Internationl Reference Sources
Last modified
Agriculture
- Agencies:
- Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO]
- Data Site:
- FAO Statistical Databases
- Sources:
- Commodity Forecasts
- Commodity outlook for U.S. and world agriculture
Chiefs of State
- Rulers
- Contains lists of heads of state and heads of government of all countries and territories, back to about 1700.
Citizenship
- Citizenship Laws of the World 2001
- Provides synopses of the citizenship laws for most of the world's countries.
Child Labor
- Agencies:
- International Child Labor Program [U.S. Department of Labor]
- Site:
- International Child Labor Reports
- All documents published by the [U.S. Department of Labor] International Child Labor program including, Department of Labor's ... Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, Advancing the Campaign Against Child Labor series, By the Sweat & Toil of Children series, and other child labor publications.
- Sources:
- State of the World's Children 1997
- Focuses on the controversial and emotional as well as complex and challenging issue of child labour, and asserts that thoughtful and comprehensive attempts at solution must be guided by the best interests of the child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Children
- Agencies:
- United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF)
- Documents:
- Convention on the Rights of the Child
- World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children
- Sources:
- Progress of Nations Progress of Nations 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995
- Nations of the world ranked according to their achievements in child health, nutrition, education, family planning, and progress for women. (UNICEF)
- State of the World's Children (UNICEF)
- Annual report that outlines challenges that impact children around the world.
- 2008: Child Survival | Summary
- 2007: Women and Children | Summary
- 2006: Excluded and Invisible | Summary
- 2005: Childhood Under Threat | Summary
- 2004: Girls, Education and Development | Summary
- 2003: Child Participation
- 2002: Leadership | Official Summary
- 2001: Early Childhood
- 2000: Rights of Children
- 1999: Education
- 1998: Focus on Nutrition
- 1997: Child Labor
- 1996: Children in War
- State of Africa's Children 2008
- Complements the global report.
- A World Fit for Children
- An essential guidebook for all those working to improve the lives of children and young people.
Climate Change
- Agencies:
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
- National Climatic Data Center
- U.S. Global Change Research Information Office
- Authoritative Reports:
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world's most authoritative voice on global warming, issued three reports in 2007:
- Sources:
- Environmental Effects of Ozone Depletion and Its Interactions with Climate Change
- Assessment presented deals with environmental effects of ozone depletion, with special attention to the consequences of interactions between ozone depletion and climate change.
- Global Temperature Trends Since 1996
- Summarizes global temperatures.
- State of the Arctic October 2006
- Presents a review of recent data by an international group of scientists who developed a consensus on the information content and reliability.
- State of the Climate Since 1998
- Annual report on the global climate. Provides U.S. and global perspectives.
Country Information
- Portal:
- NationMaster.com
- Powerful and comprehensive statistical capabilities make NationMaster an outstanding resource.
Comprehensive Sites:
- Foreign Governments [Northwestern University]
- Foreign Government Resources on the Web [University of Michigan]
Sources:
- Background Notes [U.S. State Department]
- Summarizes each country's history, economy and foreign policy etc. and provides information on selected international organizations.
- Country Commercial Guides
- Prepared annually by U.S. embassies with the assistance of several U.S. government agencies, these reports present a comprehensive look at countries' commercial environments, using economic, political and market analysis.
- Country Reports on Human Rights Practices [U.S. State Department]
- The reports cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since 1993.
- Country Studies/Area Handbook Program [Library of Congress]
- A continuing series of books that presently contain studies of 100 countries. Most books in the series deal with a particular foreign country, describing and analyzing its political, economic, social, and national security systems and institutions, and examining the interrelationships of those systems and the ways they are shaped by cultural factors.
- International Monetary Fund - Country Information
- IMF reports and publications arranged by country.
- International Montary Fund - Regional Reports
- IMF reports on regions.
- Political Database of the Americas
- The main objective of the Database project is the development of a comprehensive source of documentary and statistical politicalinformation accessible throughout the Hemisphere and world via the World Wide Web.
- World Factbook
- Provides basic factual and statistical information about every country in the world.
Criminal Justice
- Agencies:
- Interpol
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
- Sources:
- Global Report on Crime and Justice
- Addresses the nature of crime, the operations of national criminal justice systems, and the state of crime prevention from a cross-national perspective.
- United Nations Surveys of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems
- The major goal of the United Nations Surveys on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems is to collect data on the incidence of reported crime and the operations of criminal justice systems with a view to improving the analysis and dissemination of that information globally. Survey results provide an overview of trends and interrelationships between various parts of the criminal justice system.
- World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems [Bureau of Justice Statistics]
- Provides narrative descriptions of the criminal justice systems of countries around the world.
Diplomatic Missions
United States Embassies and Missions
- Websites of U.S. Embassies and Consulates [U.S. State Department]
- List of U.S. embassies, consulates, and other missions with World Wide Web sites.
- Biographies
- Biographical information for current State Department principal officers, assistant secretaries, ambassadors and chiefs of mission.
- Principal Officers of the Department of State and United States Chiefs of Mission 1778-2005
- Comprehensive historical list of every American ambassador or chief of mission.
Foreign Embassies and Offices in the United States
- Diplomatic List [U.S. State Department]
- Lists the names of members of the diplomatic staffs of all missions and their spouses.
- Foreign Consular Offices in the United States [U.S. State Department]
- Contains a complete and official listing of the foreign consular offices in the United States, and recognized consular officers. Archive
- Electronic Embassy
- Foreign embassies in Washington D.C.
World Wide Lists
- Embassy World
- Directory and search engine of the world's embassies and consulates.
- Embassies World Wide
- Comprehensive site for links to diplomatic missions.
Economic Data
- International Monetatry Fund
- World Bank
- Country Commercial Guides [U.S. State Department]
- Present a comprehensive look at countries' commercial environments, using economic, political and market analysis. Since 1996
- Country Reports On Economic Policy and Trade Practices 2000 | 1993-1999
[U.S. State Department]
- Modeled on the Department of State annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the reports are intended to provide a single, comparative analysis of the economic policies and trade practices of countries with which the United States has significant economic or trade relationships. Because of the increasing importance in trade and economic issues, these reports are prepared to assist members of Congress in considering legislation in the areas of trade and economic policy.
- Handbook of International Economic Statistics
- Basic economic statistics to compare the economic performance of major countries and regions.
- World Development Indicators 2002 [World Bank]
- The World Bank's premier annual compilation of data about development. Reprot includes about 800 indicators in 87 tables, organized in six sections: world view, people, environment, economy, states and markets, and global links.
Education
- UNESCO [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization]
- UNESCO Statistical Database
- UNESCO Statistical Yearbook 1999
- World Education Indicators
- International Comparisons in Education
- National Center for Educational Statistics that provides statistical data for cross-national comparisons of education.
- Elementary and Secondary Education: An International Perspective 2000
- Presents information on the U.S. elementary and secondary education system in an international context.
- Education Indicators: An International Perspective 1996
- A compilation of a wide range of indicators from a variety of sources contrasting education in the United States with other G-7 countries.
- International Education Indicators: A Time Series Perspective, 1985-1995
- Compares educational trends in economically developed countries over time.
Elections
- ElectionGuide.Org
- Provides profiles of national-level elections.
- Elections and Electoral Systems Around the World
- Directory of election sites on the Internet.
- Lijphart Elections Archive
- A static research collection of district level election results for approximately 350 national legislative elections in 26 countries that was maintained through 2003.
Energy
- Agencies:
- Energy Information Administration
- Sources:
- Country Analysis Briefs
- Provide an overview of the energy situation for all countries that are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), non-OPEC countries in the politically volatile Persian Gulf region, major non-OPEC oil exporters, and other countries or regions that are of current interest to energy analysts and policy makers.
- Country Analysis Briefs - Expanded Environmental Sections
- More in-depth discussion of energy related environmental issues for selected countries.
- Energy Emissions Data & Environmental Analysis of Energy Data
- International emissions data.
- International Energy Annual Since 1993
- Presents an overview of key international energy trends for production, consumption, imports, and exports of primary energy commodities in over 220 countries, dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty.
- International Energy Outlook Since 1995
- Presents an assessment of the outlook for international energy markets through 2025.
Environment
- Agencies:
- United Nations Environmental Programme
- European Environment Agency
- Sites:
- European Environment Information and Observation Network
- Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators
- Energy Emissions Data & Environmental Analysis of Energy Data
- International emissions data.
- Environmental Effects of Ozone Depletion 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1994
- Report published by the United Nations Environment Programme Assessment Panel on the Environmental Effects of Ozone Depletion.
- Environmental Sustainability Index
- An interdisciplinary dataset on overall progress towards environmental sustainability, developed for 142 countries.
- Global Environmental Outlook Since 1997
- Presents a global overview and examines two or three key issues for each of eight environmental themes: land, forests, biodiversity, freshwater, coastal and marine areas, atmosphere, urban areas and disasters. Analyses critical 30-year trends and highlights the evolution of environmental policy.
- State of the World's Forests [United Nations. Food and Agriculture Organization] Since 1995
- Reports every two years on the status of forests, recent major policy and institutional developments and key issues concerning the forest sector.
- World Development Indicators 2005 [World Bank]
- The World Bank's premier annual compilation of data about development. One section of the report deals with the environment.
- World Resources [World Resources Institute]
- 2005: Wealth of the Poor: Managing Ecosystems to Fight Ppoverty
- 2002-2004: Decisions for the Earth: Balance, Voice, and Power
- 2000-2001: People and Ecosystems: The Fraying Web of Life
- 1998-99: Environmental Change and Human Health
- 1996-97: The Urban Environment
Health - Latin America
- Agencies:
- Pan American Health Organization
- Sources:
- Country Health Profiles
- Contains summary health information from the Core Health Data System for each Latin American country.
Health
- Agencies:
- World Health Organization
- Sites:
- Global health.gov
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Sources:
- Abortion Policies: A Global Review [United Nations]
- Presents, in three volumes, a country-by-country examination of national policies concerning induced abortion and the context within which abortion takes place.
- International Health Data Reference Guide
2003 | 2001 | 1999 | 1997 | 1995
- Provides information on the availability of the most recent health data for approximately 40 countries throughout the world including vital statistics data, hospital statistics, health personnel data, and national population-based surveys.
- World Health Report Annual [World Health Organization]
- Each year the report combines an expert assessment of global health, including statistics relating to all countries, with a focus on a specific subject. The main purpose of the report is to provide countries, donor agencies, international organizations and others with the information they need to help them make policy and funding decisions.
Human Rights
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
- International Human Rights Instruments
- United Nations Human Rights Documents
- Amnesty International
- Annual Reports on Human Rights Violations Since 1993
- Annual report that documents human rights abuses around the world.
- Library Since 1996
- The Amnesty International library contains an archive of most reports, news releases and urgent actions.
- Freedom House
- Annual Survey of Press Freedom Since 1980
- Annual survey of press freedom across the world.
- Freedom in the World Since 1999
- Annual comparative assessment of the state of political rights and civil liberties in 192 countries and 17 related and disputed territories. Country Ratings lists all country scores since the annual comparative survey was first compiled for 1972-73.
- Human Rights Watch
- World Report Since 1989
- Annual review of human rights practices around the globe. Most chapters examine significant human rights developments in a particular country; the response of global actors and various regional organizations; and the freedom of local human rights defenders to conduct their work. Other chapters address important thematic concerns.
- United Nations
- Human Rights
- Portal site for U.N. related human rights information.
- United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
- Human Rights Facts Sheets
- Individual booklets deal with topical human rights issues and explain the structure and procedures of United Nations human rights treaty monitoring bodies and special mechanisms.
- International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
- The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was established by Security Council resolution 827. This resolution was passed on 25 May 1993 in the face of the serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991, and as a response to the threat to international peace and security posed by those serious violations.
- U.S. State Department
- Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 1999 to present | 1993 - 1999
- Annual reports that cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. There rights include freedom from torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; from prolonged detention without charges; from disappearance or clandestine detention; and from other flagrant violations of the right to life, liberty, and the security of the person.
- International Religious Freedom 2001 to present | 1999-2000
- Describes the status of religious freedom in each of 195 countries throughout the world, government policies violating religious belief and practices of groups, religious denominations, and individuals, and U.S. policies to promote religious freedom around the world.
- Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record Since 2002
- Highlights U.S. efforts to promote human rights and democracy in the 101 countries and entities with the worst human rights records, taking care to include those countries of concern for "extrajudicial killings, torture and other serious violations of human rights."
- Trafficking in Persons Report Since 2001
- This report covers "severe forms of trafficking in persons" defined as: "(a) sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or (b) the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery."
Intelligence Agencies
- World Intelligence and Security Agencies [Federation of American Scientists]
- Links to intelligence and security agencies for countries of the world as well as international agencies.
Labor Market
- Foreign Labor Statistics [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
- Provides international comparisons of hourly compensation costs; productivity and unit labor costs; labor force, employment and unemployment rates; and consumer prices.
- Foreign Labor Trends
- Designed to be an informative and authoritative source of information on labor institutions, practices, and recent key developments in the countries reported.
Military
- Agencies:
- Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation
- Responsible for managing a broad range of nonproliferation, counterproliferation and arms control functions. [U.S. Department of State]
- Stockholm International Peace Research Institute [SIPRI]
- Extensive collection of hard data and impartial information on weapons, arms transfers and production, military expenditures, etc.
- Data Site:
- SIPRI Databases
- Country profiles plus databases on multilateral peacekeeping, military expenditures, arms transfers, arms productions and national export contral systems.
- Sources:
- Adherence to and Compliance With Arms Control Agreements and Nonproliferation Agreements and Commitments 2005 | 2001 [U.S. Department of State]
- Reports on verification of compliance with international arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament agreements and commitments.
- Arms Control Treaties and Agreements [U.S. Department of State]
- Current arms control treaties and agreements to which the United States is a party.
- Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations [Congressional Research Service]
- Provides unclassified quantitative data on conventional arms transfers to developing nations: 1999-2006 | 1998-2005 | 1997-2004 | 1996-2003 | 1995-2002 | 1994-2001 | 1993-2000
- Financial Value of Arms Exports
- Publicly available government and industry statistics on the value of national arms exports.
- U.S. Foreign Military Assistance
- U.S. programs that provide foreign states with military and related assistance, directly and indirectly supporting U.S. arms transfers.
- World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers 1999-2000
- Reports on military spending worldwide and tracks military developments in all countries and regions of the world. Combines military and economic indicators to produce relative indicators and ranks all the world's countries by them. This report covers 1989-1999.
Peacekeeping
- Multilateral Peace Operations Database
- Contains information on all UN and non-UN peace operations from 2000 - present.
- United Nations Peacekeeping Operations
Population
- United Nations Population Information Network
- United Nations Population Fund
- GenderStats [World Bank]
- A database of gender statistics for the countries of the world.
- National Population Policies 2001
- Provides a summary overview of population policies and dynamics for each of the United Nations Member and non-member States for which data are available at mid-decade for the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and for 2001.
- Population, Environment and Development: The Concise Report (2001)
- Analyses recent information and policy perspectives on population, environment and development.
- State of the World Population [United Nations Population Fund] since 1996
- The United Nations Population Fund annually issues a report highlighting new developments in population:
- 2006 - A Passage to Hope: Women and International Migration
- 2005 - The Promise of Equality: Gender Equity, Reproductive Health and the Millennium Development Goals
- 2004 - The Cairo Consensus at Ten: Population, Reproductive Health and The Global Effort to End Poverty
- 2003 - Making 1 Billion Count: Investing in Adolescents' Health and Rights
- 2002 - People, Poverty and Possibilities.
- 2001 - Footprints and Milestones: Population and Environmental Change
- 2000 - Lives Together, Worlds Apart: Men and Women in a Time of Change
- 1999 - 6 Billion: A Time for Choices
- 1998 - The New Generations
- 1997 - The Right to Choose: Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health
- 1996 - Changing Places: Population, Development and the Urban Future
- World Population Ageing, 1950-2050 [United Nations]
- Report provides a description of global trends in population ageing and includes a series of indicators of the ageing process by development regions, major areas, regions and countries.
- World Population Information [U.S. Census Bureau]
- Current population, historical data and population projections. Includes: World Population Profile 1998 and World Population Profile 1996
- World Population Prospects: Online Database
- Official UN population estimates (1950-2000) and projections (2000-2050) for the world, 6 major areas, 21 regions and 228 countries or areas. Estimates and projections are also given for more developed regions, less developed regions, least developed regions and sub-Saharan Africa. Volume I includes estimates and projections of total population, sex ratio, population growth rate, birth and death rate, infant mortality rate, life expectancy at birth and total fertility rate.
- World Population Trends [United Natio Population Division]
- Information of fertility and family planning, mortality and migration, population and development, population policies, and world population estimates and projections.
Refugees
- Agencies:
- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
- United States Office of Refugee Resettlement
- Refugee Statistics [United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]
- Data, graphs and charts cover topics such as asylum applications, refugee status determination, recognition rates, refugee populations and movements, demographic characteristics as well as major refugee locations. Conceptual and analytical papers are also available.
- The State of The World's Refugees - Fifty Years of Humanitarian Action [2000]
- Looks at five decades of humanitarian action. It examines major crises during that period and the changing nature of international responses to the problem of forced displacement. Also has links to 1993, 1995 and 1997 reports.
Religious Freedom
- Annual Report to Congress on International Religious Freedom [U.S. State Department] 1997-
- Describes the status of religious freedom in each foreign country, government policies violating religious belief and practices of groups, religious denominations, and individuals, and U.S. policies to promote religious freedom around the world.
Reproductive Health
- Abortion Policies: A Global Review [United Nations]
- Presents, in three volumes, a country-by-country examination of national policies concerning induced abortion and the context within which abortion takes place.
- Guidelines on Reproductive Health [United Nations]
- Introduction to the concept of reproductive health, a bibliography and profiles of UN and Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) active in this area.
- Levels and Trends of Contraception Use as Assessed in 1998: Key Findings [United Nations Population Division]
- Key findings of worldwide survey of contraception use.
- Reproductive Health Essentials [United Nations Population Fund]
- Describes a new global strategy for reproductive health commodity security to ensure a system that makes equipment and supplies readily available.
- State of the World Population 1997: The Right to Choose: Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health [United Nations Population Fund]
- Summarizes the international understandings that define sexual and reproductive rights, presents evidence on progress and problems in attaining and protecting those rights, and examines the effects of denying them to millions of women and men.
- Fertility, Contraception and Population Policies 2003 [United Nations Population Division]
- global overview of the current situation with regard to Governments’views and policies on contraception plus Government policies on providing access to contraceptive methods by major region and country.
Social Security
- Social Security Programs Throughout the World
- These reports, which provide a cross-national comparison of the social security systems in more than 170 countries, summarize the five main social insurance programs in those countries: old-age, disability, and survivors; sickness and maternity; work injury; unemployment; and family allowances.
Statistics
- National Statistics Offices [United Nations]
- Links by country to the government agency responsible for data collection and publication.
- Statistical Agencies (International) [Census Bureau]
- Links to statistical agencies for countries of the world.
- International Statistics
- Links to United Nations and autonomous international organizations that gather and publish statistics.
- Foreign Government Data Sources [University of Michigan]
- Foreign Government Statistics [University of Michigan]
- United Nations Statisics Division
Telecommunications
- International Traffic Data
- Contains data reported on a country-by-country basis for international message telephone and private line services.
- Trends in the International Telecommunications Industry
- This report uses data for services and individual carriers to trace the development of the international communications industry. Most of the tables cover years going back to 1980. A few of the tables, however, have historical data back to 1950.
Terrorism
- Sources:
- Congressional Research Service Reports on Terrorism
- Site hosted by the American Federation of Scientists with links to reports on terrorism by the Congressional Research Service.
- Country Reports on Terrorism Annual
- The report covers developments in countries in which acts of terrorism occurred, countries that are state sponsors of terrorism, and countries determined to be of particular interest. Previously titled Patterns of Global Terrorism.
- Foreign Terrorist Organizations 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2001 | 1999 | 1997 [U.S. State Department]
- Foreign Terrorist Organizations are foreign organizations that are designated by the Secretary of State in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Urban Affairs
- State of the World's Cities 2004/2005
- Overview of the cultural impact of globalization on cities, it describes how the lives of international immigrants in many cities are physically, culturally, and economically separated from those of other city dwellers.
Weather
- Climates of the World 1991
- Monthly Climatic Data for the World
- Worldwide Weather and Climate Events since 1991
Women
- GenderStats [World Bank]
- A database of gender statistics for the countries of the world.
