CIA World Fact Books

In addition to the updated information, The CIA World Fact Books features seven new entries. In the People category, an entry has been added for Median age. In the Economy category, entries have been added for Oil - production, Oil - consumption, Oil - exports, Oil - imports, Oil - proved reserves, and Natural gas - proved reserves. Revision of some individual country maps, first introduced in the 2001 edition, is continued in this edition. The revised maps include elevation extremes and a partial geographic grid. Several regional maps have also been updated to reflect boundary changes and place name spelling changes. The CIA World Fact Books was first made available on the Internet in June 1997. The year 2003 marks the 56th anniversary of the establishment of the Central Intelligence Agency and the 60th year of continuous basic intelligence support to the US Government by The CIA World Fact Books and its two predecessor programs.

The Hoover Commission's Clark Committee, set up in 1954 to study the structure and administration of the CIA World Fact Books, reported to Congress in 1955 that: "The National Intelligence Survey is an invaluable publication which provides the essential elements of basic intelligence on all areas of the world. There will always be a continuing requirement for keeping the Survey up-to-date." The CIA World Fact Books was created as an annual summary and update to the encyclopedic NIS studies. The first classified Fact book was published in August 1962, and the first unclassified version was published in June 1971. The NIS program was terminated in 1973 except for the Fact book, map, and gazetteer components. The 1975 CIA World Fact Books was the first to be made available to the public with sales through the US Government Printing Office (GPO).

The CIA World Fact Books provides national-level information on countries, territories, and dependencies, but not on sub national administrative units within a country or supranational entities like the European Union. A good encyclopedia should provide state/province-level information. The CIA World Fact Books provides information on the administrative divisions of a country as recommended by the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN). The BGN is a component of the US Government that develops policies, principles, and procedures governing the spelling, use, and application of geographic names-domestic, foreign, Antarctic, and undersea. Its decisions enable all departments and agencies of the US Government to have access to uniform names of geographic features.

Also included in the CIA World Fact Books are entries on parts of the world whose status has not yet been resolved. Specific regions within a country or areas in dispute among countries are not covered. The CIA World Fact Books staff uses many different sources to publish what we judge are the most reliable and consistent data for any particular category. Space considerations preclude a listing of these various sources. There are too many variations in pronunciation among English-speaking countries, not to mention English renditions of non-English names, for pronunciations to be included. American English pronunciations are included for some countries like Qatar and Kiribati. The willingness of readers from around the world to share their observations and specialized knowledge is very helpful as we try to produce the best possible publications.