In this week’s lab, we have used data from the 2000 Census to produce maps that show the distribution of population in America according to race.

The above map shows the population distribution of “black” people in the United States. There is clear indication that a significant amount of “black” people situate in the South-East states of America; including Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina. Some reasons suggesting the concentration of “black” people in the South is because of the amount of labor intensive jobs available; also, the South was where most of their ancestors lived, and they may not want to move away. On the other hand, we see some concentration of “black” people in the West Coast, namely California, this may be because of the renowned music industry being situated there aswell, causing the cluttering of black rap artists.

In the second map, it is showing the distribution of the Asian population across the United States. We can see roughly two major concentrations of Asian distribution, one is in California, and the other is near New York. A reason suggesting this phenomenon is that famous cities like San Fransisco and New York have large China Towns, which attract Asian immigrants.

The last map shows the distribution of “some other race” across the United States. As we can see, the population of this “race” have a tendancy of situating in the West Coast.

I believe that the Census map series is definitely an useful tool for not only the government, but also for the whole population. Through identifying patterns which these maps map out, everyone is able to recognize correlations between subjects and contexts. For example, the distribution of Asians in America, which is shown by two major clusters allow us to understand how the immigration period has to do with present Asian settlements.

To conclude this course, i think that GIS is such a powerful tool that can be applied in many different aspects in the modern society. From business firms deciding weather to open a new branch in a certain location, to simply finding your way to your local super market, GIS support our daily lives in many ways imaginable. As a geography student, i believe i should acquire more knowledge on GIS, so that in the future, i could help develop GIS technology, making it more available to people, providing aid when ever where ever needed, and expanding the awareness of spacial information.