CIA World Factbook

The World Factbook, also known as the CIA World Factbook, was a reference resource produced and published by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1962 to 2026 with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. From 1971 it was not classified, and available to the public in print since 1975, initially by the CIA, and later the Government Publishing Office. The Factbook was also available via a website, and could be downloaded. It provided a two- to three-page summary of the demographics, geography, communications, government, economy, and military of 258 international entities, including US-recognized countries, dependencies, and other areas in the world.