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: March 30, 2023

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What's New

The number of country photographs in The World Factbook now exceeds 5,000. All are in the public domain. These photographs may be viewed in a number of ways. After clicking on a country’s Photos section, the first 12 images will show up. In the upper right, a “Per Page:” box with a dropdown arrow allows users to view more photos at a time (24, 48, or All). Once an image is selected, it appears in a larger size along with a useful scroll bar that displays icons of the five photos before and after the selected photo in the photo sequence. Check out the new photo access system and enjoy browsing the Factbook‘s ever-growing photographic collection.

VIEW ALL UPDATES

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Explore Countries

Explore All Countries

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

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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

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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.