An instructional guide for using The World Factbook to find "where facts" online.

1. THE WORLD FACTBOOK
A publication of the Central Intelligence Agency
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
Kayla Kuffel, LIS 704

2. What is it?
• The World Factbook is a reference publication of the CIA that is
updated weekly and “provides information on the history, people,
government, economy, geography, communications,
transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world
entities. (source)
• It began as a classified publication in conjunction with the
National Intelligence Survey but has since become unclassified,
public, and available on the Web. (source)
• The intended audience is basically “anyone looking for an
expansive body of international data on a recently updated Web
site.” (source)

3. Why should I trust this source?
• The information is
gathered from reliable
sources including but
not limited to:
• Antarctic Information
Program (National Science
Foundation)
• Armed Forces Medical
Intelligence Center
(Department of Defense)
• Bureau of the Census
(Department of
Commerce)
• Bureau of Labor Statistics
(Department of Labor)
• Central Intelligence
Agency
• Council of Managers of
National Antarctic
Programs
• Defense Intelligence
Agency (Department of
Defense)
• Department of Energy
• Department of State
• Fish and Wildlife Service
(Department of the
Interior)
• Maritime Administration
(Department of
Transportation)
• National Geospatial-
Intelligence Agency
(Department of Defense)
• Naval Facilities
Engineering Command
(Department of Defense)
• Office of Insular Affairs
(Department of the
Interior)
• Office of Naval
Intelligence (Department
of Defense)
• US Board on Geographic
Names (Department of the
Interior)
• US Transportation
Command (Department of
Defense)
• Oil & Gas Journal
• (source)

4. What kind of questions can The World
Factbook answer?
• It provides information on 267 world entities regarding the
following (source):
• History
• People
• Government
• Economy
• Geography
• Communications
• Transportation
• Military
• Transnational issues

5. What kind of questions can The World
Factbook answer?
• The References tab provides the following drop-down:

6. What kind of questions can The World
Factbook answer?
• Each country/entity has a
profile with categories, fields,
and subfields of information.
• This is an example of a profile
before the categories have been
expanded.
• The flag and maps at the top of
the page are linked to more
information, which will be
covered on the next slide.

7. Inside the country profiles
• When you click on the flag, you get a description, as seen here.

8. Inside the country profiles
• When you click on the
flag, you get a
description, as seen here.
• Clicking on the maps
simply enlarges them.

9. Example of category, fields, and subfields
within a country profile
Category
Field
Subfield

10. Examples of searches
• You might use this to find information about specific countries:
• What is the obesity rate in Ireland?
• What is the climate like in Andorra?
• What is the military expenditure of Afghanistan?
• How big is Tanzania on the map compared to the United States?
• You might use this to find information about the world:
• What are the ten most populated countries in the world?
• What is the world population growth rate?
• What percent of the world population identifies as Christian?

11. Example of a search on a specific
country
• A user wants to know the education expenditures of Argentina.
1. Find Argentina in the drop-down menu on the top right.

12. 2. Expand the “People and Society” tab.

13. 3. Either scroll down or use the Ctrl+f function to find “Education
Expenditures.”
As you can see, there is also a
“compared to the world” subfield,
which links to the entire list of
where countries rank in terms of
educational expenditure.

14. You can also click this icon to open the field listing for this entry so
that you can see every country’s percentage instead of rank alone.

15. Example of a search on the world
• A user wants to know the number of internet users in the world.
1. Find “World” in the drop-down menu on the top right.

16. 2. Expand the “Communications” category.
3. Find “Internet users.”

17. Additional information
• The user guide can be found here.
• The FAQ section can be found here.
• Do not hesitate to ask your librarian if you need further clarification!
• Central Intelligence Agency. (2016). The World Factbook. Retrieved
from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/geos/br.html
Citation