Government information includes primary and secondary sources for the study of national and international issues. Davis Library is a Regional depository for U.S. federal documents and a full United Nations Depository.

Duke's Perkins Library is a depository for European Union material and also has important collections of international documents, including British Parliamentary papers.

PRINTED MATERIAL

Guide to Country Information in International Governmental Organization Publications
[Davis Reference JX1995.G853 1996]
An index to UN publications dealing with human rights, 1980-1994. Includes texts of 95 international human rights treaties, conventions, resolutions.

South America, Central America and the Caribbean 2004 [Serial].
London: Europa Publications, 2001. 9th ed.
Europa World Plus (online)
[Davis Reference Desk: F1414.2 .S68] (print)
Both encyclopedia and directory, this reference work covers the political and economic life of the entire region, and of the individual countries and territories within it. For each country, there are sections on history and economics, a statistical survey, and a directory and bibliography. The directory includes contact information for political organizations, diplomatic representatives, churches, the media, broadcasting and communications, financial institutions, trade and industry organizations, transport, tourism and more. At the regional level, there are essays on such topics as religion in the 21st century, the Mexican perspective on geopolitics, combatting terrorism in the Carribean, and many more.

Yearbook of International Organizations
[Davis Reference JX1904 .A42]

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración (ALADI)
(In English, Portuguese and Spanish)
ALADI promotes the integration of associated Latin American nations towards the establishment of a common market. The site contains a comprehensive database of regional trade agreements, rules of origin, national tariffs and nomenclatures, regulations on foreign trade, and statistics.

Caribbean Community
Organization of 20 Caribbean countries whose purpose is to promote economic integration and development, and formulate policies regarding human and social development in the community.

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. United Nations.
(In English and Spanish)
ECLAC –the Spanish acronym is CEPAL– is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations. It was founded for the purposes of contributing to the economic development of Latin America, coordinating actions directed towards this end, and reinforcing economic relationships among the countries and with the other nations of the world. The website features downloadable documents discussing Latin America's economic integration and related issues of relevance.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). Country profiles and information systems.
(In English and Spanish)
Provides country-specific information grouped by thematic areas. Country profiles contain maps, events and course details, press realeases, publications, Web pages, news articles, project information and links to related sites.

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Country information.
(In English and Spanish)
Provides IDB's financing and project procurement information by country.

International Bureau of Education (IBE). Country Dossiers.
(In each country's original language)
"...bring together the various information resources on education in Member States created by the IBE. The consolidation of facts and data for each country from various sources in such dossiers will permit users to gain rapid access to information on each country's state of education and plans for development, and provide insights into educational trends in a global perspective."

International Monetary Fund (IMF). Country Information.
IMF reports and publications arranged by country.

International Trade Centre (ITC). Countries.
(In English, French, and Spanish)
"The ITC's country approach offers an overview of ITC's technical cooperation activities at the country and regional levels. It provides links to national trade support institutions and country-specific business information. In addition, it presents trade and market profiles, Country Map, based on trade statistics which benchmark national trade performance and provide indicators on export supply and import demand."

Organization of American States (OAS)
(In English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish)
The OAS is a regional organization composed of thirty-five members, including most Latin American states and the United States and Canada. It determines common political, defense, economic, and social policies and provides for coordination of various inter-American agencies. To find information published by the Organization of American States, previously the Pan American Union, use WorldCat. Search using OAS as the "Author" and combine with the subject of your choice. Davis Library has a microfiche collection of the full text documents.

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Country Information.
(In English, French, and Spanish)
Basic indicators, statistics, and UNICEF priorities arranged by country.

United Nations Development Programme Latin America and the Caribbean.
(In English, French, and Spanish)
With offices in 166 countries, the UNDP produces a large amount of information about developing nations, including the yearly Human Development Report, which compares standards of living across nations and highlights human rights issues. There are also reports on energy and environmental issues, poverty indexes, information technology development, democratic governance, and more. The UNDP is currently concentrating its research and development projects into Sub-Regional Resource Facilities (SURFs). With a Regional Bureau for all of Latin America and the Caribbean in addition to each of the country specific offices, the UNDP is an excellent source for reliable, comparable statistics about the social welfare of countries.

World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development). Countries and Regions.
(In English, French, and Spanish)
"It is a development bank which provides loans, policy advice, technical assistance and knowledge sharing services to low and middle income countries to reduce poverty." Includes information about debt service repayments for loans and/or credits, active projects, lending assistance, and procurement arranged by country.

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

FirstGov. Gateway to United States Government Information
Mainly consumer resources, some international resources. Military sites sometimes have social research on countries.

Google Government Documents
Searches government websites (with a .mil or .gov ending in the URL).

Government Information Resources
UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries Reference Department
This web page provides guides and links to the best government publications and information services worldwide. Collected by the International and State Government Documents Reference Librarian at UNC-Chapel Hill's Davis Library.

Governments on the WWW
Comprehensive database of governmental institutions on the World Wide Web: parliaments, ministries, offices, law courts, embassies, city councils, public broadcasting corporations, central banks, multi-governmental institutions, etc. Also includes political parties. Contains more than 17,000 entries from more than 220 countries and territories. (Last updated June 2002.)

International Information Programs
United States Department of State
The IIP creates information services in a variety of media (print, Internet, public speakers) designed for international audiences such as foreign media, government officials, and the general public.

Latin America, a Browse Topic
U.S. Government Printing Office and Oklahoma State University
A list with links to U.S. federal agencies and publications that deal with Latin America.

Latin America and Caribbean Government Documents Project
This project, through the Cornell University Library, organizes and describes the many Latin American and Caribbean official documents appearing on the Internet. It consists of a series of tables that groups similar kinds of information, briefly summarizes their contents and provides links to the source. (Last updated March 1999.)

Latin America Regional Resources from LANIC
This page covers regional organizations whose mandate is specific to the Americas.

The National Security Archive
An independent non-governmental research institute and library based in Washington D.C., the Archive collects and publishes declassified documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act. This web site contains extensive documents on Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.

UNBISNET. United Nations.
(In English, French, and Spanish)
The searchable catalog of UN publications and documentation indexed by the United Nations Dag Hammarskjöd Library and the Library of the UN Office at Geneva. Also included are non-UN publications held in the collection of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library. Includes the voting record, or roll-call, of the General Assembly, and an index to speeches dating back to 1982/1983. Documents indexed in UNBIS can usually be found in Davis Library and Perkins Library.

The United States Department of State Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
This department manages and promotes U.S. interests in the area by encouraging democracy and economic development, and by cooperating on issues such as drug trafficking, crime, and poverty. Their website covers many of these topics. You may also search by country to find relevant and current information on political conditions, foreign relations, history, and demographics, or browse their list of regional topics.

US AID (Agency for International Development)
Includes reports to Congress and research reports regarding development programs and issues.

The World News Connection
This resource covers foreign media reactions to U.S. government policies, and includes translations of foreign broadcasts, commentaries on policy and more. It is an Internet resource available in the Davis Library Reference area for one user at a time. Ask staff at Davis Reference Desk to enter the username and password for you.