lab 7

           This map displays the percentage of people that identified themselves as African-American across the United States in the year 2000. It is evident from the map that the majority of African-Americans are heavily concentrated in the southeastern region of the United States. The western states are the least concentrated compared to the southeastern states. The lightest colors of pink and blue, represent at least 10% of the population that is black. Based off of the map, the majority of counties in the United States have less than 10% of black people.

          This map displays the percentage of people that identified themselves as Asian in the United States in the year 2000. This map displays the western and eastern regions of the United States such as California and New York having the most people of Asian ethnicity. The largest percentage of Asians in a specific county barely reaches 50%. On the other hand, the lowest percentage of asian population is .0085% . Based off of the legend, it is evident that Asian populations are relatively low throughout most of the United States.

        The last map displays the percentage of people that identified themselves as "some other race" in the United States. The "some other race" category consists of people with various or mixed racial ethnicities. The Census Bureau indicates that the "other race" category is mainly comprised of people of latino or hispanic descent.  The most notable aspect of the "some other race" census is the amount of diversity on the western region of the United States. Someone observing this map may infer that the United States is very diverse in the west compared to other parts of the country, when in fact it is mainly representing the percentage of hispanics/latinos.

         The three maps we created were helpful in visually seeing where certain ethnicities within the Unites States reside. It is also important in identifying certain similarities and patterns evident in the maps. For example, the western regions and coast seemed to have the densest concentration of Asian, black, and "some other race" ethnicities. Based off of this information, I would assume that these regions are probably the most diverse regions of the United States.
       This lab is very beneficial in terms of personal and profesional applications. Initially, using the tutorial guide became tedious and confusing. However, our fantastic TA showed us how to complete the lab and it became much easier and more enjoyable than the tutorial. This lab was another great GIS application that can be applied to real life. I also think this lab was a great way to show how easy it was to add data from a reliable source in order to generate maps. I am excited to use GIS and learn more about the software and its endless capabilities.