County Boundaries, Minnesota
Go to Section:- Overview
- Data Quality
- Data Organization
- Coordinate System
- Attributes
- Distribution - Get Data
- Metadata Reference
Section 1: Overview
Originator:Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR)
Title:
County Boundaries, Minnesota
Abstract:
This is the standard Minnesota State County Boundary dataset that is used by MNDNR and many other state agencies. It is maintained by the MNDNR Lands and Minerals Division.
Please read at the accuracy and lineage sections of this metadata to make sure this dataset is appropriate for your application!
Purpose:
This data was created to provide a standard county boundary layer to represent the state. This boundary dataset is NOT a legal document, nor is it appropriate for use on large scale or site-specific maps and applications. Best used at 1:24,000 or smaller scales. For more detailed and precise data we advise you contact the specific county of interest.
Time Period of Content Date:
07/01/2013
Currentness Reference:
Time Period of Content date indicates the date which the user can be confident of accuracy and completeness of the dataset.
Progress:
Complete
Maintenance and Update Frequency:
Irregular
Spatial Extent of Data:
Statewide
Bounding Coordinates:
-96.824784
-90.836301
49.267794
43.438259
Place Keywords:
Minnesota, MN
Theme Keywords:
boundaries, Minnesota, county, counties
Theme Keyword Thesaurus:
ISO 19115 Topic Category
Access Constraints:
None
Use Constraints:
Use of the data are constrained only by the DNR GIS Data License Agreement. See the Distribution Liability section below for a link.
Contact Person Information:
Renee Johnson,
ITS 3
DNR-Lands and Minerals
500 Lafayette Road - Box 45
St. Paul,
MN
55155
Phone: (651) 259-5396
Fax: (651) 296-5939
Email: renee.johnson@state.mn.us
Section 2: Data Quality
Attribute Accuracy:
Attributes have been verified and tested under wide use for decades
Logical Consistency:
Polygon(s) are coincident, verified closed, and intersect where intended.
Completeness:
All Minnesota county lands are present, including off-shore islands in Lake Superior. The official state and international borders within Lake Superior are not included in this data set.
Horizontal Positional Accuracy:
The primary full-resolution feature class in the geodatabase is called: mn_county_boundaries
There are several reduced-resolution feature classes also included in the geodatabase which are useful for fast visual display or to support generating web services designed to be displayed at small scales.
The naming convention for these reduced-resoultion feature classes indicates the snapping tolerance that was applied. For example, vertices within the feature class mn_county_boundaries_1500 are a minimum of 1500 meters apart. Use this information to determine the appropriate feature class to use at various scales for your specific application.
When in doubt, always use the full resolution feature class by default: mn_county_boundaries
Source accuracies vary greatly. Public land survey derived lines and coincident county boundaries range in expected offsets from 50 to 200 feet, with the smaller value being more common. The most significant offsets within this category are in the northeastern portion of the state where the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) quad sources are most tentative with regards to section corner locations. County boundaries not coincident with PLS lines are typically from 1990 vintage TIGER data with many off-sets in the 100 foot range. The international boundary should be highly accurate as it was taken directly from legislative notes. The Lake Superior North Shore was from 1980's vintage National Wetland Inventory and will typically exhibit off-sets of about 60 feet, with generally good depictions of the shore line character.
This data is NOT to be used as a legal document, and is not accurate enough for site-level analysis.
Vertical Positional Accuracy:
Not Applicable
Lineage:
Attribute Lineage: Some attribute table restructuring was performing during MNDNR's GIS Core Library development effort in March 1996. This entailed bringing in selected fields from the county cross-reference table, including county names and county abbreviations.
A simplified, multipart version of this dataset, called mn_county_boundaries_multipart, was created in July of 2013 to meet various DNR enterprise needs. The feature class has only 87 records (multipart shapes for counties with islands) and includes state-standard County FIPS codes.
A multitude of source dates and data are associated with this data set, including those associated with the original GISMO, RKI, DLG, and TIGER data set development efforts. Work on the coverage was completed during the summer/fall of 1993. Attribute restructuring to ensure conformance with MNDNR Public Land Survey (PLS) Coding standard performed in March 1996.
Section 3: Spatial Data Organization (not used in this metadata)
Section 4: Coordinate System
Horizontal Coordinate Scheme:
Universal Transverse Mercator
UTM Zone Number:
15
Horizontal Datum:
NAD83
Horizontal Units:
meters
Vertical Datum:
not applicable
Vertical Units:
Not Applicable
Depth Datum:
not applicable
Depth Units:
Not Applicable
Section 5: Attributes
Overview:
See the Table Detail section
Detailed Citation:
Table Detail:
mn_county_boundaries - Feature Class Attribute Table| Field Name | Valid Values | Definition | Definition Source |
|---|
| CTY_NAME | - | County name | |
| CTY_ABBR | enumerated | | |
| AITK | Aitkin | |
| ANOK | Anoka | |
| BECK | Becker | |
| BELT | Beltrami | |
| BENT | Benton | |
| BIGS | Big Stone | |
| BLUE | Blue Earth | |
| BROW | Brown | |
| CARL | Carlton | |
| CARV | Carver | |
| CASS | Cass | |
| CHIP | Chippewa | |
| CHIS | Chisago | |
| CLAY | Clay | |
| CLEA | Clearwater | |
| COOK | Cook | |
| COTT | Cottonwood | |
| CROW | Crow Wing | |
| DAKO | Dakota | |
| DODG | Dodge | |
| DOUG | Douglas | |
| FARI | Faribault | |
| FILL | Fillmore | |
| FREE | Freeborn | |
| GOOD | Goodhue | |
| GRAN | Grant | |
| HENN | Hennepin | |
| HOUS | Houston | |
| HUBB | Hubbard | |
| ISAN | Isanti | |
| ITAS | Itasca | |
| JACK | Jackson | |
| KANA | Kanabec | |
| KAND | Kandiyohi | |
| KITT | Kittson | |
| KOOC | Koochiching | |
| LACQ | Lac Qui Parle | |
| LAKE | Lake | |
| LESU | Le Sueur | |
| LINC | Lincoln | |
| LOTW | Lake of the Woods | |
| LYON | Lyon | |
| MAHN | Mahnomen | |
| MARS | Marshall | |
| MART | Martin | |
| MCLE | McLeod | |
| MEEK | Meeker | |
| MILL | Mille Lacs | |
| MORR | Morrison | |
| MOWE | Mower | |
| MURR | Murray | |
| NICO | Nicollet | |
| NOBL | Nobles | |
| NORM | Norman | |
| OLMS | Olmsted | |
| OTTE | Otter Tail | |
| PENN | Pennington | |
| PINE | Pine | |
| PIPE | Pipestone | |
| POLK | Polk | |
| POPE | Pope | |
| RAMS | Ramsey | |
| REDL | Red Lake | |
| REDW | Redwood | |
| RENV | Renville | |
| RICE | Rice | |
| ROCK | Rock | |
| ROSE | Roseau | |
| SCOT | Scott | |
| SHER | Sherburne | |
| SIBL | Sibley | |
| STEA | Stearns | |
| STEE | Steele | |
| STEV | Stevens | |
| STLO | St. Louis | |
| SWIF | Swift | |
| TODD | Todd | |
| TRAV | Traverse | |
| WABA | Wabasha | |
| WASE | Waseca | |
| WASH | Washington | |
| WATO | Watonwan | |
| WILK | Wilkin | |
| WINO | Winona | |
| WRIG | Wright | |
| Wade | Wadena | |
| YELL | Yellow Medicine | |
| CTY_FIPS | enumerated | Numeric FIPS county code | |
| 1-173 | Can be derived from CTY.CODE using the formula: FIPS.CODE = (CTY.CODE * 2) - 1. | |
Section 6: Distribution
Publisher:
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR)
Publication Date:
07/15/2013
Contact Person Information:
Zeb Thomas,
GIS Data Systems Coordinator
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
500 Lafayette Rd
St. Paul,
MN
55155-4011
Phone: 651-259-5637
Email: zeb.thomas@state.mn.us
Distributor's Data Set Identifier:
bdry_counties_in_minnesota
Ordering Instructions:
Please visit the download page for this dataset on the Minnesota Geospatial Commons website using the web link below (Online Linkage). Online Linkage: I AGREE
to the notice in "Distribution Liability" above. Clicking to agree will either begin the download process, link to a service, or provide more instructions. See "Ordering Instructions" above for details.
Section 7: Metadata Reference
Metadata Date:
09/24/2014
Contact Person Information:
Zeb Thomas,
GIS Data Systems Coordinator
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
500 Lafayette Rd
St. Paul,
MN
55155-4011
Phone: 651-259-5637
Email: zeb.thomas@state.mn.us
Metadata Standard Name:
Minnesota Geographic Metadata Guidelines
Metadata Standard Version:
1.2
