The Kalahari Desert covers a considerable part of this southern African country formerly known as Bechuanaland. Can you name the country? The physical map of Africa under the References tab shows the location of the Kalahari Desert; looking up Bechuanaland under Appendix F: Cross-Reference List of Geographic Names will reveal the country’s current name.

Did you know that the name of Canada derives from the Iroquoian word "kanata" meaning village or settlement, while Mexico’s name derives from the Mexica, the largest and most powerful branch of the Aztecs? The World Factbook has added country name etymologies (historical origins); these descriptions appear in the “Country name” entry under the Government section.

Milwaukee Deep, the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean (-8,605 meters; -28,230 feet), lies due north of a major Caribbean island. Can you name it? Check the References tab>Regional and World Maps>Central America and the Caribbean map to find the island.

The four white, five-pointed stars on this Pacific island nation’s flag represent its four island groups of Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap. All the islands used to be referred to as the Caroline Islands. Can you come up with the country’s current name? The answer may be found by either referencing the regional map of Oceania under the References tab or by locating Caroline Islands under Appendix F: Cross-Reference List of Geographic Names.

Only one country’s flag depicts an actual existing building. Can you name it? Check the References tab>Flags of the World to find the answer. Hint: The country lies in Southeast Asia.

Can you name the country that is currently thought to hold the largest proved reserves of crude oil in the world? (The answer may surprise you.) To find out, go to the References tab>Guide to Country Comparisons> Energy>Crude oil – proved reserves.

Do you know what country is the least populous on earth? Check the “Population” field under World entry to find out. Hint: It is also the world’s smallest country by size.

In the Geography section for all countries, the “Elevation” entry has been expanded to now include subfields for ‘mean elevation’ and ‘elevation extremes’ (including ‘lowest point’ and ‘highest point’).

The fields in the Energy category for all countries have been rolled forward one year to include data through 2015.

The fields in the Economy section for all countries have been rolled forward one year to include numerical and textual information through 2015.

Do you know where the Norman Isles are? Check Appendix F: Cross-Reference List of Geographic Names to find the more common name for the isles, the names of the two main islands, as well as their latitude and longitude.

The WHO is a specialized UN agency. Do you know what the initials stand for? When the agency was formed? And what its present membership is? Find the answers in Appendix B.

The most common symbols appearing on flags around the world are stars and stripes (horizontal or vertical). Crosses, crescent moons, and triangles are also fairly common. There are only two countries, however, that display the shape of a diamond (also called a rhombus; with all four sides having the same length) on their flag. Can you name these Western Hemisphere countries? Check the References tab>Flags of the World to help you determine the answer.

A new “Citizenship” field has been added to the Government section of all countries describing policies related to the acquisition of citizenship and recognition of dual citizenship. The definition for this field (under the References tab>Definitions and Notes) provides additional information regarding the ways citizenship is acquired. Note that for most countries of the world, citizenship is acquired through descent, known as the principal of Jus sanguinis, where parents must be citizens of a country for their children to acquire citizenship in that country.

How many countries have laid claim to portions of Antarctica? The answer may be found in the Antarctica entry (under Government>Government type). The regional map of Antarctica (under the References tab>Regional and World Maps>Political Antarctic Region) shows the extent of these claims, which are not recognized by the US and many other countries.

Can you name the African country that is more than 96% desert yet supports a population of over 88 million people – the second highest total on the continent? The answer may be ascertained by going to the References tab, clicking on Guide to Country Comparisons>People and Society>Population.

In the People and Society section, the “Unemployment – youth ages 15-24” entry has been updated.

How many fathoms make up a cable (length)? Check Appendix G: Weights and Measures for the answer!

Where applicable, all of the “Constitution” entries were recently updated throughout the Factbook.

Under the Transnational Issues > “Refugees and internally displaced persons” field for Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia, estimates have been added for the total number of recently arrived refugees and migrants. While it is impossible to specify how many of these people are refugees or what their country of origins are, these numbers at least present a rough estimate. People will, naturally, continue to keep moving around within Europe and new numbers will arrive, so the totals will be constantly changing. We will update our estimates on at least a monthly basis.

All of the entries in the Energy section were recently updated with the latest available data.

A link to a special Middle East and North Africa Religious Affiliation chart has been set up in the “Religions” entry for 20 countries ranging from Algeria to Yemen. Check it out.

Maritime piracy continues to be a concern in certain areas of the world. While successful pirate attacks have decreased off the East African coast, they have become more widespread off West Africa. Attacks in the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea also persist. Further details addressing piracy may be found in the "Transportation note" under the World entry, as well as under various countries bordering the Indian Ocean, and entries for Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

Can you name the Polynesian island nation that owns the Internet top level domain extension of “.tv”? Consult Appendix D: Cross-Reference List of Country Data Codes and check under the “T” countries for the answer.

The Standard Time Zones of the World map was recently updated. Check it out by going to the Regional and World Maps page and scrolling down, or click here to pull up a PDF (3534KB) version.

There is a unique large body of water in northern South America that is connected to the Gulf of Venezuela (Golfo de Venezuela) and ultimately the Caribbean Sea by the 5.5 km- (3.4 mi-) wide Tablazo Strait. Although its water is brackish and it is often thought of as a bay, this feature is frequently referred to as a lake. If so considered, it becomes South America’s largest lake (or lago in Spanish). Can you name it? The “lake” can easily be spotted on The World Factbook’s Central America and the Caribbean regional reference map.

Area comparison maps are now available for about half of the countries in The World Factbook! To see the relative size of a country shown superimposed over part of the US, go to the Geography section and check under “Area – comparative” (the fifth geography entry). Eventually, all country descriptions will include these useful and popular maps.

This month marks the 125th anniversary of the US Board on Geographic Names (BGN), an interagency body that standardizes and approves geographic names of domestic, foreign, Antarctic, and undersea features for Federal Government use. The place name spellings used throughout The World Factbook are those approved by the BGN.

In the People and Society category, the fields for "HIV/AIDS," "Drinking water source," and "Sanitation facility access" were recently updated with the latest available data.

The “Executive branch” entries for all countries were recently expanded. The subentry ‘elections’ has been replaced with ‘elections/appointments,’ and now includes more detailed information on the selection process for the ‘chief of state’ and ‘head of government’ subentries. The subentry ‘election results’ now includes the name or abbreviation of each candidate’s political party affiliation.

On 15 August 2015, North Korea changed its time zone by half an hour to the same time as it used over a century ago. To find out how the change relates to South Korean time, go to the Government section for each of the countries and check the “Capital” entry. Here you can find the time difference in the capital cities compared to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

In the Transportation category, the “Railways” entry has been updated where possible with the latest available figures from 2014. In addition to the total lengths for trackways, lengths for the different types of rail gauges (broad, standard, and narrow) are also presented.

In the People and Society section, the fields for “Urbanization” and “Major urban areas – population” were recently updated with data for 2015.

In the Communications category, the entries for “Telephones – mobile cellular”, “Telephones – fixed lines”, and “Internet users” have been updated with the latest available estimates.

The US dollar is the official currency not only for the United States, but for several other countries around the world including three Pacific Island nations. Can you name them? Hint: all three were part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands under US administration after World War II and attained independence between 1986 and 1994.

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a group of four countries that form a common market but which do not belong to the 28-nation European Union (EU). Nonetheless, all four members operate closely with the EU and participate in its single market. Can you name the four member states? The answer may be found in Appendix B: International Organizations and Groups.

Several important demographic indicators, including “Total population,” “Population growth rate,” “Life expectancy,” “Total fertility rate,” “Birth rate,” “Death rate,” and “Net migration rate,” have been updated with 2015 estimates.

How many emirates make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE)? Find the answer in the United Arab Emirates entry under Government>Administrative divisions.

What is the northernmost country in the world: Denmark, Canada, Russia, or Norway? Check the Regional and World Maps page > Political Arctic Region map to see which of these four countries comes closest to the North Pole.

Can you name the seven Western Hemisphere countries – collectively referred to as Central America – that fall between Mexico to the north and Colombia to the south? Check your answer by going to the Regional and World Maps page > Political Central America map. Note that five of these countries border both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

In the People and Society category, several health- and education-related fields have recently been updated, including “Health expenditures,” “Obesity,” “Literacy,” and “School life expectancy.”

Under the Geography category, the “Land use” field has been expanded to include agricultural land, forest land, and ‘other’ land uses. The revised entry also breaks agricultural land into its constituent parts of arable land, land under permanent crops, and land that is in permanent pastures and meadows. The ‘other’ land use grouping includes urban areas, wetlands, and barren land where the climate and soils do not support vegetation.

There are dozens of countries whose flags consist of only two colors. Three countries beginning with a ‘T’ have flags with a red-white color combination. Can you name them?

Many of the fields in the Economy and Energy categories have been updated with the latest available data. In 2014, based on a comparison of GDP measured at Purchasing Power Parity conversion rates, the US economy, having stood as the largest in the world for more than a century, slipped into second place behind China. China’s growth rate has more than tripled that of the US for each year of the past four decades.

In the Government category, the entry for “National symbol(s)” has been expanded to include information on national colors. In most cases these are colors found on the national flag, but this is not always the case. Exceptions include the national colors of Australia, Ireland, Netherlands, and New Zealand.

The World Factbook’s “Refugees and internally displaced persons” field has been substantially updated, including the latest developments from Syria and Ukraine. Stay tuned for data, as it becomes available, on displacement stemming from Nepal’s recent earthquake.

In the Government category, the first part of the "Legislative branch" field was thoroughly revised, expanded, and updated for all countries under a new "description" heading. This subentry includes the legislative structure, the formal name(s), the number of legislative seats, the types of voting constituencies and voting systems, and the member term of office. A vastly expanded “Legislative branch” description may be found on the Definitions and Notes page under the References tab.

Last week’s World Factbook's relaunch included the new World Factbook logo in the announcement. The logo features prominently on the 2014-15 World Factbook cover, which may be viewed under the References tab > Gallery of Covers. The artwork incorporates an eagle - echoing the Agency's seal - but one with a monocle to provide a scholarly appearance, as well as a stylized globe.

The World Factbook has been updated with several new entries and sections reflecting the latest information gathered over the past several months. Some of these additions will be described below and in What's New statements in the coming weeks.

In the Geography section, the "Land boundaries" entry was revised for all countries, including the total country border length as well as the border lengths for all neighboring countries.
[Click here for more details]

What country has the highest life expectancy in the world? Under the References tab go to the Guide to Country Comparisons and click on the People and Society category and find the "Life expectancy at birth" entry. One more click will give you the answer.

Can you name the largest country in Central America - which also contains the largest freshwater lake in Central America? Check the Regional and World Maps under the References tab to find the answer.

There are dozens of monarchies scattered about the globe, but only one of them falls in the Pacific region (Oceania). Can you name this archipelagic country? Hint: It lies in western Polynesia and was formerly referred to as the Friendly Islands. Its capital is Nuku'alofa, which translates as "the abode of love."

Many people don't realize it, but the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) has been around for more than nine decades (founded 1923). How many countries are members? Check Appendix B – International Organizations and Groups to find out.

Did you know that the South African national anthem employs the lyrics of five different languages? Check out the "National anthem" entry under South Africa's Government category to find out more details.

In the People and Society section, the “Urbanization,” “Major urban areas – population,” and “Mother’s mean age at first birth” fields were recently updated.

In the People and Society section, the "Dependency ratios" entries - including the youth dependency ratio, the elderly dependency ratio, and the total dependency ratio - have been updated with 2014 estimated data for all countries.

Did you know that there are freshwater lakes in the Sahara? Check out the "Geography - note" in the Chad entry to get more info.

Ceylon, Dahomey, and French Somaliland are former names for what countries? Answers may be found in Appendix F: Cross-Reference List of Geographic Names, under the Appendices tab.

Do you know what country is the largest electricity producer in the world? Click on the References tab, Guide to Country Comparisons - then go to Energy> "Electricity - production" to find out.

Can you name the world's largest country composed solely of islands? Hint: 17,508 islands make up this Asian archipelago; some 6,000 are inhabited.

The equator passes through seven African countries, can you name them? Hint: check the various World Factbook maps that show Africa to come up with the answer.

Dozens of new photos have been uploaded for various Central American and Caribbean nations, most notably Anguilla, Belize, the Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico.