The above map is a description of the Number of People in the United States of America. As you can see Alaska and Hawaii are present at the bottom left-hand corner of the map. We can see that there is a density of population on the West and East coast of the continental forty-eight states and Hawaii which is depicted by dark brown. Whereas population is less dense in the middle of the U.S. and Alaska. We are able to use this map to study demographics of the United States and provides valuable information for construction new infrastructure within the U.S.. Overall, using GIS to create this map is fairly easy. The most important part of creating such a map, is the data. The data most be accurate in order to create a map that contains no error.
As you can see this map displays the Difference of Population from 1990 to 2000. Based on the map, we are able to see that the greatest amount of population change occurred in Southern California, tip of Nevada, and Arizona. There are some over areas within the continental forty-right United States that have the greatest amount of population change as well which is depicted in dark green. On the other hand, presented by the dark pink coloration, these areas have experienced a decrease in population. Thus, individuals in these areas have moved. One could study why these areas of experienced a negative population change. On another note, as we can see this map has the same set-up as the other map. This is extremely easy to do. Once the map was set-up according to my test and preferences, I turned on and off data, changed title name and legend. This allowed for my maps to be alike and maintain consistencies throughout my project.
As the title indicates, the above map is the Percent Change of the Total United States of America Population from 1990 to 2000. Compared to the other maps, we noticed a pattern. The coast and middle of the contiguous forty-eight states are inverse in relation. The coast increased in population, represented by the dark purple and purple coloration. While the middle portions decreased in population, represented by the orange and light orange coloration. This map is important because a specialize could use this as a basis of the economic effects of decreased populations in these regions. Moreover, one could study the environmental effects of increased populations within regions. Overall, this map was similar to the previous others and is represented well. However, if one does not know what represented here, one could change the title and this map could represent anything a person wanted. I see this as a downfall of GIS. The data can be interpreted to what the created wants it to depict.
The Population Density Map is the last of the census series maps. It appears as though density throughout the U.S. is fairly even. Yet, this map is useful to locate regions that are overpopulated. Pertaining to this map, dark blue coloration represents these overpopulated regions. For example, Los Angeles is an overpopulated area. These areas tend to be small and highly urbanized, which is evident with Los Angeles. On the other hand, this map is useful to located regions with 0.00 to .90 population density, less dense. This is relevant for various reasons. For example, the U.S. government is trying to locate a region to dispose of nuclear waste within the contiguous forty-eight. The government could use this map to locate areas of less dense areas then choose an area based on lack of resources in the area and accessibility. Overall, I see the usefulness for GIS. As long as the correct projection is chosen for the map and the data has little to no error, one could gather very vital information about a location and illustrate that information is a visual format. Moreover, the creator of the map best be able to provide enough information so that others can understand and not misinterpret the data gathered.
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