Information About Foreign Nations

There is a vast amount of data about other nations available via the Internet. The sources below are among those made available by the U.S. Government.

Country Studies/Area Handbook Program

These volumes are a continuing series of books prepared by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program sponsored by the Department of the Army.

Background Notes

Background Notes are a series of short, factual pamphlets produced by the Department of State about the various countries and territories of the world. Typically, each pamphlet includes information on a country's land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations. The full set includes all notes available at the time your order is processed. Issue dates and numbers of pages vary. This set may be updated with the subscription service which is also sold under this category. Individual country Background Notes are available on-line from the Department of State.

CIA WORLD FACTBOOK

This single volume provides capsule summaries of facts about the nations of the world. The CIA says of its Factbook, "The printed version of the Factbook is published annually in July by the Central Intelligence Agency for the use of US Government officials, and the style, format, coverage, and content are designed to meet their specific requirements. Information was provided by the American Geophysical Union, Bureau of the Census, Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Defense Mapping Agency, Defense Nuclear Agency, Department of State, Foreign Broadcase Information Service, Maritime Administration, National Science Foundation (Polar Information Program), Naval Maritime Intelligence Center, Office of Territorial and International Affairs, US Board on Geographic Names, US Coast Guard, and others."

The CIA notes that US Government officials should obtain copies of The World Factbook directly from their own organization or through liaison channels from the Central Intelligence Agency. This publication is also available in microfiche, magnetic tape, or computer diskettes.

This publication may be purchased by telephone (VISA or MasterCard) or mail from:

Superintendent of Documents

P.O. Box 371954

Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954

Telephone: (202)512-1800

A subscription to this publication may be purchased from:

Document Expediting (DOCEX) Project

Exchange and Gift Division

Library of Congress

Washington, DC 20540

Telephone: (202)707-9527

This publication may be purchased in printed form, photocopy, microfiche, magnetic tape, or computer diskette from:

National Technical Information Service

5285 Port Royal Road

Springfield, VA 22161

Telephone: (703)487-4650