The 2003 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

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      Geography

      I can't find a geographic name for a particular country. Why not?

      The World Factbook is not a gazetteer (a dictionary or index of places, usually with descriptive or statistical information) and cannot provide more than the names of the administrative divisions (in the Government category) and major cities/towns (on the country maps). Our expanded Cross-Reference List of Geographic Names, however, includes many of the world's major geographic features as well as historic (former) names of countries and cities mentioned in The World Factbook.

      Why is Taiwan listed out of alphabetical order at the end of the

       Factbook entries?

      Taiwan is listed after the regular entries because even though the mainland People's Republic of China claims Taiwan, elected Taiwanese authorities de facto administer the island and reject mainland sovereignty claims. With the establishment of diplomatic relations with China on January 1, 1979, the US Government recognized the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China, acknowledging the Chinese position that there is only one China and that Taiwan is part of China.

      Since we have an ambassador who represents the US at the Vatican, why is this entity not listed in the Factbook?

      Vatican City is found under Holy See. The term "Holy See" refers to the authority, jurisdiction, and sovereignty vested in the Pope and his advisors to direct the worldwide Catholic Church. The Holy See has a legal personality that allows it to enter into treaties as the juridical equal of a state and to send and receive diplomatic representatives. Vatican City, created in 1929 to administer properties belonging to the Holy See in Rome, is recognized under international law as a sovereign state, but it does not send or receive diplomatic representatives. Consequently, Holy See is included as a Factbook entry, with Vatican City cross-referenced in the Geographic Names appendix.

      Why are the Golan Heights not shown as part of Israel or Northern

       Cyprus with Turkey?

      Territorial occupations/annexations not recognized by the United States

       Government are not shown on US Government maps.

      Why don't you include information on entities such as Tibet, Kashmir, or Kosovo?

      The World Factbook provides information on the administrative divisions of a country as recommended by the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN). The BGN is a component of the US Government that develops policies, principles, and procedures governing the spelling, use, and application of geographic names—domestic, foreign, Antarctic, and undersea. Its decisions enable all departments and agencies of the US Government to have access to uniform names of geographic features.

      Also included in the Factbook are entries on parts of the world whose status has not yet been resolved (e.g., West Bank, Spratly Islands). Specific regions within a country or areas in dispute among countries are not covered.

      Spelling and Pronunciation

      Why is the spelling of proper names such as rulers, presidents, and prime ministers in The World Factbook different than their spelling in my country?

      The Factbook staff applies the names and spellings from the Chiefs of State link on the CIA Web site. The World Factbook is prepared using the standard American English computer keyboard and does not use any special characters, symbols, or most diacritical markings in its spellings. Surnames are always spelled with capital letters; they may appear first in some cultures.

      The spelling of geographic names, features, cities, administrative divisions, etc. in the Factbook differs from those used in my country. Why is this?

      The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) recommends and approves names and spellings. The BGN is the component of the United States Government that develops policies, principles, and procedures governing the spelling, use, and application of geographic names—domestic, foreign, Antarctic, and undersea. Its decisions enable all departments and agencies of the US Government to use uniform names of geographic features. (A note is usually included where changes may have occurred but have not yet been approved by the BGN). The World Factbook is prepared using the standard American English computer keyboard and does not use any special characters, symbols, or most diacritical markings in its spellings.

      Why doesn't The World Factbook include pronunciations of country or leader names?

      There are too many variations in pronunciation among English-speaking countries, not to mention English renditions of non-English names, for pronunciations to be included. American English pronunciations are included for some countries like Qatar and Kiribati.

      Why is the name of the Labour party misspelled?

       When American and British spellings of common English words differ, The

       World Factbook always uses the American spelling, even when these

       common words form part of a proper name in British English.

      Policies and Procedures

      What is The World Factbook's source for a specific subject field?

      The Factbook staff uses many different sources to publish what we judge are the most reliable and consistent data for any particular category. Space considerations preclude a listing of these various sources.

      The names of some geographic features provided in the Factbook differ from those used in other publications. For example, in Asia the Factbook has Burma as the country name, but in other publications Myanmar is used; also, the Factbook uses Sea of Japan whereas other publications label it East Sea. What is you policy on naming geographic features?

      The Factbook staff follows the guidance of the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN). The BGN is the component of the United States Government that develops policies, principles, and procedures governing the spelling, use, and application of geographic names—domestic, foreign, Antarctic, and undersea. Its decisions enable all departments and agencies of the US Government to have access to uniform names of geographic features. The position of the BGN is that the names Burma and Sea of Japan be used in official US Government maps and publications.

      Why is most of the statistical information in the Factbook given in metric units, rather than the units standard to US measure?

      US Federal agencies are required by the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 (Public Law 94–168) and by Executive Order 12770 of July 1991 to use the International System of Units, commonly referred to as the metric system or SI. In addition, the metric system is used by over 95 percent of the world's population.

      Why don't you include information on minimum and maximum temperature extremes?

      The Factbook staff judges that this information would only be useful for some (generally smaller) countries. Larger countries can have large temperature extremes that do not represent the landmass as a whole. In the future, such a category may be adopted listing the extremes, but also adding a normal temperature range found throughout most of a country's territory.

      What information sources are used for the country flags?

      Flag designs used in The World Factbook are those recognized by the protocol office of the US Department of State.

      Why do your GDP (Gross Domestic Product) statistics differ СКАЧАТЬ