keyword: Puerto Rico
      Place_Keyword: Virgin Islands
      Place_Keyword: U.S. Virgin Islands

  Access_Constraints: None
  Use_Constraints: 
    None.  Acknowledgment of the National Atlas of the United States of America 
    and (or) the U.S. Geological Survey would be appreciated in products derived 
    from these data.  

  Point_of_Contact:
    Contact_Information:
      Contact_Person_Primary:
        Contact_Person: Steve Kambly
        Contact_Organization: U.S. Geological Survey
      Contact_Address:
        Address_Type: Mailing address
        Address: 561 National Center
        City: Reston
        State_or_Province: VA
        Postal_Code: 20192
      Contact_Voice_Telephone: 703-648-5094
      Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: atlasmail@usgs.gov

Data_Quality_Information:
  Logical_Consistency_Report: 
    The data set was checked for topological consistency using the Arc/INFO 
    command BUILD.  No other checks for logical consistency were performed on 
    this data set.
  Completeness_Report:
    This data set includes county boundaries for all 50 States, Puerto Rico, and 
    the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Data completeness generally reflects the content 
    of the original DLG files. 
  Lineage:
    Source_Information:
      Source_Citation:
        Citation_Information:
          Originator: U.S. Geological Survey
          Publication_Date: 1995
          Title: 
            1:2,000,000-scale Digital Line Graph Data - Boundaries
          Publication_Information:
            Publication_Place: Reston, VA
            Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey
      Source_Scale_Denominator: 2000000
      Type_of_Source_Media: CD-ROM
      Source_Time_Period_of_Content:
        Time_Period_Information:
          Range_of_Dates/Times:
            Beginning_Date: 1970
            Ending_Date: 1995
        Source_Currentness_Reference: Ground condition
      Source_Citation_Abbreviation: 2MILBD
      Source_Contribution: Spatial and attribute information

    Source_Information:
      Source_Citation:
        Citation_Information:
          Originator: U.S. Geological Survey
          Publication_Date: 1998
          Title: County Boundaries of the United States
          Publication_Information:
            Publication_Place: Reston, VA
            Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey
      Source_Scale_Denominator: 2000000
      Type_of_Source_Media: Online
      Source_Time_Period_of_Content:
        Time_Period_Information:
          Single_Date/Time:
            Calendar_Date: 1998
        Source_Currentness_Reference: Publication date
      Source_Citation_Abbreviation: ATLAS-CNTY98
      Source_Contribution: Spatial and attribute information

    Source_Information:
      Source_Citation:
        Citation_Information:
          Originator: U.S. Geological Survey
          Publication_Date: 1999
          Title: Hydrography Features of the United States
          Publication_Information:
            Publication_Place: Reston, VA
            Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey
      Source_Scale_Denominator: 2000000
      Type_of_Source_Media: Online
      Source_Time_Period_of_Content:
        Time_Period_Information:
          Single_Date/Time:
            Calendar_Date: 1999
        Source_Currentness_Reference: Publication date
      Source_Citation_Abbreviation: ATLAS-HY9903
      Source_Contribution: Spatial information

    Source_Information:
      Source_Citation:
        Citation_Information:
          Originator: U.S. Geological Survey
          Publication_Date: 19990326
          Title: County Boundaries of the United States
          Publication_Information:
            Publication_Place: Reston, VA
            Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey
      Source_Scale_Denominator: 2000000
      Type_of_Source_Media: Online
      Source_Time_Period_of_Content:
        Time_Period_Information:
          Single_Date/Time:
            Calendar_Date: 1999
        Source_Currentness_Reference: Publication date
      Source_Citation_Abbreviation: ATLAS-CNTY9903
      Source_Contribution: Spatial and attribute information

    Source_Information:
      Source_Citation:
        Citation_Information:
          Originator: U.S. Geological Survey
          Publication_Date: Unknown
          Title: 1:100,000-scale USGS topographic sheets
          Publication_Information:
            Publication_Place: Reston, VA
            Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey
      Source_Scale_Denominator: 100000
      Type_of_Source_Media: Paper
      Source_Time_Period_of_Content:
        Time_Period_Information:
          Single_Date/Time:
            Calendar_Date: Unknown
        Source_Currentness_Reference: Publication date
      Source_Citation_Abbreviation: 1:100,000-scale base maps
      Source_Contribution: Spatial and attribute information

    Source_Information:
      Source_Citation:
        Citation_Information:
          Originator: U.S. Geological Survey
          Publication_Date: 1999
          Title: Geographic Names Information System
          Publication_Information:
            Publication_Place: Reston, VA
            Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey
      Type_of_Source_Media: Online
      Source_Time_Period_of_Content:
        Time_Period_Information:
          Single_Date/Time:
            Calendar_Date: 1999
        Source_Currentness_Reference: Publication date
      Source_Citation_Abbreviation: Geographic Names Information System
      Source_Contribution: Attribute information

    Source_Information: 
      Source_Citation: 
        Citation_Information: 
          Originator: U.S. Geological Survey 
          Publication_Date: 199911
          Title: County Boundaries of the United States 
          Publication_Information: 
            Publication_Place: Reston, VA 
            Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey 
      Source_Scale_Denominator: 2000000 
      Type_of_Source_Media: Online 
      Source_Time_Period_of_Content: 
        Time_Period_Information: 
          Single_Date/Time: 
            Calendar_Date: 199911
        Source_Currentness_Reference: Publication date 
      Source_Citation_Abbreviation: ATLAS-CNTY9911 
      Source_Contribution: Spatial and attribute information 

    Source_Information: 
      Source_Citation: 
        Citation_Information: 
          Originator: Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Geography Division
          Publication_Date: 200201
          Title: 2000 County and County Equivalent Areas 
          Publication_Information: 
            Publication_Place: Washington, DC
            Publisher: Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Geography Division
          Online_Linkage: <http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cob/co2000.html>
      Type_of_Source_Media: Online 
      Source_Time_Period_of_Content: 
        Time_Period_Information: 
          Single_Date/Time: 
            Calendar_Date: 200201
        Source_Currentness_Reference: Publication date
      Source_Citation_Abbreviation: CO_D00
      Source_Contribution: Spatial information 

    Source_Information: 
      Source_Citation: 
        Citation_Information: 
          Originator: U.S. Geological Survey 
          Publication_Date: 200102
          Title: County Boundaries of the United States 
          Publication_Information: 
            Publication_Place: Reston, VA 
            Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey 
      Source_Scale_Denominator: 2000000 
      Type_of_Source_Media: Online 
      Source_Time_Period_of_Content: 
        Time_Period_Information: 
          Range_of_Dates/Times: 
            Beginning_Date: 1972
            Ending_Date: 1999
        Source_Currentness_Reference: Ground condition
      Source_Citation_Abbreviation: ATLAS-CNTY0102
      Source_Contribution: Spatial and attribute information 

    Process_Step:
      Process_Description:
        The 2MILBD data files were originally digitized by the National Mapping
        Division based on the sectional maps contained in 'The National Atlas of 
        the United States of America' published by the USGS in 1970.  The 
        sectional maps were updated during 1978-1981 and digitized in the early 
        1980's.  The data were updated again in the early 1990's by the USGS and 
        published on CD-ROM in 1995 as State DLGs.  Using Arc/INFO software, the 
        updated DLG optional-format files were converted to Arc/INFO coverages 
        using the DLGARC command.  Only county boundaries and attribute 
        information were extracted from the boundaries DLG layer for inclusion 
        in this national coverage.  The county boundary lines that crossed open
        water were excluded for graphic purposes and polygons that represented 
        islands were attributed with the appropriate county information.  The 
        individual State coverages were then merged together using the Arc/INFO
        command MAPJOIN.  "Slivers" created during the MAPJOIN process were 
        identified and deleted using the ELIMINATE command.  In 1998, the 
        delineation of the boundary of Mojave County, AZ was corrected.  Minor 
        modifications were also made to boundaries in Alaska.
      Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: 2MILBD
      Process_Date: 1998
      Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: ATLAS-CNTY98

    Process_Step:
      Process_Description:
        The spatial features were compared against the National Atlas 
        hydrography layer (ATLAS-HY9903) and modified where necessary.  
        Incorrect attributes were corrected.  Yellowstone County was deleted and 
        the boundaries for Gallatin and Park Counties were adjusted to absorb 
        the area of Yellowstone National Park.  Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin 
        Islands were added. 
      Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: ATLAS-HY9903
      Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: ATLAS-CNTY98
      Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: 2MILBD
      Process_Date: 1999
      Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: ATLAS-CNTY9903

    Process_Step:
      Process_Description:
        Several boundary adjustments were made to counties in Alaska, Nebraska, 
        Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia.  Dade County, Florida was changed to 
        Miami-Dade County and the FIPS code was changed to 12086.
      Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: ATLAS-CNTY9903
      Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: 1:100,000-scale base maps
      Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: Geographic Names Information System
      Process_Date: 1999
      Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: ATLAS-CNTY9911

    Process_Step: 
      Process_Description: 
        The county name was corrected for the Grass Cay and Mingo Cay polygons
        in the U.S. Virgin Islands.  The State field was changed from names to 
        two-character abbreviations, and a field for State FIPS was added.
      Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: ATLAS-CNTY9911 
      Process_Date: 2001 
      Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: ATLAS-CNTY0102

    Process_Step: 
      Process_Description: 
        The boundary of Juneau Borough, Alaska was modified to include 
        approximately 61,000 acres of northern Admiralty Island.  Data from 
        the Census Bureau's county boundary file of Alaska, was extracted and 
        generalized to a scale of 1:2,000,000.  

        The boundary of Denver County, Colorado was modified to include the area 
        occupied by Denver International Airport.  Additional minor corrections 
        were made to Denver County and Adams County.  All corrections were made 
        using data from the Census Bureau's county boundary file of Colorado.  

        Finally, county attribution was removed from the Niagara River between 
        Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.      
      Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: CO_D00 
      Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: ATLAS-CNTY0102 
      Process_Date: 200201

Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:
  Indirect_Spatial_Reference:
    U.S. Department of Commerce, 1987, Codes for the Identification of the 
    States, the District of Columbia and the Outlying Areas of the United 
    States, and Associated Areas (FIPS 5-2): Washington, DC, National 
    Institute of Standards and Technology.

    U.S. Department of Commerce, 1990, Counties and Equivalent Entities of the 
    United States, Its Possessions, and Associated Areas (FIPS 6-4): Washington, 
    DC, National Institute of Standards and Technology.

  Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Vector
  Point_and_Vector_Object_Information:
    SDTS_Terms_Description:
      SDTS_Point_and_Vector_Object_Type: 
        GT-polygon composed of chains
      Point_and_Vector_Object_Count: 6138

Spatial_Reference_Information:
  Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:
    Geographic:
      Latitude_Resolution: 0.000278
      Longitude_Resolution: 0.000278
      Geographic_Coordinate_Units: Decimal degrees
    Geodetic_Model:
      Horizontal_Datum_Name: North American Datum of 1983
      Ellipsoid_Name: GRS1980
      Semi-major_Axis: 6378137
      Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257222

Entity_and_Attribute_Information:
  Detailed_Description:
    Entity_Type:
      Entity_Type_Label: 
        2000 Counties (described by Co2000p020.dbf)
      Entity_Type_Definition: 
        The second order division of a nation, such as a parish, borough, 
        municipio, judicial division, and independent cities in Maryland, 
        Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia. 
      Entity_Type_Definition_Source: U.S. Geological Survey
    Attribute:
      Attribute_Label: Shape
      Attribute_Definition: 
        The representation of the entity in the data.
      Attribute_Definition_Source: U.S. Geological Survey
      Attribute_Domain_Values:
        Enumerated_Domain:
          Enumerated_Domain_Value: Polygon
          Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: 2-dimensional element
          Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: ESRI GIS software
    Attribute:
      Attribute_Label: Area
      Attribute_Definition: The size of the shape in coverage units.
      Attribute_Definition_Source: U.S. Geological Survey
      Attribute_Domain_Values:
        Range_Domain:
          Range_Domain_Minimum: 0.000
          Range_Domain_Maximum: 73.832
    Attribute:
      Attribute_Label: Perimeter
      Attribute_Definition: The perimeter of the shape in coverage units.
      Attribute_Definition_Source: U.S. Geological Survey
      Attribute_Domain_Values:
        Range_Domain:
          Range_Domain_Minimum: 0.010
          Range_Domain_Maximum: 87.571
    Attribute:
      Attribute_Label: Co2000p020
      Attribute_Definition: Internal feature number
      Attribute_Definition_Source: U.S. Geological Survey
      Attribute_Domain_Values:
        Range_Domain:
          Range_Domain_Minimum: 2
          Range_Domain_Maximum: 6139
    Attribute: 
      Attribute_Label: State 
      Attribute_Definition: 
        The two-character abbreviation for the name of the State in which the 
        county is located. 
      Attribute_Definition_Source: U.S. Geological Survey 
      Attribute_Domain_Values: 
        Codeset_Domain: 
          Codeset_Name: 
            Codes for the Identification of the States, the District of Columbia 
            and the Outlying Areas of the United States, and Associated Areas;
            (Federal Information Processing  Standard (FIPS) 5-2): Washington, 
            DC, National Institute of Standards and Technology.
          Codeset_Source: U.S. Department of Commerce 
    Attribute:
      Attribute_Label: County
      Attribute_Definition: The name of the county or county equivalent.
      Attribute_Definition_Source: U.S. Geological Survey
      Attribute_Domain_Values:
        Codeset_Domain:
          Codeset_Name: 
            Counties and Equivalent Entities of the United States, Its 
            Possessions, and Associated Areas; (Federal Information Processing 
            Standard (FIPS) 6-4): Washington, DC, National Institute of 
            Standards and Technology.
          Codeset_Source: U.S. Department of Commerce 
    Attribute:
      Attribute_Label: Fips
      Attribute_Definition: 
        The 5-digit FIPS code of the county or county equivalent.
      Attribute_Definition_Source: U.S. Geological Survey
      Attribute_Domain_Values:
        Codeset_Domain:
          Codeset_Name: 
            Counties and Equivalent Entities of the United States, Its 
            Possessions, and Associated Areas; (Federal Information Processing 
            Standard (FIPS) 6-4): Washington, DC, National Institute of 
            Standards and Technology.
          Codeset_Source: U.S. Department of Commerce 
    Attribute:
      Attribute_Label: State_fips
      Attribute_Definition: 
        The 2-digit FIPS code of the State or State equivalent.
      Attribute_Definition_Source: U.S. Geological Survey
      Attribute_Domain_Values:
        Codeset_Domain:
          Codeset_Name: 
            Codes for the Identification of the States, the District of Columbia 
            and the Outlying Areas of the United States, and Associated Areas;
            (Federal Information Processing  Standard (FIPS) 5-2): Washington, 
            DC, National Institute of Standards and Technology.
          Codeset_Source: U.S. Department of Commerce 

Distribution_Information:
  Distributor:
    Contact_Information:
      Contact_Organization_Primary:
        Contact_Organization: 
          Earth Science Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey
      Contact_Address:
        Address_Type: Mailing address
        Address: 507 National Center
        City: Reston
        State_or_Province: VA
        Postal_Code: 20192
      Contact_Voice_Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS (1-888-275-8747)
      Contact_Voice_Telephone: 703-648-5920 
      Contact_Instructions: 
        In addition to the address above there are other ESIC offices throughout 
        the country.  A full list of these offices is at
        <http://mapping.usgs.gov/esic/esic_index.html>.

  Distribution_Liability: 
    Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at 
    the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty expressed or implied is made by the 
    U.S. Geological Survey regarding the utility of the data on any other 
    system, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty.  No 
    responsibility is assumed by the U.S. Geological Survey in the use of these 
    data.  
  Standard_Order_Process:
    Digital_Form:
      Digital_Transfer_Information:
        Format_Name: ESRI Shapefile
      Digital_Transfer_Option:
        Online_Option:
          Computer_Contact_Information:
            Network_Address:
              Network_Resource_Name:
                <http://nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html>.
      Digital_Transfer_Option:
        Offline_Option:
          Offline_Media: CD-ROM
          Recording_Format: tar
    Digital_Form:
      Digital_Transfer_Information:
        Format_Name: SDTS
      Digital_Transfer_Option:
        Online_Option:
          Computer_Contact_Information:
            Network_Address:
              Network_Resource_Name:
                <http://nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html>
      Digital_Transfer_Option:
        Offline_Option:
          Offline_Media: CD-ROM
          Recording_Format: tar
    Fees:
      There is no charge for the online option.  For National Atlas files 
      ordered on CD-ROM there is a base price of $45.00 per disc, a handling fee 
      of $5.00, and a per-file charge based on file size.  The charge for files 
      less than 10 megabytes in size is $1.00.  The charge for files that range 
      in size from 10 to 150 megabytes is $7.50.  The charge for files of 150 
      megabytes or larger is $15.00.  The charge is $7.50 for the 2000 County
      Boundaries of the United States data set.
    Ordering_Instructions:
      To order files on CD-ROM, please see
      <http://nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html#q12>. 

Metadata_Reference_Information:
  Metadata_Date: 20020206
  Metadata_Contact:
    Contact_Information:
      Contact_Person_Primary:
        Contact_Person: Peg Rawson
        Contact_Organization: U.S. Geological Survey
      Contact_Address:
        Address_Type: mailing address
        Address: 521 National Center
        City: Reston
        State_or_Province: VA
        Postal_Code: 20192
      Contact_Voice_Telephone: 703-648-4183
      Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: atlasmail@usgs.gov
  Metadata_Standard_Name:
    FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata 
  Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998
  Metadata_Security_Information: 
    Metadata_Security_Classification_System: None
    Metadata_Security_Classification: Unclassified
    Metadata_Security_Handling_Description: None
