- Finding Aids
- Country Profiles
- Census
- Demographics
- Agriculture / Food
- Development
- Economics
- Education
- Energy
- Environment
- Health
- Migration
- Trade
- Maps and Visualizations
- Public Opinion
Research & Writing Tutors
Research & Instruction Librarian for Social Sciences & Data Literacy
Country Profiles Online
- Europa World Plus This link opens in a new windowEconomic, political, geographic, and statistical data by country (throughout the world); maps; introductory essays on a wide range of regional issues; and lists of sources for further research. Also available in print.
- BBC News: Country ProfilesAn instant guide to history, politics and economic background of countries and territories, and background on key institutions. They also include audio and video clips from BBC archives.
- Freedom HouseRanks countries via a matrix of individual 'freedoms' as noted in the openness of media, expression, religion, governmental policy, etc.
- Transparency International: Anti-Corruption Knowledge Hub"The mission of Transparency International is to stop corruption and promote transparency, accountability and integrity at all levels and across all sectors of society." You can look up an individual country in the Knowledge Hub and see documents related to corruption there.
- U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets (aka Background Notes)Facts about the land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations of independent states, some dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty. Fact Sheets are published and maintained by the State Department's Office of Electronic Information and Publications of the Bureau of Public Affairs.
- Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem)V-dem is a group of social scientists that "provide[s] a multidimensional and disaggregated dataset that reflects the complexity of the concept of democracy as a system of rule that goes beyond the simple presence of elections. The V-Dem project distinguishes between five high-level principles of democracy: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, and egalitarian, and collects data to measure these principles."
- World FactbookPublished by the Central Intelligence Agency, the World Factbook provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities.
- Political Handbook of the World 2020-2021"The Political Handbook of the World provides timely, thorough, and accurate political information, with more in-depth coverage of current political controversies than any other reference guide. The updated 2020-2021 edition will continue to be the most authoritative source for finding complete facts and analysis on each country’s governmental and political makeup."
National Constitutions
- Constitute ProjectA collection of links to constitutions, charters, amendments and other governmental information. In English and source languages.
- List of National Constitutions (Wikipedia)It's Wikipedia, so it's subject to change, but look here for updates and revisions to national constitutions that may not be reflected elsewhere.
Human Rights Reports
- Amnesty International World Report 2022/2023The Amnesty International Report 2020/21 documents the state of human rights in 149 countries and territories in 2023. Earlier reports are available online and in the library. You can also browse Amnesty International's latest research or publications by country.
- Human Rights Watch World Report 2023These annual reports summarize human rights conditions in dozens of countries and territories worldwide. Annual reports for 1989-2022 are available online. See also other HRW occasional publications.
- U.S. State Department Human Rights ReportsThe annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – the Human Rights Reports – cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international agreements. 2016-2022 reports are available on the updated site. To see archived reports from 1999-2015, click here.
Country Profiles in Print
- Europa World Year Book 2018Volumes available for 1989-present.
- Political Handbook of the World 2018-2019Volumes available for most years, 1928-present.
- The Statesman's Yearbook 2018Volumes available for many years, 1889-present.
- Last Updated: Mar 6, 2024 12:04 PM
- URL: https://libraryguides.stolaf.edu/stats
- Print Page