World Factbook (CIA). [annual]

Includes regional reference maps. Click on in individual country profiles for world rankings of 34 data fields that can be downloaded into spreadsheets.

Europa World Plus

• Off-campus access requires using your TU NetID
• Replaces the print edition of Europa World Year Book and all of the Europa regional year books
  • For earlier editions of the regional year book holdings check the Library Catalog, typing "regional surveys of the world"
• Political and economic profiles of nations of the world
• Once in a country profile, check the Directory: Government and Politics for information on the nation's constitution, governmental organization, legislature, political organizations, diplomatic representation, judicial system, and defence
• In additon to country profiles, each regional volume contains timely essays on issues affecting that region

Ref
D2 A6

Annual Register: World Events . 1961- [some missing]

• Annual survey of world events with individual surveys for larger nations and regional surveys for smaller nations
• Each volume also includes a chronology of important world events and several page summaries of the state of the world regarding: international economy; sciences, medicine and technology; law; religion; arts; and sport
• Some primary sources, maps, and tables, mostly representing the activities of international organizations and short obituaries of world figures

Encyclopedia of the World's Nations. 3 v. 2002

Alphabetical arrangement by country. Inclusion of topics such as law enforcement, human rights, education, media, cutural indicators, status of women, health, food & nutrition add to the encyclopedia's usefulness. Also covers science & technology and the environment. A chronology with each nation indicates significant political and economic events since its independence.

Encyclopedia of World Geography . 24 v. 2002

Arranged by world regions, including country and regional profiles. Country profiles cover Environment, Society and Economy and provide a brief statistical profile. Extensive regional profiles discuss Physical Geography, Habitats and their Conservation, Animal Life, Plant Life, Agriculture, Industry, Economy, Peoples and Cultures, Cities, Government, and Environmental Issues. Heavily illustrated with photographs, drawings, diagrams, and maps that complement the text.

Library of Congress Country Studies (Area Handbooks)

(To locate a print copy in the Cook Library stacks, from the Cook Library Web site search the Towson Catalog using a Keyword search with "area handbook" and the name of the country [e.g. area handbook and brazil]
Also available at: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html

Originally published between 1988 - 1998 to provide U.S. government officials and citizens with information about other countries. Each book provides the historical context for the geography, society, politics, foreign policy and economics of a country. For updated country profiles see Country Profiles.

U.S. Department of State Country Information
http://www.state.gov/countries/

See Background Notes at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/ for brief information on a country's history, government, political conditions, economy, foreign relations and U.S. relations.

International Year Book and Statesman's Who's Who. 1968- [annual]

Ref
JF37 P6

Political Handbook of the World. 1931- [annual]

• Particularly useful for its coverage of political parties
  

Worldmark Encyclopedia of National Economies. 4v. 2002

Volumes arranged by world regions. Economic profiles of 198 countries and territories include: Overview; Politics, Government and Taxation; Infrastructure, Power, and Communications; Economic Sectors; Poverty and Wealth; Working Conditions; and Future Trends.

Ref
HC100 - HC699

OECD Economic Surveys . [annual]

Annual reviews of member and a few non-member countries. Each economic assessment includes a general overview of developments in the country, reports on topics of current interest, and statistical information. Sometimes social issues such as public health, education, immigration are also covered.

These surveys are also available through Business Source Complete [Ebsco]. Click on Advanced Search:

• Type a country name and economic and oecd and change Select a Field to SO Publication Name field. (e.g. czech republic and economic and oecd)
• Hint: Once you get a list of results change Relevance Sort to Date Descending Sort to move the most current issues to the top of the results list
• To search for surveys on social issues, add keywords such as health, education, or immigration to your search

See OECD for additional statistics by topic.

This database provides full text access to Country Review (CountryWatch), Country Monitor (Global Insight), Country Profile and Country Report (Economist Intelligence Unit), and Political Risk Yearbook: Country Forecasts and Country Conditions. Although the emphasis of some of these publications is economic, basic country information and extensive current political profiles are included. The Country Review, Country Profile, and the Political Risk Yearbook are published annually. The Country Report and Country Monitor offer monthly updates.
NOTE:There may not be a report for every country in each (or any) of the six publications

• Once in Business Source Complete, click on the Advanced Search tab
• Type the name of the country you are researching in the first box and change Select a Field to SU Subject Terms
• Click on Search
• Once you get a list of results, click on the box next to country reports on the menu bar on the left of the screen
• To limit your search to the politics of a country, add politic* to your search (e.g. argentina and politic* [SU Subject Terms]

Gapminder

• Mission of the site is promote "sustainable global development and achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals" - from the website
• Data from around the world on topics such as health, wealth, economies, development, and labor
• Draws data from many reputable sources such as UN, WHO, World Bank, OECD, ILO, and FAO

Nationmaster.com

• Provides data from such sources as the CIA World Factbook, United Nations, World Health Organization, World Bank, World Resources Institute, UNESCO, UNICEF and OECD. Allows customized generation of maps and graphs.
  

World Bank Group

• Data Gateway
  • Check for Data by topic or Data by Country .
  • See Indicators for 298 - 1000+ indicators from the World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance
  • See World DataBank to access 7000 indicators from additional datasets in areas such as: education; gender, health nutrition & population; poverty & inequality; millennium development goals; external debt; African development; and worldwide governance indicators
  • Current World Development Indicators [annual] are also located in the Reference stacks.
    [Ref HC59.15 W656]
    

UN Statistics Division

• Check for databases such as: UN Social Indicators ; Demographic Yearbook ; Statistics and Indicators on Women and Men; Millennium Indicators ; and International Human Development Indicators
• Statistical Yearbook/Annuaire Statistique. [UN] 1957- [annual] [Ref HA12.5 U63]
• Demographic Yearbook/Annuaire Demographique. [UN] 1949/50- [annual] [ Ref HA17 D4]
  

Eurostat

• Statistical arm of the European Union
• Provides access to tables, graphs, maps, publications and databases, including most popular database tables and collected comparative statistics
• Search for country profiles , browse for statistics by general themes or search through publications such as Europe in Figures: Eurostat Yearbook back to 2002 and Regional Yearbooks back to 2000

World Economy: Historical Statistics. [OECD] 2001

• Includes GDP and population statistics by region and country, at least back to 1820.
  

Ref
HA36 U53

Statistical Yearbook for Asia & the Pacific. 1973- [annual]

Country Indicators for Foreign Policy [CIFP][Carlton University, Canada]

• The CIFP project keeps track of failed and fragile states, providing conflict risk assessment reports on selected states in South and Central Asia, Caucasus, Africa, and Latin America.
• Provides rankings of countries on indicators such as democratic participation, political stability and human rights for Governance & Democracy Processes and indicators including authority, economics, security & crime, and human development for Failed & Fragile States. Also try searching the Reports & Briefs for country reports.

A to Z Maps Online

• When off campus, you will be prompted to enter your 14-digit ID on your TowsonOne card and your last name to access this database
• Includes physical, political, thematic, and outline maps, organized by world, continent, and country

Maps & Graphics Library [UNEP]

• Global, regional, and national maps searchable by themes including biodiversity & conservation, climate change, disasters & natural hazards, environment & security, freshwater; marine, pollution, poverty, urban issues and waste
• Maps were pulled from the Web sites of many international organizations such as the UNEP and World Bank

National Atlas [U.S.]

• Maps from the U.S. government organizations covering agriculture, biology, boundaries, climate, environment, geology, governemtn, history, people, transportation and water.
• Allows creation of maps as well as preformatted printable maps

Oxford Atlas of World History. 1999
Located in atlas case.

Biography In Context

• When off campus, you will need to enter your 14-digit ID on your Towson OneCard to access databases
  

World News Digest [Facts on File]

• When off campus, you will need to enter your 14-digit ID on your Towson OneCard to access databases
• Check the section: World Heads of State and Government for activities of leaders described chronologically and linked to relevant news summaries

Current World Leaders. 1961-

Encyclopedia of International Media and Communications. 4 v. 2003

• Covers the status of the media, including policy and different media formats, in over sixty countries and freedom of the press in the regions of the world. Bibliography included with each article.
  

World News Digest [Facts on File]

• Off-campus access requires login with your TU NetID
• Archival record of domestic and international news, covers all major political, social, and economic events since November 1940
• Includes an encyclopedia with articles on nations, people and events
• See the section: Country Profiles

BBC World Service

• Check country profiles which provide a brief country overview, facts, information on the current leader and a listing of major television/radio stations, newspapers and news agency in a country.

Worldpress.org: World News from World Newspapers

• "Worldpress.org is a nonpartisan magazine whose mission is to foster the international exchange of perspectives and information. It contains articles reprinted from the press outside the United States, as well as originally written material. " - from the Web site
• Provides links to world news sources sorted by region and country, indicating political bent, as well as to world blogs

The World Press

• Provides links to current news coverage from over 5,204 news sources, mostly in English, from 192 countries.

World News: Latest News from the WN Network

• Comprehensive coverage of current (past 2 months) world news. Provides access to the latest news stories. Searchable by keyword, theme, or world region. Headlines, and some accompanying stories searchable back two years.
  

Independent Media Center

• "Indymedia is a collective of independent media organizations and hundreds of journalists offering grassroots, non-corporate coverage. Indymedia is a democratic media outlet for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate tellings of truth." - From the Web site

Global Voices: Citizen Media Sources from Around the World

• Supported by the nonprofit organization Stichting Global Voices with an international staff that summarizes news from blogs, podcasts, photos, and videoblogs from countries outside of Europe and North America
• Search for stories by keyword or by country
• Presents reports from a international community of bloggers, aiming to provide credible voices, but read the CAUTION regarding blogs to which the site links
• Organization also supports Rising Voices website

Voice of America

• Source of current news worldwide funded by the U.S. Government

CNN: World

LexisNexis Academic

• Provides news articles from newspapers in many countries, mostly in English, some in other languages
• Once in the database, click on Sources tab and choose a country.
• Next select News folder.
• Then select Newspapers.
• Check off publications that you want to include in your search.

Non-governmental Organizations Search

• Custom search engine that searches through non-governmental organization sites, providing backgound and commentary on international issues
• Useful for topics such as human rights, women's rights, drug trafficking, human trafficking, child labor, ethnic conflict, genocide, nuclear nonproliferation, weapons & arms control, environment, education, health

Intergovernmental Organization Search Engine

• Custom search engine that searches through intergovernmental (e.g. UN, EU, WB) organization sites, providing background and commentary on international issues
• Useful for topics such as human rights, women's rights, drug trafficking, human trafficking, child labor, ethnic conflict, genocide, nuclear nonproliferation, weapons & arms control, environment, education, health

• The following databases index articles mostly in periodicals such as journals, magazines and newspapers but also sometimes other resources such as books and conference proceedings.
• When off campus, you will need to enter your 14-digit ID on your Towson OneCard to access databases

Academic Search [EBSCO] and Social Sciences Abstracts [EBSCO]. 1990-

• Available through Cook Library Web site under Research Databases. Once in Academic Search, click on Choose Databases to add other databases such as Social Sciences Abstracts to your search.
• Add Historical Abstracts, if you need a historical perspective
  

CIAO [Columbia International Affairs Online]

• Indexes and provides significant access to scholarship published from 1991 to date in the form of working papers, policy briefs, journal articles and book chapters, research projects, and conference proceedings
• For best results, use Advanced Search and narrow with suggested subject terms once you get a list of results
  • Also limit by publication year, if desired

Social Sciences Citation Index [Part of the Web of Science] 1995-

• This database indexes some of the same journals, but also some others