Week 7

The first map documents the African American population from census data in the continental United States.  As one can see, the higher concentrations of African Americans are higher in the Southeastern United States, particularly in the Carolinas, Alabama, Louisiana, and Virginia.  This pattern is shown by the dark green part of the map.  This map could be helpful in election season, as politicians targeting the ethnic populations in the country need to know where they are concentrated in order to develop strategies on how to court these potential voters.

The map above details the census data of Asian Americans from census data in the continental United States.  The major concentrations of this population are in Mid and Southern California, some districts in Washington, and in a couple of districts in the Northeast.  In the districts with the most concentrated Asian American population, it is between 20 and 46% of the population.  

The third and final map displays the census data of the “Other Population” in the continental United States.  Most of these concentrations are found in southern Texas, southern California, and in the Southwest in general.  Based on the location of the patterns from the above map, it is probable that these data represent the census of Hispanic Americans. 

What these maps do is show us where a large concentration of a particular ethnicity resides in the continental United States.  From these maps, it is possible to deduce trends as to where ethnicities concentrate in this country and perhaps derive further research questions from these patterns.  Color contrasts and symbols serve to emphasize the differences between larger and smaller concentrations of the targeted ethnicity and accentuate the patterns that the creator wants to bring into focus.  My overall impression of GIS is that it is an effective tool for displaying patterns from the census.