Country Information

Background Notes http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/ This link from the U.S. Department of State includes “facts about the land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations” of various countries.
CIA World Factbook https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html Online resource from the Central Intelligence Agency that contains geographical information indexed by country.
Country Briefings http://www.economist.com/countries/ Country briefings from The Economist, includes “news, country profiles, forecasts, statistics and more.” A “Cities Guide” link is also included.
Country Profiles http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles/default.stm Full profiles provide an instant guide to history, politics and economic background of countries and territories, and background on key institutions,” from BBC News.
CountryReports.org http://www.countryreports.org/ Basic country profiles and maps are accessible on this website without a subscription.