Library

Country Information

Below are suggested resources to use when researching countries.

A-Z Countries of the World
via Oxford Reference Online
With over 200 entries, this handbook provides an up-to-date overview of each country in the world. Featuring maps and vital statistics, it also includes summaries of the social, economic, religious and political issues that shape each country. Global Data tables present the main economic and social indicators, such as GNP, life expectancy, and population growth and density.

BBC Country Profiles
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles/
History, politics and economic background of countries and territories, and background on key institutions and organizations.

Columbia Gazetteer of the World
http://www.columbiagazetteer.org/
G 103.5 C65 1998
The text version is a large, three-volume dictionary of names, descriptions, and characteristics of places in the world.

Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names
via Oxford Reference Online
With over 8,000 entries, from Aachen to Zyrardów, this dictionary gives the history, meanings, and origin of an enormous range of country, region, island, city, and town names from around the world. In doing so, it reveals religious and cultural traditions, the migration of peoples, the ebb and flow of armies, the presence of explorers, local languages, industrial developments, topography, as well as superstitions and legends.

Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook
G 122. C67
A compilation of U.S. Department of State reports on contemporary political and economic conditions, government personnel and policies, political parties, religions, history, education, press, radio and TV, climate, and other characteristics of selected countries of the world.

EIU Country Reports
The EIU (Economist Intelligence Unit) is one of the leading publishers of in-depth information on countries world-wide.
Country Reports and Profiles contain background and historical context of current economic and political events, analysis of the infrastructure and major industrial sectors of each economy, and tables of key economic data for the past 5 years. Simmons subscribes to Country Reports from the following states: Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom.

EIU Viewswire
The EIU (Economist Intelligence Unit) is one of the leading publishers of in-depth information on countries world-wide.
Viewswire is a daily news service. Simmons subscribes to Viewswire from the following countries: Argentina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Estonia, Ghana, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lithuania, Morocco, Netherlands, North Korea, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela.

Geo-Data: The World Geographical Encyclopedia
G 103.5 G36 2003
Detailed and comprehensive descriptions of the physical geography of the world's 192 countries and 25 dependencies.

Library of Congress Country Studies
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html
Description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world.

Oxford Dictionary of the World
G 103.5 O94 1995
Topographical descriptions of places in every country of the world; descriptions of peoples, languages, and religions, and definitions of selected geographical and environmental terms.

The World Factbook
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
G122 .U57
Prepared by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for use by U.S. government officials, The World Factbook summarizes general information on the geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military, transnational issues, and other aspects of the world's countries and dependencies, including a small map of the country and a picture of the country flag.

Page updated: April 17, 2007

 

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