Research Guides: Country Information Topic Guide: General Country Profiles

Political and Demographic Profiles

CIA World Factbook
Provides one or two pages of data on that nation's geography, people, government, economy, communications, and defense forces.
CQ Press Political Handbook of the World
Contains entries on countries and territories around the world. Content provides each country's political parties and includes names of key ambassadors, international memberships, and profiles intergovernmental organizations
Europa: Gateway to the European Union
A freely accessible gateway to the EU, with information on the major EU organs.
KOF Index of Globalization
The KOF Index of Globalization measures the three main dimensions of globalization: economic, social, and political. Data are available on a yearly basis for 158 countries from 2012 to the present. The Index - De Facto interactive chart/map covers 1970 to 3 years ago.
Library of Congress Country Studies
A freely available online source which provides access to the series of books prepared by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program sponsored by the Department of the Army.

Statesman's Yearbook This link opens in a new window
Covers key historical events, population, city profiles, social statistics, climate, recent elections, current leaders, defence, international relations, economy, energy and natural resources, industry, international trade, religion, culture, and diplomatic representatives, as well as fact sheets for countries world wide. Browse by places, people, international organizations, or abbreviations. Includes editions from 1864-present.

US State Department Background Notes
These publications include facts about the land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations of independent states, some dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty.

Census Bureau International Programs Center
Find tabular data for countries and regions as well as demographic indicators, population pyramids and source information for countries.
Eurostat
Provides statistics for European Union members that enable comparisons between countries and regions in the areas of economics, population and social conditions, industry and trade, agriculture, transportation, environment and energy and science and technology.
UN Country Information
Provides a data snapshot including economic and social indicators and environmental statistics
UNData
Provides 15 databases from different UN agencies covering agriculture, health, human development, communication technology, industry, population, refugees, trade and tourism.

World Bank Data: World Development Indicators This link opens in a new window
Provides over 550 development indicators with time series for 207 countries and 18 country groups, 1960-present (where data is available).

BBC News: Country Profiles
Full profiles provide an instant guide to history, politics and economic background of countries and territories, and background on key institutions. They also include audio or video clips from BBC archives.
The Economist Country Briefings
News articles from The Economist, and country information from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
OECD Data Explorer
Data and metadata for OECD countries and selected non-member economies. New platform replaces OECD.Stat as of June 12, 2024.