Finding Country Information

This is a selective guide to electronic resources for finding country background information and international news.

Background Sources

Background Notes (U.S. Department of State)
Brief overviews covering geography, people, history, government, economy, political conditions, defense, relations with the U.S., and travel and business.

Countries and Regions (U.S. Department of State)
Provides links to background information, U.S. embassies and consulates, foreign embassies in the U.S., and chiefs of state of foreign countries.

Country Profiles (ELDIS)
"ELDIS is a gateway to information on development issues, providing free and easy access to wide range of high quality online resources." Includes links to news, statistics, organizations, and reports on sectoral information such as agriculture, environment, education, gender, health, trade, and governance. Covers developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

EIU Country Reports (Economist Intelligence Unit)
"The Economist intelligence Unit provides comprehensive reports on the latest economic, political, and market conditions in 180 countries worldwide."

FIRST (Facts on International Relations and Security Trends)
"Covers areas in the field of international relations and security, such as armed conflicts and peace keeping, arms production and trade, military expenditure, armed forces and conventional weapons holding, and nuclear weapons."

Foreign Government Resources on the Web (University of Michigan)
A guide to foreign government Web sites, arranged by region.

Market Research Library (U.S. Commercial Service)
Includes texts of Country Commercial Guides, Industry Sector Analysis, International Market Insight, Multilateral Development Bank Report, Market Research International, and Market Research Global. Free registration required.

Travel Warnings and Consular Information Sheets (U.S. Department of State)
Travel Warnings are recommendations that Americans not travel to a particular country. Consular Information Sheets include locations of U.S. embassies and consulates, and information on entry requirements, crime, medical facilities, traffic safety, criminal penalties, and customs regulations.

Worldwide Governments on the WWW
Collection of links to world government Web sites. Includes national and regional institutions, representatives in foreign countries, political parties, and tourism information.

World News Sources

BBC World News
Global news from the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Factiva
"Nearly 8,000 sources from 118 countries in 22 languages, including more than 120 continuously updated newswires." Factiva provides tools for searching and monitoring general news and company, industry, and other business information. It combines the former Dow Jones Interactive and Reuters Business Briefing.

Global Newsbank
"Translated broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals and government statements from nations around the world." Over 1500 sources. Coverage from 1996 forward.

LexisNexis Academic
Select the World News category for global news in English translation, or the Non-English Language News category for sources in foreign languages.

onlinenewspapers.com
Links to thousands of online newspapers worldwide.

World News Connection
Published by the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), World News Connection offers translated and English-language news compiled from thousands of non-U.S. media sources. Coverage includes "significant socioeconomic, political, scientific, technical, and environmental issues and events." Davis Library only. Ask staff at Davis Reference Desk to enter the username and password for you.

Related Research Guides

International Business Resources -- Davis Library Ref. Dept. -- UNC-Chapel Hill
The International Business Resources Pages provide a listing of selected print and Web resources on the topic of international business. The printed sources listed on these pages reflect holdings in Davis Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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