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: July 20, 2023

Fact of The Day

July 19, 2023

Burmese Temple

The Shwenandaw Kyaung Temple, built in traditional Burmese architectural style, is the only remaining structure from the original Royal Palace in Amarapura. The temple was later moved to nearby Mandalay where is remains today. After King Mindo died in the building in 1878, it was converted into a monastery dedicated to his memory. The monastery is known for its teak carvings of Buddhist myths adorning the walls and roof.

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What's New

In the Energy category, the "Electricity access" field has been updated with the latest available (2021) data. Overall, 91.4% of the World's population has access to electricity. The World total without access is 757 million. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the most people, 583 million, without access to electricity.

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

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