In this map, I used census data from 2000 to display the number of people per county. I used a North American Conformal Conic map projection and graduated purple color ramp to show the number of people in the United States as of the census of 2000. From this map we can tell that there are not as many people per county throughout the Midwest. Most of the Midwest such as Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, North and South Dakota usually have less than 25,000 people per county. Much of the 25,000-500,000 number of people per county are located elsewhere and around big cities in the U.S. Although some Midwest and central regions can also have large numbers of people, the highest numbers are mostly concentrated in the west and east coasts. Clusters of counties with the highest numbers of people are considerably dominant in Southern California and the East coasts states such as Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and the Northeast Metropolitan Region.
This map showed the difference between the number of people per county from the 1990 census to the 2000 census. This map also was in the North American Lambert Conformal Conic Projection. The colors chosen for this map make it easy to understand, because the pink values show the greatest disparity of people per county. These pink counties have a negative value and this occurs mostly in the Midwest and scattered elsewhere throughout the U.S. The light green values show that the number of people per county has stayed or roughly the same on increased slightly. However, we can see great increases in the number of people over the decade in Southern California, Arizona, Florida, and the coastal regions of the East and Washington State.
The percent change of the total population from 1990 to 2000 is different compared to the quantitative number of people map. This map, in North American Conformal Conic Projection demonstrates negative values in the Midwest, so there is a great percentage decrease in counties located there, especially in North Dakota. Much of the rest of the country seems to have very little percentage change in total population, except for a large part of Nevada and small counties throughout the U.S.
My last and final map shows the population density as of 2000. Areas with little population are mostly located on the mid-west part of the United States. Even then, very few counties have less than a population density of 1. Many more counties with a population density less than 7 still continue in the midwest states of Nevada, Colorado, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho, and New Mexico. We can clearly see the great difference in the western and eastern United States. The eastern united states has many more counties with a population density ranging from 7 to 80. The most dense areas are definitely located on the eastern seaboard, Southern California, Florida, and places near bodies of water such as the great lake states, Washington, and the Bay Area.
My census map series was a lot easier to do once I clearly understood the directions. I got confused following the lab instructions, but was able to make all four maps easy to read. I tried to make my maps neat, organized, aligned, and with symbols, neatlines and legends that were useful for someone else to understand. My overall impressions of GIS are that it is very useful for a variety of disciplines and uses. I have enjoyed using this program so far and I am planning on working on my own GIS projects using my trial software during winter break. I plan to minor in GIS and am sure it will be advantageous for my future career.
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