INTRODUCTION

      The World Factbook is prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency for the use of US Government officials, and the style, format, coverage, and content are designed to meet their specific requirements. Information was provided by the American Geophysical Union, Bureau of the Census, Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Defense Nuclear Agency, Department of State, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Maritime Administration, National Imagery and Mapping Agency, National Maritime Intelligence Center, National Science Foundation (Antarctic Sciences Section), Office of Insular Affairs, US Board on Geographic Names, US Coast Guard, and other public and private sources.

      The Factbook is in the public domain. Accordingly, it may be copied freely without permission of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The official seal of the CIA, however, may NOT be copied without permission as required by the CIA Act of 1949 (50 U.S.C. section 403m). Misuse of the official seal of the CIA could result in civil and criminal penalties.

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       Central Intelligence Agency

       Attn: Public Affairs Staff

       Washington, DC 20505

       Telephone: [1](703)482–0623

       FAX: [1](703)482–1739

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      A BRIEF HISTORY OF BASIC INTELLIGENCE AND THE WORLD FACTBOOK

      The Intelligence Cycle is the process by which information is acquired, converted into intelligence, and made available to policymakers. Information is raw data from any source that may be fragmentary, contradictory, unreliable, ambiguous, deceptive, or wrong. Intelligence is information that has been collected, integrated, evaluated, analyzed, and interpreted. Finished intelligence is the final product of the Intelligence Cycle ready to be delivered to the policymaker.

      There are three types of finished intelligence: basic, current, and estimative. Basic intelligence is the fundamental and factual reference material on a country or issue, current intelligence reports on new developments, and estimative intelligence judges probable outcomes. The three are mutually supporting because basic intelligence is the foundation on which the other two are based, current intelligence helps to continually update the knowledge foundation, and estimative intelligence serves to revise overall interpretations of country and issue prospects for both basic and current intelligence. The World Factbook, The President's Daily Brief, and National Intelligence Estimates are examples of the three types of finished intelligence.

      The United States has carried on foreign intelligence activities since the days of George Washington, but only since World War II have they been coordinated on a governmentwide basis. Three programs have highlighted the development of coordinated basic intelligence since that time: (1) the Joint Army Navy Intelligence Studies (JANIS), (2) the National Intelligence Survey (NIS), and (3) The World Factbook.

      During World War II intelligence consumers realized that the production of basic intelligence by different components of the US Government resulted in a great duplication of effort and conflicting information. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 brought home to Congressional and executive branch leaders the need for integrating and coordinating departmental reports to national policymakers. Detailed general information was needed not only on such major powers as Germany and Japan, but also on places of little previous interest. In the Pacific Theater, for example, the Navy and Marines had to launch amphibious operations against many islands about which information was unconfirmed or nonexistent. Intelligence authorities resolved that the United States should never again be caught unprepared.

      In 1943, Gen. George B. Strong (G-2), Adm. H. C. Train (Office of Naval Intelligence - ONI), and Gen. William J. Donovan (Director of the Office of Strategic Services - OSS) decided that a joint effort should be initiated. A steering committee was appointed on 27 April 1943 that recommended the formation of a Joint Intelligence Study Publishing Board to assemble, edit, coordinate, and publish the Joint Army Navy Intelligence Studies (JANIS). JANIS was the first interdepartmental basic intelligence program and fulfilled the needs of the US Government for an authoritative and coordinated digest of strategic basic intelligence. Between April 1943 and July 1947, the board published 34 JANIS studies. JANIS performed well in the war effort, and numerous letters of commendation were received including a statement from Adm. Forrest Sherman, Chief of Staff, Pacific Ocean Areas, which said "JANIS has become the indispensable reference work for the shore-based planners."

      The need for even more comprehensive basic intelligence in the postwar world was well expressed in 1946 by George S. Pettee, a noted author on national security, when he wrote in The Future of American Secret Intelligence (Infantry Journal Press, 1946, page 46) that world leadership in peace requires more elaborate intelligence than war. "The conduct of peace involves all countries, all human activities-not just the enemy and his war production."

      The Central Intelligence Agency was established on 26 July 1947 and officially began operating 18 September 1947. Effective 1 October 1947, the Director of Central Intelligence assumed operational responsibility for JANIS. On 13 January 1948, the National Security Council issued Intelligence Directive (NSCID) No. 3, which officially authorized the National Intelligence Survey (NIS) program as a peacetime replacement for the wartime JANIS program. Before adequate NIS sections could be produced, it was necessary to develop gazetteers and maps for an accurate presentation of intelligence by the contributing agencies. The US Board on Geographic Names (BGN) compiled the names, the Department of the Interior produced the gazetteers, and CIA produced the maps.

      The Hoover Commission's Clark Committee, set up in 1954 to study the structure and administration of the CIA, reported to Congress in 1955 that: "The National Intelligence Survey is an invaluable publication which provides the essential elements of basic intelligence on all areas of the world. … There will always be a continuing requirement for keeping the Survey up-to-date." The Factbook was created as an annual summary and update to the encyclopedic NIS studies. The first classified Factbook was published in August 1962, and the first unclassified version was published in June 1971. The NIS program was terminated except for the Factbook and gazetteers in 1973. The 1975 Factbook was the first to be made available to the public with sales through the US Government Printing Office (GPO). The 1996 edition was the first to be printed by GPO. The year 1997 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Central Intelligence Agency and the 54th year of continuous basic intelligence support to the US Government by The World Factbook and its two predecessor programs.

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      NOTES AND DEFINITIONS

      There have been some significant changes in this edition. A schema or Guide to Country Profiles has been added. The new maps and flags accompanying each country