definition
strict definition
incorporated area boundary
The legally incorporated territory of a US municipality, where that differs from the area it is credited with.
An incorporated area boundary is the land a US city or county has actually incorporated, taken from the Census TIGER files.
It exists because the two can differ. A city may be credited with an area that includes land it has annexed on paper but does not govern, or its recognized extent may be drawn around a built-up area larger than the incorporated one.
Where both are stored, the default boundary is what the map draws and this records the legal extent underneath it.