Public-domain ebook
by United States. Central Intelligence Agency
Language: en3,074 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: CIA World Factbooks·Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #35829.
The 2009 CIA World Factbook is a comprehensive reference work that compiles political, economic, and geographic data for every recognized nation and many territories. Its opening pages list a rapid succession of updates, election results for Afghanistan, Germany and Uruguay; new macro‑economic figures for dozens of countries; and a flood of satellite and ground photographs from NASA and field teams covering regions from the Atlantic to Mongolia. Each entry is timestamped, showing how the Factbook continuously incorporates fresh statistics on GDP, trade, energy, transport, and demographic indicators, while also noting changes in leadership and recent legislative outcomes. The sheer breadth of the catalog, spanning everything from rail gauge lengths to Gini indices, makes it a one‑stop source for current international facts as of late 2009.
Written in a formal, data‑driven style typical of U.S. government publications, the text reads like an encyclopedia rather than a narrative. Its tone is neutral and precise, reflecting the CIA’s intent to provide policymakers with reliable, up‑to‑date information. Readers who need authoritative country profiles, students, researchers, journalists, or professionals in business and diplomacy, will appreciate the exhaustive tables, standardized fields, and frequent revisions that give the Factbook its reputation as a trusted statistical compendium.
The opening · free to read
Completely redesigned website - presenting a cleaner look, improved navigation, and a host of added features - launched on the World Wide Web. Among the major enhancements are downloadable and printable photos for nearly 100 countries, a "Did You Know?" section explaining the impact of the Factbook around the world, and built-in world rankings for many of the Factbook information fields. Government sections reflect the results of recent parliamentary elections in Kuwait - where women were elected for the first time - and India, as well as presidential elections in Lithuania, Mongolia, Panama, and South Africa.
Significant updates made to the People and Economy categories; statistics for "GDP - real growth rate" and "GDP - per capita" (at purchasing power parity) now include three year's worth of data, in 2008 dollars. The Urbanization entry under People expanded to include all countries.
In addition to regular country updates, statistics for "GDP (purchasing power parity)" now include three year's worth of data, in 2008 dollars.
Recent major leadership changes in Guinea-Bissau, Latvia, and Madagascar included in the Government sections of those countries.
Latest US Census Bureau figures - updating basic demographic data for all countries - entered into the database. Entries on religions, languages, ethnic groups, and literacy also updated.
In order to provide more information on the nature and global dimensions of the current financial crisis, five additional fields appended to the Economy category: "Central bank discount rate," "Commercial bank prime lending rate," "Stock of money," "Stock of quasi money," and "Stock of domestic credit."
In the People category, two new fields provide information on education in terms of opportunity and resources: "School Life Expectancy" and "Education expenditures."
In the Geography category, two new fields focus on the vital resource of water: "Total renewable water resources" and "Freshwater withdrawal."
Three new fields added to the Economy category: "Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad," "Stock of direct foreign investment - at home," "Market value of publicly traded shares."
Revision of some individual country maps, first introduced in the 2001 edition, continues. Several regional maps have been updated to reflect boundary changes and place name spelling changes.
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About :: DID YOU KNOW?
The World Factbook is one of the US Government's most accessed publications.
The World Factbook, produced for US policymakers and coordinated throughout the US Intelligence Community, presents the basic realities about the world in which we live. We share these facts with the people of all nations in the belief that knowledge of the truth underpins the functioning of free societies.
Who uses The World Factbook?
A wide variety of folks including US Government officials, researchers, news organizations, corporations, geographers, teachers, professors, librarians, and students. In short, anyone looking for an expansive body of international data on a recently updated Web site.
The World Factbook is a one-stop reference site.
Although many of the facts presented in The Factbook may be found in various other publications, they are conveniently gathered together in one place only at The World Factbook Web site.
The World Factbook is a unique reference in that it is updated continuously - on average, every two weeks.
Information in The Factbook is collected from - and coordinated with - a wide variety of US Government agencies, as well as from hundreds of published sources.
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These are the Categories, Fields, and subfields of information generally recorded for each country. Links are to the Definitions and Notes about each entry.
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