The first map that is shown above is a census map of U.S. Counties with Black Population. Base on this map, the highest black population is located in the South Eastern part of the U.S. You will see that the states of Arkansas have a high percentage of black population. The highest percentage of black population is shown using the darkest blue color. The percentage of black population in the areas that have the darkest blue color would range in about 53%-86%. You will also notice that on the other side of the U.S. for example the North Western part and the middle part of the U.S. there’s a least percentage of black population in these locations. Though, another astonishing fact is that there is about 12%-23% (shown in yellow) black population located in the west side of U.S. which is probably located in the state of California.
The second map that is shown above shows the Asian
Population in 2000. You will notice that the highest percentage of the Asian
population is shown in red. The highest percentage of the Asian population that
is shown in red would range in about 20%-46%. If you would look at the map, you
will notice that there isn't that much Asian population in most of the states.
The highest percentage of Asian population that is noticeable in the map would
mostly be located in the west side of the U.S. which might probably be the state of
California. I've implied this due to the fact that most of the red spots that correspond
to having the highest percentage of population are mostly located in the west
side of the U.S. Also the other 3%-5% (light orange) and 5%-10% (orange) are
mostly located in the west side of the U.S. as well. However, there is also an
average percentage of Asian population in the North Western and North Eastern (e.g.
New Jersey, Maryland, etc.) part of the U.S.
Being
able to use GIS to make a census map wasn’t a very good experience for me. It
was explained and stated to be easy. However, I had a lot of confusion while
doing the lab. First, I wasn’t able to plug in the information correctly in GIS
which was the table from excel that we had to download. Every time I would
download the table and edit it on excel, I would then incorrectly plug the
wrong information on GIS (“Sheet$” instead of the new edited name of the table).
Also it was confusing on the part where we have to join and relate the tables
on the map because if you don’t know how exactly to join and relate tables in
the map, it is possible that the step you’re trying to do to add information on
the map will not work. Despite this, being able to learn how to use GIS to make
census maps and join table to add in information on the map is a good way of
making maps that will show accurate information. Knowing how to use GIS in making
census maps made it easier for me to understand how a census map is created and
where those percentages we see in the maps are coming from and also how those
information are being added in the map. I would say that GIS can show accurate
information in a map if it is used in the right way in making a map.