Mapping Census 2000: The Geography of U.S. Diversity is an atlas of America, presenting in dramatic, graphic fashion some of the first results of that once-a-decade head count of the American people known as the census.

Among the most striking of these results from Census 2000 is how this nation of immigrants has become ethnically and racially diverse as never before. Its 281,421,906 residents possess a collective heritage that links them--and the nation--to virtually every arc of planet earth.

Nothing illustrates such phenomena as well as maps.

Using the latest geographic information technology (GIS) from ESRI, cartographers Cynthia A. Brewer and Trudy A. Suchan have taken Census 2000 redistricting data and assembled an atlas of maps that illustrate this new American diversity in rich, colorful detail.

Census 2000 redistricting data contains new categories of racial and ethnic identity, including White; Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander.

In addition, 2000 was the first time that residents were allowed to identify themselves as belonging to more than one of these categories, reflecting a new and more accurate reality of American ethnicity. Residents of Hispanic or Latino origin, one of the most important and fastest growing demographic groups in the country, were also able to identify themselves with more accuracy.

The result is an atlas of America and of Americans notable for both comprehensiveness and currency.

Cynthia A. Brewer is Associate Professor of Geography at The Pennsylvania State University. Trudy A. Suchan is a geographer in the Population Division of the U.S. Bureau of the Census.