THE WORLD FACTBOOKA publication of the Central Intelligence Agencyhttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

Kayla Kuffel, LIS 704

What is it?

• The World Factbook is a reference publication of the CIA that is updated weekly and “provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities. (source)

• It began as a classified publication in conjunction with the National Intelligence Survey but has since become unclassified, public, and available on the Web. (source)

• The intended audience is basically “anyone looking for an expansive body of international data on a recently updated Web site.” (source)

Why should I trust this source?

• The information is gathered from reliable sources including but not limited to:• Antarctic Information

Program (National Science Foundation)

• Armed Forces Medical Intelligence Center (Department of Defense)

• Bureau of the Census (Department of Commerce)

• Bureau of Labor Statistics (Department of Labor)

• Central Intelligence Agency

• Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs

• Defense Intelligence Agency (Department of Defense)

• Department of Energy

• Department of State

• Fish and Wildlife Service (Department of the Interior)

• Maritime Administration (Department of Transportation)

• National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (Department of Defense)

• Naval Facilities Engineering Command (Department of Defense)

• Office of Insular Affairs (Department of the Interior)

• Office of Naval Intelligence (Department of Defense)

• US Board on Geographic Names (Department of the Interior)

• US Transportation Command (Department of Defense)

• Oil & Gas Journal

• (source)

What kind of questions can The World Factbook answer?

• It provides information on 267 world entities regarding the following (source):

• History

• People

• Government

• Economy

• Geography

• Communications

• Transportation

• Military

• Transnational issues

What kind of questions can The World Factbook answer?

• The References tab provides the following drop-down:

What kind of questions can The World Factbook answer?

• Each country/entity has a profile with categories, fields, and subfields of information.

• This is an example of a profile before the categories have been expanded.

• The flag and maps at the top of the page are linked to more information, which will be covered on the next slide.

Inside the country profiles

• When you click on the flag, you get a description, as seen here.

Inside the country profiles

• When you click on the flag, you get a description, as seen here.

• Clicking on the maps simply enlarges them.

Example of category, fields, and subfields within a country profile

Category

Field

Subfield

Examples of searches

• You might use this to find information about specific countries:

• What is the obesity rate in Ireland?

• What is the climate like in Andorra?

• What is the military expenditure of Afghanistan?

• How big is Tanzania on the map compared to the United States?

• You might use this to find information about the world:

• What are the ten most populated countries in the world?

• What is the world population growth rate?

• What percent of the world population identifies as Christian?

Example of a search on a specific country

• A user wants to know the education expenditures of Argentina.

1. Find Argentina in the drop-down menu on the top right.

2. Expand the “People and Society” tab.

3. Either scroll down or use the Ctrl+f function to find “Education Expenditures.”

As you can see, there is also a “compared to the world” subfield, which links to the entire list of where countries rank in terms of educational expenditure.

You can also click this icon to open the field listing for this entry so that you can see every country’s percentage instead of rank alone.

Example of a search on the world

• A user wants to know the number of internet users in the world.

1. Find “World” in the drop-down menu on the top right.

2. Expand the “Communications” category.

3. Find “Internet users.”

Additional information

• The user guide can be found here.

• The FAQ section can be found here.

• Do not hesitate to ask your librarian if you need further clarification!

• Central Intelligence Agency. (2016). The World Factbook. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/br.html

Citation