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''The World Factbook'' ( ISSN ; also known as the '''''CIA World Factbook''''')1 is an annual publication of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with Almanac -style information about the Countries Of The World . The ''Factbook'' provides a two- to three-page summary of the Demographics , Geography , Communication s, Government , Economy , and Military of 268 U.S.-recognized countries, dependencies, and other areas in the world. ''The World Factbook'' is prepared by the CIA for the use of U.S. Government officials, and its style, format, coverage and content are primarily designed to meet their requirements.2 However, it is frequently used as a resource for student papers, web sites and non-governmental publications. As a Work Of The U.S. Government , it is in the Public Domain .3 ''FACTBOOK'' SOURCES In researching the ''Factbook'', the CIA uses the sources listed below. Other public and private sources are also consulted.
COPYRIGHT Because the ''Factbook'' is in the Public Domain , people are free to redistribute and modify it in any way that they like, without permission of the CIA. However, the CIA requests that it be Cited when the ''Factbook'' is used. The official seal of the CIA, however, may not be copied without permission as required by the ''CIA Act of 1949'' (50 U.S.C. section 403m). Misuse of the official seal of the CIA could result in civil and criminal penalties:4 FREQUENCY OF UPDATES AND AVAILABILITY Before November 2001, ''The World Factbook'' website was updated yearly. Since then, the ''Factbook'' website is updated every two weeks; the print edition is still updated annually.5 Generally, information currently available as of January 1 of the current year is used in preparing the printed ''Factbook'', which is released around the middle of each year.6 The government edition of the ''Factbook'' The first classified edition of ''Factbook'' was published in August 1962 and the first unclassified version in June 1971.7 ''The World Factbook'' has been available to the public in print since 1975 and on the World Wide Web since October 1994.Miller, Jill Young. "CIA puts data on the internet." ''Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel'' 12 December 1994. The Web version gets an average of 6 million visits per month; it can also be downloaded.8 The official printed version is sold9 at cost by the Government Printing Office and National Technical Information Service . In past years, the ''Factbook'' was available on CD-ROM ,10 Microfiche , Magnetic Tape , and Floppy Disk .11 Reprints Many Internet sites, including Wikipedia , use information and images from the CIA ''World Factbook''.12 Several publishers, including World Almanac Books, Grand River Books, and Potomac Books (formerly known as Brassy's Inc.) have re-published the factbook in different formats. Many electronic editions of the factbook have been available for sale from third parties since the 1980s. ENTITIES IN THE ''FACTBOOK'' See Also: List of entities and changes in The World Factbook As of January 2007, ''The World Factbook'' consists of 268 entities.13 These entities can be divided into categories. They are: ; Independent countries : This category has independent countries, which the CIA defines as people "politically organized into a sovereign state with a definite territory". In this category, there are 193 entities. ; Others : The ''Other'' category is a list of other places set apart from the list of independent countries. Currently there are two: Taiwan and the European Union . ; Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty : This category is a list of places affiliated with another country. They may be subdivided into categories using the country they are affiliated with:
; Miscellaneous : This category is for Antarctica and places in dispute. There are six entities. ; Other entities : This category is for the World and the Ocean s. There are five oceans and the World (the World entry is intended as a summary of the other 267 entries). ODDITIES AND CONTROVERSIES Political ; Areas not covered Specific regions within a country or areas in dispute among countries, such as Kashmir and Kosovo , are not covered,14 but other areas of the world whose status is disputed, such as the Spratly Islands , have entries.15 Subnational areas of countries (such as US States or the Canadian Provinces And Territories ) are not included in the ''Factbook''. Instead, users looking for information about subnational areas are referred to "a good encyclopedia" for their reference needs. 16 This criteria was invoked in the 2007 edition with the decision to drop the entries for French Guiana , Guadeloupe , Martinique , and Reunion . They were dropped due to the fact that besides being Overseas Department s, they were now Overseas Region s, and a part of France. 17 ; Kashmir : Maps depicting Kashmir have the India – Pakistan border drawn at the Line Of Control , but the region of Kashmir Occupied By China drawn in hash marks.18 ; Northern Cyprus : Northern Cyprus is not given a separate entry or listed as part of Turkey because "territorial occupations/annexations not recognized by the United States Government are not shown on U.S. Government maps."19 ; Taiwan/Republic of China : , Legal Status Of Taiwan ) ; Burma/Myanmar : The U.S. does not recognize the renaming of Burma by its ruling military junta to ''Myanmar'' and thus keeps its entry for the country under "Burma". This is done because the name change "was not approved by any sitting legislature in Burma". As a result, the US government has never adopted the name Myanmar.25 ; Macedonia ; European Union : On December 16 , 2004 , the CIA added an entry for the European Union (EU).36 According to the CIA, the European Union was added because the EU "continues to accrue more nation-like characteristics for itself". Their reasoning was explained in this small statement in the introduction: Before December 2004, the EU was excluded from the ''Factbook''.37 ; United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges and Iles Eparses : In the 2006 edition of ''The World Factbook'', the entries for , 2007 the Iles Eparses entry and redirects for each island were dropped due to becoming a district of the French Southern And Antarctic Lands in February.40 ; Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro : Yugoslavia has had a confusing history in the ''Factbook''. Before 1992, the Socialist Federal Republic Of Yugoslavia (SFRY) was included in the ''Factbook''.42 In 1992 , the entry was dropped43 and entries were added for all of the former republics. In doing this, the CIA listed the Federal Republic Of Yugoslavia (FRY) as ''Serbia and Montenegro''.44 This was done in accordance with a May 21 , 1992 decision45 by the US Government not to recognize the FRY (or any of the other republics)46 as Successor State s to the recently dissolved SFRY. The US Government also decided not recognize the FRY itself as a state.47 : These views were made clear in a disclaimer printed in the ''Factbook'':48 ; East Timor/Timor-Leste On July 19 , 2007 the entry for East Timor was renamed ''Timor-Leste'' following a decision of the US Board on Geographic Names (BGN).52 Factual Before 1998, the United Kingdom profile contained a sentence that asserted the UK had gained independence on 1 January 1801.53 This terse, confusing description in reference to the Act Of Union 1801 has since been greatly expanded.54 ISBN NUMBERS This is a list of International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs) for the Government edition and Potomac Books reprint of the ''Factbook''. For the reprint editions, the year of the data is in parentheses. ; government editions:The ISBN for each edition can be found on the Government Printing Office Bookstore website.
; Potomac Books reprints:
SEE ALSO
SOURCES EXTERNAL LINKS
: 1992 , 1993 , 1994 , 1995 , 1996 , 1997 , 1998 , 1999 , 2000 , 2001 , 2002 , 2003 , 2004 , 2005 , 2006 , 2007
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