Profiles of countries and regions
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Most countries

CIA World Fact Book   https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/   Best source for very brief descriptions of every country of the world.  Info on location, geography, climate, demography, economy, infrastructure.
 

Area Studies   http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area.htm    This very extensive and comprehensive page  "gives access to information on individual countries. It may be used to access all the information on the site for a given country, since the sub-pages for each country have links, where relevant, to all the other pages."   From Richard Kimber's Political Sciences Resources page, http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/psr.htm
 

Background notes from the US Department of State      http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/    brief description of history and current conditions of many countries of the world.  In some cases, very brief. Needs Java. For further info also see this page   http://www.state.gov/travelandbusiness/    with info about countries and regions. The archive for notes before Jan 2001 is currently at   http://www.state.gov/www/background_notes/index.html      See also the US Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights at   http://www.state.gov/g/drl/hr/
 

Library of Congress Country Studies. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html    brief history, current conditions. Click on "Choose a Country Profile only" for current studies.
 

BBC has a country profiles page   http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/country_profiles/default.stm
 

The Economist has a country briefing page   http://www.economist.com/countries/  

Country Indicators for Foreign Policy (CIFP)   http://www.carleton.ca/cifp/   see the country ranking tables, and the indicator descriptions for explanations. Many variables are ranked from 1996 to 2000, for many countries. Variables include armed conflict, gov stability, militarization, demographics, and others.


Foreign and Commonwealth Office has a country profiles page   http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029394365   which provide "provide a general overview of the country concerned. They include information on the country's recent history, recent political developments, relations with the international community"


Cultural Profiles Project   http://www.cp-pc.ca/english/index.html   very brief overviews of life and customs in various countries


Global  Education   http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go   click on country profiles.
 

Regions or specific countries

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation    http://www.apec.org/     see especially the individual economic report page, at  http://www.apec.org/apec/member_economies/economy_reports.html   and the key indicators page at  http://www.apec.org/apec/member_economies/key_economic_indicators.html 
 

Asian Development Bank   http://www.adb.org/    See their Asian Development Outlook books:   http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/ADO/    Also see the current Key Indicators at  http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Key_Indicators/default.asp
 

Middle East Directory   http://www.middleeastdirectory.com/index.phtml   has brief descriptions of countries, including government, geography, etc. The descriptions are near the bottom of the page.
 

African people and culture    http://www.africaguide.com/culture/index.htm   Brief cultural overview of several African countries.
 

Brazil in Brief   http://www.brasilemb.org/   click on Education, and then School Projects.


Telling Our Story   http://www.usaid.gov/stories/   "is our effort to let everyone see the impact of USAID’s work and meet the people whose lives it changed"  Each 'story' is a brief story about a single local thing, with a picture.



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last verified 1/1/08
last updated 1/1/08.