A. Background Notes (U.S. Department of State)
(Professor Ray August, Washington State University College of Business and Economics, with assistance from others)
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/
According to the website: "Background Notes are factual publications that contain information on all the countries of the world with which the United States has relations. They include facts on the country's land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and its relations with other countries and the United States."
B. Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations
(Cardiff University)
http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk/
The Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations, according to the site is a "web-based service allows ou to search for the meaning of abbreviations for English language legal publications, from the British Isles, the Commonwealth and the United States, including those covering international and comparative law. A wide selection of major foreign language law publications is also included. Publications from over 295 jurisdictions are featured in the Index. The database mainly covers law reports and law periodicals, but some legislative publications and major textbooks are also included." The index is also searchable by title and abbreviation.
C. Library of Congress Country Studies
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html#toc
Country Studies are a continuing series of books 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. The web-based version of this series presently contains studies of over 90 countries.
D. NationMaster.com
http://www.nationmaster.com/
According to the website, NationMaster.com is "a massive central data source and a handy way to graphically compare nations. NationMaster is a vast compilation of data from such sources as the CIA World Factbook, United Nations, World Health Organization, World Bank, World Resources Institute, UNESCO, UNICEF and OECD. Using the form above, you can generate maps and graphs on all kinds of statistics with ease."
E. yourDictionary.com
http://www.yourdictionary.com/
This site provides links to more than 1800 on-line dictionaries and thesauri in more than 250 languages.
F. World Factbook
(Central Intelligence Agency)
http://www.odci.gov/cia/public ations/factbook/index.html
The World Factbook is an excellent source for basic social, political, and economic data about countries of the world.