Lab #1 Map Analysis

Juxtaposing these three maps, even the untrained eye will be able to draw a few obvious conclusions. First of all, it is apparent that the vast racial majority of our country is white. There is a particularly high density of whites in the upper midwest and northeast, and a relatively low density of whites in the south, southwest, and in California. The relatively low density of whites in the southwest and in California is most likely attributed to the proximity of these areas to Mexico, where a high Latino population probably makes up for the lower percentage of white population. However, without a map of percent of Latino population per county, this speculation cannot be corroborated.


Comparing the map of black population to white population, it appears that the high density of blacks in the south explains the relative shortage of whites in this area. The black population appears to have the most contained distribution of the three census maps, with a very low percentage of blacks occuring outside the south, with the slight exception of parts of the west. This phenomenom is likely leftover from the slave trade, when millions of African slaves were brought to the Unites States, and the majority of these to southern plantations.


While the asian population seems to be more scattered than the black population, it is concentrated in a few specific areas, including the west coast, northwest, and east coast. There is a particularly high density of asians in the San Francisco/Bay Area of California, which explains the relatively low percentage of whites in this area. The concentration of asians on the coasts may be attributed to the proximity of these areas to the ocean, where asians may have arrived by ship.