Hello! I was wondering what the source for the shapefiles for India is and whether these shapefiles correspond to census tables provided by the Office of Registrar General & Census Commissioner in India?
The original shapefile images for India were obtained from the Database of Global Administrative Areas (gadm.org). IPUMS then used data from statoids.com and the Administrative Atlas of India from the 2011 Census to map boundary changes over time. Both year-specific state-level boundaries and district-level boundaries are available in GIS maps on the linked pages. These states and districts match the NSSO data provided by the MOPSI, however, in theory, they should correspond to the boundary divisions used in the census tables provided by the Office of Registrar General & Census Commissioner as long as they use the same base year. However, we cannot guarantee a complete match, specifically in the lower level second administrative units. Also, please note that codes and labels will be different.
IPUMS also created harmonized first and second level administrative units with consistent boundaries over time (you can read more about this process on the geography variables page). These will not always correspond to official boundary definitions if there were any changes, but they allow users to analyze the same area over time.
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