Country Reports

This guide is designed as a starting point for area studies research. It is a list of reports summarizing certain aspects of individual countries, such as their economic, political, regulatory and social conditions.  The emphasis is on country reports that are produced year after year rather than one-off reports. These reports are taken from American University Library subscription databases, free Web sites and print books.

This list is not alphabetical; it is in order of prominence.

• BBC News: Country Profiles
• Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook (1981- )
  Countries of the World and Their Leaders
  (Call number: G122 .C68.) AU Library has print editions: 1975, 1977-1978.
• Country Data from Lloyd C. Russow, Philadelphia University
• Country Insights from GlobalEDGE at the University of Michigan
  Brief statistics, history, economic and political information.
• Country Profiles from the United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office
• Country Studies/Area Handbook
  This series is no longer being updated, but is still useful for historical information. It is an excellent source for a short history of a country. Describes and analyzes the political, economic, social, and national security systems and institutions, of individual countries, and examines the interrelationships of those systems and the ways they are shaped by cultural factors. Part of a series of books from 1988-1998 that was prepared by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program sponsored by the Department of the Army.
  AU Library has print copies of this series.
• The Economist: Country Briefings
  News articles from The Economist, and brief country information from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
• MSU Global Access from Michigan State University
• OECD: Country Web Sites
  Reports and data on the member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, plus China, Brazil and Russia.
• U.S. Department of State: Countries
  Information from the U.S. Department of State on countries of the world including:
  • Background Notes - Facts about the land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations of independent states, some dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty.
  • Country Specific Information - Travel information for U.S. citizens going abroad. Includes health conditions, crime, unusual currency or entry requirements, any areas of instability, and the location of the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate in the country.
  • Current Travel Warnings
  • International Religious Freedom Report
• World Almanac and Book of Facts
  (Call number: AY67.N5 W7; most recent edition is located in Ready Reference.) AU Library has print editions of 1930, 1932-1946, 1948-1953, 1955-1968, 1970-1972, 1975-1977, 1979-1981, 1983 to present.