FACTBOOK

What's New

- Country information has been updated as of 16 December, 2004.

- There have been some significant changes to the latest edition of The
World Factbook. Recent confirmation that the United Kingdom Government
administers the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia on Cyprus as
dependencies (and not as lease areas like the US Guantanamo Bay Naval
Station in Cuba) has required a changing of their status and their
addition to the Factbook as new entities. In addition, the European Union
has been included as an "Other" entity at the end of the listing. The
European Union continues to accrue more nation-like characteristics for
itself and so a separate listing was deemed appropriate. A fuller
explanation may be found under the European Union Preliminary statement.
- Along with the new entities and the regular information updates, The
World Factbook now also features five new fields. In the Economy category,
entries have been added for Current account balance, Investment (gross
fixed), Public debt, and Reserves of foreign exchange and gold. The
Transnational issues category has a new Refugees and internally displaced
persons entry.
- Revision of some individual country maps, first introduced in the 2001
edition, is continued in this edition. Several regional maps have also
been updated to reflect boundary changes and place name spelling changes.

CIA Homepage

The World Factbook 2004 printed version provides a "snapshot" of the world
as of 1 January, 2004.

The online Factbook is updated periodically throughout the year.

For additional and more current information on
leadership in selected foreign countries, see Chiefs of State.

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html