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What's New
- Country information has been updated as of 18 December 2008.
- In the People category, two new fields provide information oneducation in terms of opportunity and resources. "School LifeExpectancy" is an estimate of the total number of years of schooling(primary to tertiary) that a child can expect to receive, assumingthat the probability of his or her being enrolled in school at anyparticular future age is equal to the current enrollment ratio atthat age. "Education expenditures" provides an estimate of the publicexpenditure on education as a percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
- In order to help policymakers understand the nature and globaldimensions of the current financial crisis, The World Factbook hasadded five new fields to the Economy category. "Central bank discountrate" provides the annualized interest rate a country's central bankcharges commercial, depository banks for loans to meet temporaryshortages of funds. "Commercial bank prime lending rate" provides asimple average of annualized interest rates commercial banks chargeon new loans, denominated in the national currency, to their mostcredit-worthy customers. "Stock of money" also known as "M1," comprisesthe total quantity of currency in circulation (notes and coins) plusdemand deposits denominated in the national currency, held by nonbankfinancial institutions, state and local governments, nonfinancialpublic enterprises, and the private sector of the economy. "Stock ofquasi money" comprises the total quantity of time and savings depositsdenominated in the national currency, held by nonbank financialinstitutions, state and local governments, nonfinancial publicenterprises, and the private sector of the economy. When added togetherwith "M1" the total money supply is known as "M2." "Stock of domesticcredit" is the total quantity of credit, denominated in the domesticcurrency, provided by banks to nonbanking institutions.
- In the Geography category, two new fields focus on the increasinglyvital resource of water: "Total renewable water resources" and"Freshwater withdrawal."
- Revision of some individual country maps, first introduced in the2001 edition, is continued in this edition. Several regional maps havealso been updated to reflect boundary changes and place name spellingchanges.
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The World Factbook (2008) - Country Listing
[Transcriber's note: To search on a country in this file, prefix thecountry's name with "@", e.g. "@Afghanistan". "Afghanistan" will findall occurrences; prefixing it with "@" will find the correct location.]
World
Afghanistan
Akrotiri
Albania
Algeria
American Samoa
Andorra
Angola
Anguilla
Antarctica
Antigua and Barbuda
Arctic Ocean
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Ashmore and Cartie