Country Report Resources

The links in this section will allow you to find basic data on countries of the world.

BBC NEWS | Country Profiles
Background information about the countries of the world. Country profiles provide an instant guide to history, politics and economic background of countries; also include audio and video clips from the BBC News archives.

Encyclopedia of World History
Scroll down the page a bit to see the years you want to read about. Or, enter the name of your country in the search box.

Lonely Planet Destinations
This is a tourist guidebook for countries of the world. It has lots of cultural and geographical information.

Country Studies- Library of Congress
Provides very thorough information about many countries of the world, including their history. This is an extremely detailed and in-depth source.

World Gazetteer: population figures for cities, towns and places
Find basic population and political data on countries of the world, including some maps.

Population Statistics (Including Historical)
"Here you will find a historical, demographical and statistical overview of the population of all the countries in the world, their administrative divisions and their important cities." You will need to dig inside the country page (to the bottom) to get to the historical  data.

World Flag Database: Welcome
There are over 260 pages on countries and international organizations. Each page contains basic information on the country, including its formal name, capital city, area, population, currency, languages, and religions. The flags include the national and state flags, ensigns, and sub-national flags.

Online Maps (National Geographic)
The maps on this page current, but you can find some from earlier times. Be sure to note the section for historical maps. Then, note the map's date when you access it!

Historic Cities: Maps & Documents
The focus here is on cities, so you will not find entire country maps.

Map Collection-- UT Library
A very large collection of world and U.S. maps from around the world. One of the best online map collections on the Web.

Geography - Merriam-Webster's Atlas
A nice map collection provided by a major producer of high quality reference books. For more maps and geographical information, select a country or state from the pull-down menus.

Search-Browse Maps and Atlases
Another very large collection of maps from around the world, including both current and historic maps. Please be sure to note the date.

Atlapedia Online
Two types of maps are available here. Click on the political map to go to the political map index or click on the physical map to go to the physical map index.

Around the World in the 1890s: Photographs from the World's Transportation Commission, 1894-1896
This site contains nearly nine hundred images rellated to people and transportation, from around the world.

Westward by Sea: A Maritime Perspective on American Expansion,1820-1890
This selection includes logbooks, diaries, letters, business papers, and published narratives of voyages and travels; and offers a rich look at the events, culture, beliefs, and personal experiences associated with the settlement of California, Alaska, Hawaii, Texas, and the Pacific Northwest. A number of photographs, paintings, maps, and nautical charts are also included to illustrate the story of Americans’ western seaborne travel. Various themes are touched upon, including whaling, life at sea, shipping, women at sea, and native populations.

Search Online Archive of California Image Collections
This is an image database with a lot of historic pictures from around the world. Enter the name of your country in the search box to have them pulled up.

Keystone-Mast Collection
Historic photographs from many countries of the world are available here. Browse by continent and then select a country that is on it.

World Is Round Travel Picture Collections
Offers several hundred thousand pictures in the many countries of the world. Photos are taken by tourists and visitors in most cases. Also includes travel articles that describe the person's visit to the countries.