The World Factbook

The World Factbook, also known as the CIA World Factbook,^[1] is a book that contains the Central Intelligence Agency's information about the world's countries. A new book is published every year. The Factbook provides a two- to three-page summary of the demographics, geography, communications, government, economy, and military of 272 countries, dependencies, and other areas in the world.

The cover of the 2016-17 The World Factbook

The World Factbook is designed to be used by people that work for the United States government,^[2] but it is also used by students, on websites, and in other publications that are not made by governments.^[1] Because the U.S. Government made it, it is in the public domain.^[3]