For background information, use the Alberta Online Reference Centre.
International Crisis Group - Conflict prevention and resolution - "The International Crisis Group is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation, with nearly 120 staff members on five continents, working through field-based analysis and high-level advocacy to prevent and resolve deadly conflict."
CIA World Fact Book - The World Fact Book is produced by CIA's Directorate of Intelligence and provides a variety of information on many countries.
 | You can download maps here. |
BBC News Country Profiles - "Full profiles provide an instant guide to history, politics and economic background of countries and territories, and background on key institutions."
NI Country Profiles - Country profiles from the New Internationalist publisher. Excellent background information although some profiles are more recently updated than others.
NationMaster.com - This site uses statistics from the CIA World Fact Book to allow users to compare countries. You can select the countries and the statistics you want to create graphs.
Earth Trends: The Environmental Information Portal - This site from the World Resources Institute provides information on a wide range of environmental, economic, and social trends and issues for many countries.
Portals to the
World from the Library of Congress
Content is selected by U.S. Library of Congress subject specialists, and, when
complete, will cover all countries of the world.
Worldmapper: the world as you've never seen it before "a collection of world maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject of interest." Topics include immigration and emigration, tourism, passenger cars, various kinds of imports. Excel datafiles are available with each map.
Country Studies - Area
Handbook Series
This site from the Library of Congress covers 101 countries and regions. "Each
study offers a comprehensive description and analysis of the country or region's
historical setting, geography, society, economy, political system, foreign
policy, and national security."
Infonation
International Comparisons - Infonation allows you to
view and compare statistical data for all UN member states.
GeographyIQ - World Atlas - "GeographyIQ is an online world atlas packed with geographic, economic, political, historical and cultural information."
The World Bank Group Countries & Regions - Select the country and then choose Country at a Glance, Country Data Brief or Country Profile. The Special Interest features provide information about economic issues.
Graphic Map's World Atlas List of Countries - This is a world atlas in the form of clickable lists. The main page lists the deepest oceans, poorest countries, country population figures, and much more. Click on a continent and get a list of its countries; click on a country and get various statistics.
Country Insights - "Country facts and cultural information on the countries of the world. Go beyond the do's and don'ts with Country Insights."
The sites below are provided courtesy of M.Johnston, teacher librarian, Jasper Place High School.
Amnesty International –
working to protect human rights worldwide
Amnesty International is a worldwide campaigning movement that works to promote
all human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
other international standards. You can access human rights information by theme
(children, armed conflict, death in custody, etc.), or by country and region.
|
Amnesty International - Library – View by country and region |
|
Amnesty International
Report 2006 |
Human Rights
This site is maintained by the U.S. Department of State and provides the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights document.
| Country Reports - provides Human Rights Reports for years 1993-2005. |
| Select the year and the reports are organized by region. |
Human Rights Internet
Provides information about the worldwide human rights community. Click on For
the Record which gives year 2002 The U.N. Human Rights System or The European
Human Rights System. You can select other years: 2003 (parts still under
construction), 2001, 2000 and 1999.
Human Development
Reports
Provides a list of countries and their ranking according to human development.
Updated yearly, prior years are available free to view.
IBAB – Related
Links
A brief list of child labor links to international organizations concerned with
child labor. Compiled by the Unites States Department of Labor International
Bureau of Labor.
UNICEF – The State of
the World’s Children 2005
The tables on this site contain economic and social statistics on the nations of
the world, with particular reference to children's well-being. Can be viewed
with the Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can also access reports from previous years.
Derechos: Human Rights Around the World Click on a region of the world map and then choose a country. For more information scroll down for human rights links.
IDB Population
Pyramids
“This page allows you to obtain population pyramids (graphs
that show the distribution of population by age and sex) for
one country”. This site is presented by the U.S. Census Bureau.
World POPClock Projection
Total world population update monthly. This site is presented by the U.S.
Census Bureau
World Population Information
Provides a list of sites for world population information. This site is
presented by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development
Select the topic which interests you, and you can then get a list of statistics
by member country.
World Travel Guide – World Map Click on the area of the world or the first letter of the country you want to learn about, and you will find up-to-the-minute information about topics from geography to accommodation. Advertising.
Geography - Merriam-Webster’s Atlas
Maps and
geographical information; select a country or state from the pull-down menus
below.
Graphic Map's World Atlas List of Continents Countries
Cities Territories Dependencies
Click on a
continent, and you get a clickable list of its countries with a choice of map
types, e.g. outline
National Geographic Map Machine – online atlas, street
maps
Select a country and select one of the World Theme i.e. Physical, Political and
Cultural, Climate and Weather for the country. Select printable version.
Geography Network -- More theme maps. In the left window
Mountain Voices: oral testimonies from mountain and
highland regions round the world
Presents interviews with over 300 people who live in mountain and highland
regions of Mexico, Peru, Lesotho, Kenya, Ethiopia, Poland, Pakistan, India,
Nepal and China. Their testimonies offer a personal perspective on change
and development.
World InfoZone Contains information on countries around the world and an InfoZone, where there are links to sites that are of interest for everyday life. Most countries are included in Newslink, the news and country index. More detailed information is available for selected countries in Linking the World. The site enables people to understand cultural differences and recognize similarities between different groups of people.
Fast Facts: Almanacs/Factbooks/Statistical Reports &
Related Reference Tools
Need to look up a statistic fast? Try this site which is a guide to find "fast
facts" like those you find in an almanac or statistical abstract.
Footnotes to History – by
James L. Erwin
Provides short, concise descriptions of "the nations you didn't learn about in
high school geography." Includes A to Z and subject indexes, a list of sources by place, a
bibliography, and links to other online sources.
Country-Specific Search Engines
Search engines and directories devoted to various countries and regions of the
world such as Africa, Americas, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Europe, Middle
East, and by Language
UK 2005:
The Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland
“The definitive overview of the UK in text, figures, tables, maps charts”
includes statistics in areas such as education, health, science, agriculture,
and much more. You can view the entire yearbook online or download the
information to your computer.
GlobalEDGE ™ international
business resource desk
Includes country Insights, international business resources (research, news,
journals, trade, etc.), market potential indicators, a glossary, and more. From
Michigan State University.
Forestry: Country Profiles
This site from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN provides in-depth information on the world's forests, including location and
condition, changes over time, common species, management, and products and
trade. From the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
Rulers
Lists of heads of state and heads of government (and de facto leaders not
occupying either of those formal positions) of all countries and territories,
going back to about 1700 in most cases. You can find lists by month of the
comings and goings in national governments from 1996 to the present. This is a
great resource when studying government structures in different nations.
World Statesmen by Ben Cahoon
"Is an attempt at a comprehensive and accurate list of the heads of state and
heads of government for all countries and territories, going back to about 1700
or...earlier." Most entries also include brief historical outlines, flags, and
links to national anthems and constitutions. There are lists of leaders of
international organizations, war and colonial indexes, information on titles of
nobility (in Introduction), a bibliography, and links to related resources.
This site is the property of M.E. LaZerte High School, Edmonton Public Schools. While you are most welcome to use this site, its organization, all annotations, and most activities are copyrighted, and permission must be sought for their reproduction. E-mail questions to C. Peterson, M. E. LaZerte High School Teacher Librarian, at cynthia dot peterson at epsb dot ca (replace the word "at" with the @ symbol; "dot" with a period). Last updated Nov. 7/06