This is a list of entities and changes in The World Factbook. The World Factbook is an annual publication of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with almanac-style information about the countries of the world.
As of January 2009, The World Factbook consists of 267 entities.[1] These entities can be divided into categories[1]. These categories are:
- Independent countries
- Others
- Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty
- Miscellaneous
- Other entities
After the list of entities, there is a table that lists entities that have been dropped, added, renamed, or consolidated in The World Factbook since 1988.
List of entities
The list of entities follows bellow. The names and flags of entities are as listed in the Factbook and may differ from other sources.
Independent countries
This is a list of independent countries. The CIA defines an independent country as people "politically organized into a sovereign state with a definite territory". [1] In this category, there are 194 entities:
Others
This is a list of other places set apart from the list of independent countries. There are two entities in this category:
| Name of entity | Flag of entity |
|---|---|
 | Taiwan |
 | European Union |
Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty
This category is a list of places affiliated with another country. They may be subdivided into categories using the country they are affiliated with:
Australia, China, Denmark
| Flag of entity | Name of entity |
|---|---|
 | Ashmore and Cartier Islands |
| Cocos (Keeling) Islands | |
| Coral Sea Islands | |
| Heard Island and McDonald Islands | |
 | Christmas Island |
 | Norfolk Island |
 | Hong Kong |
 | Macau |
 | Faroe Islands |
 | Greenland |
France, Netherlands, New Zealand
| Flag of entity | Name of entity |
|---|---|
 | Clipperton Island |
| French Southern and Antarctic Lands | |
| New Caledonia | |
| Saint Barthelemy | |
| Saint Martin | |
 | French Polynesia |
 | Mayotte |
 | Saint Pierre and Miquelon |
 | Wallis and Futuna |
 | Aruba |
 | Curacao |
 | Sint Maarten |
 | Cook Islands |
 | Niue |
 | Tokelau |
Norway, United Kingdom, United States
| Flag of entity | Name of entity |
|---|---|
 | Bouvet Island |
| Jan Mayen | |
| Svalbard | |
 | Akrotiri |
| Dhekelia | |
 | Anguilla |
 | Bermuda |
 | British Indian Ocean Territory |
 | British Virgin Islands |
 | Cayman Islands |
 | Falkland Islands |
 | Gibraltar |
 | Guernsey |
 | Jersey |
 | Isle of Man |
 | Montserrat |
 | Pitcairn Islands |
| | Saint Helena |
 | South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands |
 | Turks and Caicos Islands |
 | Baker Island1 |
| Howland Island1 | |
| Jarvis Island1 | |
| Johnston Atoll1 | |
| Kingman Reef1 | |
| Midway Islands1 | |
| Navassa Island1 | |
| Palmyra Atoll1 | |
| Wake Island1 | |
 | American Samoa |
 | Guam |
 | Northern Mariana Islands |
 | Puerto Rico |
 | Virgin Islands |
1These entities have been consolidated into the 
United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges entry.
Miscellaneous
This category is for Antarctica and places in dispute. There are six entities here:
Other entities
This category is for the World and the oceans. There are five oceans and the World (the World entry is intended as a summary of the other 266 entries [2]) :
Changes in The World Factbook
This table lists changes in the entities in the Factbook from 1988 to the present. Entities that have been added are in green; dropped entities are in red and linked to their respective articles. Entities that have changed their name are in blue; entities that have been redirected and consolidated into another entry are in purple.
| Name of entity | Date change was made | Comments | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antarctica | 1988 | one of more than 40 entities added to the Factbook in order to provide a complete picture of the world | [3] | |
| Arctic Ocean | ||||
| Atlantic Ocean | ||||
| Indian Ocean | ||||
| Pacific Ocean | ||||
| World | ||||
| German Democratic Republic (East Germany) | 1991 | dropped from The World Factbook as Germany reunites | [4] | |
| Germany, Federal Republic of (West Germany) | ||||
| Yemen Arab Republic {Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen} | dropped as Yemen reunites | |||
| Yemen, People's Democratic Republic of {Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen} | ||||
| Germany | added to The World Factbook as East and West Germany unite | |||
| Yemen | added to The World Factbook as North and South Yemen unite | |||
| Soviet Union | 1992 | dropped as the country dissolves, creating 15 new nations | [5] | |
| Yugoslavia | dropped as the country dissolves, creating five new nations | |||
| Iraq-Saudi Arabia Neutral Zone | dropped | |||
| Armenia | added to the Factbook as the Soviet Union dissolves | |||
| Azerbaijan | ||||
| Belarus | ||||
| Estonia | ||||
| Georgia | ||||
| Kazakhstan | ||||
| Kyrgyzstan | ||||
| Latvia | ||||
| Lithuania | ||||
| Moldova | ||||
| Russia | ||||
| Tajikistan | ||||
| Turkmenistan | ||||
| Ukraine | ||||
| Uzbekistan | ||||
| Bosnia and Hercegovina | added to the Factbook as Yugoslavia dissolves | |||
| Croatia | ||||
| Macedonia | ||||
| Serbia and Montenegro [A] | ||||
| Slovenia | ||||
| Czechoslovakia | 1993 | dropped as the country splits into the Czech Republic and Slovakia | [6] | |
| Czech Republic | added as Czechoslovakia splits | |||
| Slovakia | ||||
| Eritrea | added upon independence from Ethiopia | |||
| Vatican City | renamed Holy See (Vatican City) | |||
| Ivory Coast | renamed Cote d'Ivoire | |||
| Macedonia | 1994 | renamed The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | [7] | |
| Pacific Islands, Trust Territory of the (Palau) | 1995 | renamed Palau | [8] | |
| Kazakhstan | 1996 | renamed Kazakstan (spelling change) | [9] | |
| Burkina | renamed Burkina Faso | |||
| Corsica | added | |||
| Zaire | 1997 | renamed Congo, Democratic Republic of the | [10] | |
| Congo | renamed Congo, Republic of the | |||
| Corsica | dropped[B] | |||
| Western Samoa | 1998 | renamed Samoa | [11] | |
| Kazakstan | renamed Kazakhstan (spelling change) | |||
| Wake Island | 1999 | renamed Wake Atoll | [12] | |
| Wake Atoll | 2000 | renamed Wake Island | [13] | |
| Southern Ocean | added | |||
| Serbia and Montenegro | 2001 | renamed Yugoslavia | [14] | |
| East Timor | January 1, 2002 | added | [15] | |
| Yugoslavia | March 19, 2003 | renamed Serbia and Montenegro | [16] | |
| Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of | November 30, 2004 | renamed Macedonia after a November 2004 decision [17] to refer to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as such | [18] | |
| Akrotiri | added because both Akrotiri and Dhekelia are dependencies and not lease areas [19] | [20] | ||
| Dhekelia | [21] | |||
| European Union | December 16, 2004 | added due to the fact the European Union has nation like qualities [19] | [22] | |
| Man, Isle of | January 10, 2006 | renamed Isle of Man | [23] | |
| Baker Island | March 29, 2006 | consolidated in United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges entry[24] | [25] | |
| Howland Island | [26] | |||
| Jarvis Island | [27] | |||
| Johnston Atoll | [28] | |||
| Kingman Reef | [29] | |||
| Midway Islands | [30] | |||
| Palmyra Atoll | [31] | |||
| United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges | a consolidation of the entries for Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, and Palmyra Atoll[24] | [32] | ||
| Serbia and Montenegro | June 13, 2006 | dropped due to independence of Montenegro [33] | [34] | |
| Serbia | June 29, 2006 | added due to independence of Montenegro [33] | [35] | |
| Montenegro | [36] | |||
| Bassas da India | September 7, 2006 | consolidated in Iles Eparses entry[37] | [38] | |
| Europa Island | [39] | |||
| Glorioso Islands | [40] | |||
| Juan de Nova Island | [41] | |||
| Tromelin Island | [42] | |||
| Iles Eparses | a consolidation of the entries for Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island, and Tromelin Island[37] | [43] | ||
| French Guiana | January 18, 2007 | dropped because the area is now an Overseas region and a part of France proper | [44] | |
| Guadeloupe | ||||
| Martinique | ||||
| Reunion | ||||
| Saint Barthelemy | May 10, 2007[C] | added due to the fact the area is now an Overseas collectivity of France[45] | [46] | |
| Saint Martin | [47] | |||
| Bassas da India | July 19, 2007 | dropped because the area is now part of the Iles Eparses district of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands | [45] | |
| Europa Island | ||||
| Glorioso Islands | ||||
| Juan de Nova Island | ||||
| Tromelin Island | ||||
| Iles Eparses | ||||
| East Timor | renamed Timor-Leste due to a decision of the US Board on Geographic Names (BGN) to use the latter instead of the former[45] | |||
| Kosovo | February 28, 2008 | added[45] | [48] | |
| Netherlands Antilles | January 2009? | dropped as Curacao and Sint Maarten become autonomous countries in the Kingdom of the Netherlands | [49] | |
| Curacao | added to the Factbook after Curacao and Sint Maarten become autonomous countries in the Kingdom of the Netherlands | |||
| Sint Maarten | ||||
Notes
References
This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook. CIA.