Question 1
Creating Datasets for Boundaries of US States, USA, Canada, Mexico, and US Cities
In Part 1, we define the projection to the North America Equidistant Conic Projection. We also get boundaries for US states, the entire USA, Mexico, Canada, as well as US city locations.
eqdc = '+proj=eqdc +lat_0=40 +lon_0=-96 +lat_1=20 +lat_2=60 +x_0=0 +y_0=0 +datum=NAD83 +units=m +no_defs'Question 2:
Calculating Distances of US cities to (1) the national US border, (2) the nearest state border, (3) the Mexican border, and (4) the Canadian border.
Distance to US Border (km)
| City | State | Distance to USA Border (km) |
|---|---|---|
| Dresden | Kansas | 1012.317 |
| Herndon | Kansas | 1007.750 |
| Hill City | Kansas | 1005.147 |
| Atwood | Kansas | 1004.734 |
| Jennings | Kansas | 1003.646 |
Distance to States (km)
| City | State | Distance to State Border (km) |
|---|---|---|
| Lampasas | Texas | 308.9216 |
| Bertram | Texas | 302.8190 |
| Kempner | Texas | 302.5912 |
| Harker Heights | Texas | 298.8125 |
| Florence | Texas | 298.6804 |
Distance to Mexico (km)
| City | State | Distance to Mexican Border (km) |
|---|---|---|
| Caribou | Maine | 3250.334 |
| Presque Isle | Maine | 3234.570 |
| Calais | Maine | 3134.348 |
| Eastport | Maine | 3125.624 |
| Old Town | Maine | 3048.366 |
Distance to Canada (km)
| City | State | Distance to Canadian Border (km) |
|---|---|---|
| Guadalupe Guerra | Texas | 2206.455 |
| Sandoval | Texas | 2205.641 |
| Fronton | Texas | 2204.784 |
| Fronton Ranchettes | Texas | 2202.118 |
| Evergreen | Texas | 2202.020 |
Question 3
Visualization
3.4
Question 4
Real-World Application: Quantifying and Mapping the “Border Zone”
Information can be found from ACLU.
| Number of Cities | Population Within Zone | Percent of Total Population |
|---|---|---|
| 12283 | 259935815 | 65.43979 |
The findings in this table support the claim made by ACLU, that 2/3 of the US population live in the “Border Zone”.
Constitutional rights protected by the Fourth Constitutional Amendment no longer apply fully at borders. The border zone of 100 miles (~160 km) from external boundaries contains 28,145 cities. 259 million people live in these border zones. Compared to the 397 million people living in the US, 65 % of the US population, or about two thirds, is living in these border zones. This is accurate to the ACLU article estimate.