Nations of the World

The sites on this page will provide basic information on any nation in the world.

This page:
Nations, generally | Special Aspects: Embassies and Consulates | Human Rights | Alternative Approaches

Nations, generally

United Nations:

• List of Member States
• Country at a Glance
• United Nations Statistics - Statistics on every country in the world
• World Statistics Pocketbook
• UN Data
• UNICEF Country Statistics - Statistics on children's well-being
• Territories of the World - List compiled by the United Nations

U.S. Government Information on Other Nations:

See also

• U.S. International Relations

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA):

• CIA World Factbook
• World and Regional Maps
• The World entry has some good lists and other facts
• References - Comparative information, etc.

Library of Congress:

• Global Gateway: World Culture and Resources - One-stop shop for LC's international Web sites
• Country Studies
• Nations of the World - Links to constitutions and laws of nations (Law Library of Congress)

State Dept.:

• Countries
• A-Z List of Country and Other Area Pages
• Country Search - Links to crime and safety and health reports, news, U.S. embassies and consulates (Overseas Security Advisory Council)
• U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets (formerly Background Notes)
• Independent States in the World, as recognized by the U.S. government
• Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty
• Special Reports:
• Country Specific Information - Travel warnings, embassy notices, etc. (Travel.State.gov)
• Country Reports on Terrorism
• Human Rights Reports
• International Religious Freedom Report
• Trafficking in Persons Report

House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs

Also known as the Committee on International Relations, depending on which party is in power.

• Committee home page - Information on hearings, publications, statements
• Hearings, Committee Prints, and Publications - Back to the 1990s (U.S. Government Publishing Office)

British Government Information on Other Nations:

• UK and the World - About the UK's relations with and policies toward other nations, including travel information for British citizens

Other Sources:

• A+ Country Reports - Much of the usual facts and figures, with extras like current news and weather, audio clips of national anthems [countryreports.org]
• BBC News Country Profiles - Basic facts; each profile has a timeline of events for that country
• Country Indicators for Foreign Policy (CIFP) - Demographic, political, economic, environmental indicators (Carleton University, Canada)
• CountryWatch - With news and links
• Economist.com: Topics - Information on many topics. Clicking on a country name gives you current news and economic info
• Eldis - Profiles on the economies and societies of countries in the developing world. (Does not include North America or Europe)
• Foreign Governments - Links to official sites of governments and government departments (Northwestern University Library)
• Foreign Information by Country - Extensive set of links to official and unofficial sources (University of Colorado, Boulder, Libraries)
• GeographyIQ - Facts on countries, world rankings, currency conversion
• Governments on the WWW
• Hieros Gamos: Law and Government Resources for nations of the world
• Infoplease: Countries of the World
• ISO 3166 Country Codes (International Organization for Standardization)
• Internet Legal Research Guide - Links to legal and government sites in 238 nations, islands, and territories
• International Database - Current and historical population figures for world nations (U.S. Census Bureau)
• Kiosk: Journal of Geo-Politics - Each page has basic information about a country and an extensive list of links
• NationMaster - Lots of statistics for comparing nations
• Nations of the World [PoliSci.com]
• Nations Online - For each country, includes many links to official sites, tourism info, culutral sites
• Political Resources on the Net - Links to sites on the governments, political parties, elections, and media in every country
• UC Atlas of Global Inequality - Compare countries and specific factors, such as economics, education, and environment (UC Santa Cruz)
• Web Sites of National Parliaments (Weidenbaum Center, Washington University)
• World Bank Open Data
• World in Figures - Comparative tables (Statistics Finland)
• Worldskip - News, government, economy, and culture of over 220 countries

World Rulers:

• Election Notes - National and local elections in every country (Klipsan Press)
• Elections Around the World (Electionworld.org, formerly agora.stm.it)
• Lists of Rulers (Heilbrunn Timeline, Metropolitan Museum of Art)
• World Leaders - Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments (CIA)
• World Statesmen.org

Flags of the World:

• Flags of the World
• Flags of the World (CIA World Factbook)
• Flag Stories - All kinds of flag patterns

Places that would like to be nations:

• Footnotes to History - The many temporary and would-be nations "you didn't learn about in high school"
• Separatist, Para-Military, Military, Intelligence, and Aid Organizations
Most of these groups are not fun; they have weapons and they use them. For fun, see Fun Pseudo-Nation-States and Quasi-Religious Institutions
• Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization - Minority groups around the world. Some want independence, some autonomy.

Embassies and Consulates

• Embassy World
• Permanent Missions to the United Nations

U.S. Embassies Abroad:

• U.S. Embassies and Other Diplomatic Missions (State Dept.)

Other Countries' Embassies in the U.S.:

• Web Sites of Foreign Embassies in the U.S. (State Dept.)
• Diplomatic List - Diplomats, their staffs, and their spouses in the U.S. (State Dept.)
• Foreign Consular Offices in the United States (State Dept.)
• Electronic Embassy - Embassies in Washington (embassy.org)

Human Rights

• Amnesty International: Human Rights by Country
• Freedom House: Freedom in the World Comparative and Historical Data - Rates the extent of freedom in countries around the world
• Human Rights Reports (U.S. State Department)
• International Religious Freedom Report (U.S. State Department)

Alternative Approaches

• Social Progress Index
• World Happiness Report