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Research draft

administrative territorial entity of the United States

vr.tr.administrative-territorial-entity-of-the-united-states · PHY.PLC

Let an agent handle US administrative entities by type, state, codes, government functions and census use.

Thing Registry Physical world and living systems

Research draft, second pass

A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.

written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify

Researched by: Claude

Purpose and description

Let an agent handle US administrative entities by type, state, codes, government functions and census use.

An administrative or statistical subdivision within the United States, such as states, counties, parishes, boroughs, townships, New England towns, minor civil divisions, census county divisions and insular areas.

What it is for: Government, services, elections and statistics.

It can be identify the type of US subdivision; find FIPS or GEOID codes; find the responsible local government; use census geographies correctly.

Distinguishing features

Varies by state

Governmental or statistical

Coded by federal standards

Boundaries change

What it looks like

Not physical; shown on maps as bounded areas.

How it is recognised

States, counties, townships, towns

FIPS and GNIS codes

Census statistical areas may not be governments

Related models

is a kind of - category

administrative territorial entity

is part of - country

United States

is coded by - identifiers

FIPS and GEOID

is used by - statistics

US Census Bureau

In practice

Families and kinds

states and insular areas

counties and county equivalents

townships and New England towns

minor civil divisions

census county divisions and other statistical areas

Identifiers

FIPS code numeric federal codes

GNIS ID numeric geographic names

Standards and regulation

US Census Bureau geographic standards

State constitutions and local government law

Failure modes and hazards

Confusing statistical and governmental units

Outdated boundaries

Also called

census county divisionminor civil divisiontownship of CaliforniaNew England townstate or insular area capital of the United Statesplantationcivil town of Wisconsintown of Rhode Islandtown of ConnecticutVermont municipalitytown of Vermonttownship in the United Statesirrigation districtcivil townshipcivil township of South Dakotatownship of Illinoistownship of Ohiotownship of Indianatownship of Iowatownship of Michigantownship of Arkansastownship of Minnesotacharter township of Michigantownship of Nebraskatownship of North Carolinasurvey townshiptownship of New Jerseyurban township of the United Statestownship of Pennsylvaniaterritory of the United StatesIndian reservation of the United Statesfederal judicial district of the United StatesUnited States federal judicial districttownship of Kansastownship of New Hampshiretownship of Missouritownship of North Dakotapaper townshipmetro townshipurban township of Minnesota

+38

Where this came from

wikidata · CC0 1.0

Source repository Registry entry point

Drafted structure

Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.

Entity Which unit.

Types vary by state.

Type

Kind of unit.

Type

Entity type.

  1. What type of US subdivision is this, and in which state? definition
  2. Is it a government or a statistical area? boundary

Codes

Identifiers.

Codes

Codes.

  1. What are its FIPS and GEOID codes? provenance
  2. Have they changed? provenance
Government Functions.

Functions vary.

Functions

Services.

Functions

Government functions.

  1. Which services does this unit provide? provenance
  2. How is it governed? provenance

Contact

Offices.

Contact

Contacting government.

  1. How can residents contact the local government? action
  2. Where are records held? provenance
Statistics Census.

Census data use geography.

Data

Census data.

Data

Census data.

  1. What census data exist for this unit? provenance
  2. For which vintage of boundaries? provenance

Comparison

Across states.

Comparison

Comparability.

  1. Are these units comparable across states? boundary
  2. Which equivalents apply? definition
Boundaries Changes.

Boundaries change.

Changes

History.

Changes

Boundary changes.

  1. Has the unit been created, merged or dissolved? provenance
  2. When? provenance

Maps

TIGER files.

Maps

Boundary maps.

  1. Where can official boundary files be downloaded? provenance
  2. Which year? provenance

What the second pass must settle

  • Should each entity type be a separate entry?
  • How should codes be linked?
  • How should boundary changes be tracked?
Draft as JSON