As required by US law, a census of governments is undertaken every five years. As with the previous one, the 1997 census covers three major fields: government organization, public employment, and government finances. Recently released by the US Census Bureau, this is the first volume of the 1997 census. "The report contains the official counts of the number of state and local governments. It also includes tabulations of government by state, type of government, size, and county location." The report is available in .pdf format and consists of an introduction, a number of tables, and lengthy appendixes containing individual state descriptions, definitions, and county-type areas without county governments.