Fully updated for 2008-2009, Philip's World Factbook is a reference book for students, travellers, journalists and geography buffs, providing concise, up-to-date geographical information on every country of the world, illustrated with maps and flags.Arranged in alphabetical order, the entry for each country features a physically coloured map showing major towns, roads, rivers, mountains, deserts and other topographical features, together with a locator map to show the position of the country or island within its region. The national flag is also illustrated, and accompanied by an explanation of its origin.The concise, informative text describes the principal features of the country's landscape, climate, history, politics and economy. Ready-reference tables provide up-to-date statistics including the population of the country, its area, capital, currency, languages, ethnic groups and religions, enabling comparisons to be drawn between nations. In addition, for many countries there are climate graphs and information panels highlighting key topics and descriptions of major cities or capitals.