The World Factbook

The World Factbook provides basic intelligence on the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, environment, communications, transportation, military, terrorism, and transnational issues for 266 world entities.

Travel the globe with CIA’s World Factbook.

Edition: Apr 25, 2024

Fact of The Day

April 25, 2024

African Penguins

VIEW 30-DAY ARCHIVE

What's New

The World Factbook has two useful updates that make its maps and data more accessible. First, the Maps page has been re-structured so now there are just two sections, World and Regional Maps and CIA Maps. Second, the individual pages for the UK's two Sovereign Base Areas on the island of Cyprus - Akrotiri and Dhekelia - have been combined into a single Akrotiri and Dhekelia page, where the data for each entity is listed together in each field.

VIEW ALL UPDATES

.teaser-background-image.teaser-background-image-left:before { opacity: 1; background-image: url('/the-world-factbook/static/1fb043c96f4c84ae790254dee5dbc2c4/d0b9c/AU_030_xlarge.jpg'); }

Explore Countries

Explore all Countries

Part of a flag display in one of the buildings of the UN Office in Vienna.

.teaser-background-image.teaser-background-image-left.gbi--1158402651-3pqt5yZTYemnSxiNSDE3Np:before { opacity: 1; background-image: url('/the-world-factbook/static/375be1c02fc0818938f44e13ba2a9e47/30ed3/wfb-feature-regions.jpg'); }

The World & Its Regions

World

Africa

Antarctica

Australia and Oceania

Central America and the Caribbean

Central Asia

East and Southeast Asia

Europe

Middle East

North America

South America

South Asia

.teaser-background-image.teaser-background-image-left.gbi-234868188-skzAiWYwKUDLWqqCbDWndV:before { opacity: 1; background-image: url('/the-world-factbook/static/ed67c918123ce167b26b8e3e4f2c25eb/c60cc/wfb-feature-oceans.jpg'); }

Oceans

Arctic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

Indian Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Southern Ocean

Travel more intelligently with The World Factbook Travel Facts. Here’s what you should know about each country before you go.

Pressed for time? Check out our one-page summaries for essential information on each country.

Every flag has a story. View flags of all the world’s countries and territories to learn the symbolism behind each design.

Love data? The World Factbook has over 65 rank order pages that compare country data in specific fields.