The World Factbook, one of the CIA's longest-running and most recognized information publications, is coming to an end
The World Factbook , an annual publication by
Spotlighting The World Factbook as We Bid a Fond Farewell - CIA
https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/spotlighting-the-world-factbook-as-we-bid-a-fond-farewell/
In 1943, the United States recognized the need for a more coordinated approach to intelligence gathering and integration amid the fierce battle with the Axis powers, and appointed General William Donovan, then-Coordinator of Intelligence (COI), as director of the newly created Office of Strategic Services (OSS). As director of OSS, Donovan was responsible for collecting, organizing, and disseminating basic, fact-based 'base information' on specific topics. Base information lays the foundation for other intelligence.
Recognizing the importance of strong basic intelligence, Donovan collaborated with George Strong of Army Intelligence and H.C. Train of Naval Intelligence to launch America's first interagency basic intelligence program, the Joint Army-Navy Intelligence Study (JANIS) . JANIS published 34 research papers between April 1943 and July 1947, proving its value throughout the war. After the National Security Act was signed in July 1947, officially creating the CIA, the CIA assumed full responsibility for the JANIS basic intelligence program in October of that year.
JANIS was later renamed the National Intelligence and Research Service (NIS), and the first basic information publication was produced in 1971 as the NIS Annual Summary. The publication was first made available to the public in 1975 and was renamed 'The World Factbook' in 1981. Below is the evolution of The World Factbook's logo.
The World Factbook provides two- to three-page summaries of demographic, geographic, communications, political, economic, and military information for 268 countries, territories, and other regions around the world. According to the CIA, The World Factbook is popular with researchers, media outlets, teachers, students, and international travelers, and some readers have even asked if they could include their favorite geographic names and world regions in The World Factbook.
The World Factbook's print edition is updated annually, while its digital edition has been updated every two weeks since 2001. The World Factbook is free to access, and its content and photographs are in the public domain. The photos, which are 'information known only to CIA insiders,' include personal travel photos donated by CIA employees. The World Factbook contains over 5,000 royalty-free photographs.
The CIA announced that it will cease publication of The World Factbook on February 4, 2026. 'While The World Factbook is no longer in circulation, in the spirit of its global reach and legacy, we hope you will continue to be curious about the world and find ways to explore it in person or virtually,' the CIA said.
A user on the social news site Hacker News has retrieved the 2020 edition of The World Factbook from the Internet Archive and shared it on GitHub to preserve useful material.
GitHub - simonw/cia-world-factbook-2020: Recovered cia.gov/the-world-factbook/about/archives/download/factbook-2020.zip from Internet Archive
https://github.com/simonw/cia-world-factbook-2020
The 2020 World Factbook, which uses GitHub Pages to run web pages from GitHub repositories, can be viewed below. Note that images that were not included in the retrieved files are not displayed on the page.
The World Factbook
https://simonw.github.io/cia-world-factbook-2020/
Additionally, on the Internet Archive page below, you can browse digital versions of The World Factbook from any era.
The World Factbook - The World Factbook
https://web.archive.org/web/20260103000011/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/
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