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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 265 world entities.

Travel the globe with CIA’s World Factbook.

Edition: Nov 14, 2024

Fact of the Day

What's New

In addition to a list of the major languages spoken in most countries, The World Factbook has audio samples of those languages on individual country pages -- navigate to the country you're interested in, then click on "People and Society" in the menu on the left. The audio sample can be found under the Languages heading.

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The World

The World

Explore Countries

Explore all Countries

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

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

The World & Its Regions

Australia and Oceania

Central America and the Caribbean

Central Asia

East and Southeast Asia

Middle East

North America

South America

Regions

Regions

Oceans

Arctic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

Indian Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Southern Ocean

Oceans

Oceans

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 factsheets 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.

Love data? The World Factbook has over 50 rank order pages that compare country data in specific fields.