Frequently Asked Questions

- What is included in the online Country Studies?

This Web site contains the online versions of books previously published in hard copy (with the exception of a born-digital study on Macau and an unpublished partial draft study on Afghanistan) by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress as part of the Country Studies/Area Handbook Series sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Army between 1986 and 1998. At present, 101 countries and regions are covered. Each study offers a comprehensive description and analysis of the country or region's historical setting, geography, society, economy, political system, foreign policy, and national security.

- Why are so many countries missing from the online Country Studies?

The online Country Studies are electronic versions of hardcover books published between 1988 and 1998 by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress as part of the Country Studies/Area Handbook Series sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Army. Because the series was originally intended to focus primarily on lesser-known areas of the world or regions in which U.S. forces might be deployed, the series is not all-inclusive. Notable omissions include Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and other Western nations, as well as a number of African nations. Limited program funding has precluded any expansion of the series.

- Why isn't there a study on the United States?

The Country Studies/Area Handbook Series was designed to provide U.S. government officials and American citizens with information on foreign countries.

- Why are some countries that no longer exist included in the online Country Studies?

The online Country Studies are electronic versions of hardcover books published between 1988 and 1998 as part of the U.S. Department of the Army's Country Studies/Area Handbook Series. The published books include studies on countries such as Czechoslovakia, East Germany, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia that no longer exist in their original configuration. These studies are included because they are part of the series and because we believe that they continue to offer valuable historical information and perspective. Moreover, in some cases, program funding was not available to complete new studies on successor states. Deleting the older books would therefore remove any coverage of the countries in question.

- Why is so much of the information contained in the online Country Studies outdated?

The online Country Studies are electronic versions of hardcover books published by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress between 1988 and 1998 as part of the Department of the Army's Country Studies/Area Handbook Series. The series is not a current events database. Rather, it offers background analysis on a country's history, geography, society, economy, political system, foreign policy, and national security. The original expectation was that new editions would be completed every 5-10 years to replace older studies. However, given limited funding, that goal could not be realized. Although at present the online Country Studies remain a static reproduction in electronic format of published books, we believe that they continue to offer valuable historical information and perspective on the world of today.

- Why don't you update the online Country Studies?

The online Country Studies are electronic versions of hardcover books published by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress between 1988 and 1998, and as such the studies are static rather than dynamic. As renewed program funding becomes available, some Country Studies will be updated.

- Will funding to produce the Country Studies be continued?

Funding remains problematic. Following the termination of funding in the late 1990s, Congress appropriated funds in Fiscal Year 2004 and directed the Department of Defense to make them available under the heading "Operation and Maintenance, Defense Wide," to extend the interagency agreement between the Librarian of Congress and the Department of Defense to produce a revised set of the Country Studies Series for use by the Department of Defense and the general public, and to update this series on an ongoing basis. Funds were transferred to the Library of Congress, and the Federal Research Division initiated action to produce five new Country Studies, as well as a number of shorter, updated Country Profiles. All of that work continues, but in the absence of renewed funding in FY2005 or FY2006, no additional work can be initiated.

- Why are graphics and/or tabular data missing from some studies?

The online Country Studies contain selected graphics and tabular data from the originally published hardcover books. Some countries lack graphic or tabular information because those files were not available in electronic format or have not been converted for mounting on this site.

- How can I obtain copyright permission to reproduce or use portions of the text or graphics from the Country Studies?

With the exception of some photographs, which are clearly marked in the photograph's caption, text and graphics contained in the online Country Studies are not copyrighted. They are considered to be in the public domain and thus available for free and unrestricted use. As a courtesy, however, we ask that appropriate credit be given to the series. If you or your publisher require specific written permission for the record, queries should be directed via e-mail to frds@loc.gov.

- How can I obtain permission to link to the Country Studies web page?

You do not need permission to link to the online Country Studies. We welcome efforts to make the Country Studies more widely available to the public.

- How can I cite a particular Country Study in a bibliography?

For information about the title, editor, and date of information of a particular study, please refer to the first entry in the table of contents of the online study, which should be the name of the country. That information along with the Web site's URL can be included in any commonly accepted format for online sources. For hardcover editions, a suggested format would be as follows, taking the example of the Country Study on Turkey:

Metz, Helen Chapin, ed. Turkey: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1996.

The date of publication of a hardcover study is generally one year later than the date of research completion, which is the only date included in the online study. However, to be certain of the actual publication date, you would need to consult the Library of Congress catalogue (http://www.loc.gov/catalog/), look at the publication data in the published volume, or send an e-mail query to frds@loc.gov.

- "New" How can I find out the names of the authors of Country Studies?

The authors of the various chapters of published Country Studies are listed in parentheses after the chapter titles in the Table of Contents of each online Country Study.

- Why can't I bookmark the results of my searches on the Country Studies Web site?

It is not possible to bookmark the results of searches because of the way the data are stored on the Library of Congress server. Search results are stored in a temporary file for display purposes only. The temporary file is purged from the system within several hours.

- Do you have PDF or other complete electronic versions of the Country Studies that can be easily downloaded?

The online Country Studies are not available in PDF, nor can they be downloaded as a complete study. You can copy or print them piecemeal from the table of contents. Alternatively, you can obtain previously published hardcover studies from many public and university libraries or through the sales program of the U.S. Government Printing Office (http://bookstore.gpo.gov/)