The 2007 CIA World Factbook
By United States, Central Intelligence Agency
The World Factbook, or the CIA World Factbook, is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that provides almanack-style information about the world’s countries. The official print version is available from the Government Publishing Office. The Factbook is also available on a website that is partially updated weekly. It is also available for download and offline use.
It provides a two- to three-page summary of the demographics, geography, communications, government, economy, and military of 266 international entities, including U.S.-recognized countries, dependencies, and other areas worldwide. The CIA prepares the World Factbook for U.S. government officials’ use; its style, format, coverage, and content are primarily designed to meet their requirements. It is also frequently used as a resource for academic research papers and news articles. As a work of the U.S. government, it is in the public domain in the United States.
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United States, Central Intelligence Agency
Biography.
The Central Intelligence Agency, known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world, primarily through the use of human intelligence (HUMINT) and conducting covert action through its Directorate of Operations. As a principal member of the United States Intelligence Community (IC), the CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence and primarily focuses on providing intelligence for the President and Cabinet of the United States. Following the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) dissolution at the end of World War II, President Harry S. Truman created the Central Intelligence Group under the direction of a Director of Central Intelligence by presidential directive on January 22, 1946. This group was transformed into the Central Intelligence Agency by implementing the National Security Act of 1947.
United States, Central Intelligence Agency
