List of entities and changes in The World Factbook

This is a list of entities and changes in The World Factbook. The World Factbook was an annual publication of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with almanac-style information about the countries of the world.

At the time of its discontinuation in February 2026, The World Factbook consisted of 258 entities. These entities can be divided into categories. 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.

List of entities

The list of entities follows below. 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". In this category, there are 195 entities:

Flag of entity Name of entity Flag of entity Name of entity Flag of entity Name of entity Flag of entity Name of entity Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua andBarbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan The Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosniaand Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central AfricanRepublic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica DominicanRepublic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon The Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Ivory Coast Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua NewGuinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Kittsand Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent andthe Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad andTobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe

Others

This is a list of other places set apart from the list of independent countries. There are two entities in this category:

Flag of entity Name of entity European Union Taiwan

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:

Flag of entity Name of entityAshmore and Cartier IslandsCocos (Keeling) IslandsCoral Sea IslandsHeard Island and McDonald IslandsChristmas IslandNorfolk IslandHong KongMacau Faroe IslandsGreenlandClipperton IslandFrench Southern and Antarctic LandsNew CaledoniaSaint BarthelemySaint MartinFrench PolynesiaSaint Pierre and MiquelonWallis and FutunaArubaSint MaartenCook IslandsNiueTokelauBouvet IslandJan MayenSvalbardAkrotiriDhekeliaAnguillaBermudaBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBritish Virgin IslandsCayman IslandsFalkland IslandsGibraltarGuernseyJerseyIsle of ManMontserratPitcairn IslandsSaint Helena, Ascension,and Tristan da CunhaSouth Georgia andSouth Sandwich IslandsTurks and Caicos IslandsBaker IslandHowland IslandJarvis IslandJohnston AtollKingman ReefMidway IslandsNavassa IslandPalmyra AtollWake IslandAmerican SamoaGuamNorthern Mariana IslandsPuerto RicoVirgin Islands

Miscellaneous This category is for Antarctica and places in dispute. There are five entities here:

Antarctica Gaza Strip Paracel Islands Spratly Islands West Bank

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 entries ) :

Arctic Ocean Atlantic Ocean Indian Ocean Pacific Ocean Southern Ocean World

Changes in The World Factbook

This table lists changes in the entities in the Factbook. Entities that have been added are in green; dropped entities are in red; the flag last used by the entity is shown as well. 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 Antarctica1988one of more than 40 entities added to the Factbook in order to provide a complete picture of the world Arctic Ocean Atlantic Ocean Indian Ocean Pacific Ocean World Soviet Union1992dropped Yugoslavia Iraq-Saudi Arabia Neutral Zone Armenia replaced the Soviet Union in the Factbook Azerbaijan Belarus Estonia Georgia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Latvia Lithuania Moldova Russia Tajikistan Turkmenistan Ukraine Uzbekistan Bosnia and Hercegovinareplaced Yugoslavia in the Factbook Croatia Macedonia Serbia and Montenegro Slovenia Czechoslovakia1993 dropped after the country splits into the Czech Republic and Slovakia Czech Republicadded after Czechoslovakia splits Slovakia Eritrea added upon independence from Ethiopia Vatican City renamed Holy See (Vatican City) Ivory Coast renamed d'Ivoire Macedonia 1994 renamed The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Pacific Islands, Trust Territory of the (Palau) 1995 renamed Palau Kazakhstan1996 renamed ; spelling changed Burkina renamed Burkina Faso Corsica added Zaire1997 renamed Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo renamed Congo, Republic of the Corsica dropped - Since Corsica is not listed in the Entities section of the Notes and Definitions, it is assumed that Corsica was dropped. Western Samoa1998 renamed Samoa renamed Kazakhstan; spelling change Wake Island 1999 renamed Wake Atoll Wake Atoll2000 renamed Wake Island Southern Ocean added Serbia and Montenegro 2001 renamed Yugoslavia East Timor January 1, 2002 added Yugoslavia March 19, 2003 renamed Serbia and Montenegro Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of November 30, 2004 renamed Macedonia after a November 2004 decision to refer to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as such Akrotiriadded because both Akrotiri and Dhekelia are dependencies and not lease areas Dhekelia European Union December 16, 2004 added due to the fact the European Union has nation like qualities Man, Isle of January 10, 2006 renamed Isle of Man Baker IslandMarch 29, 2006redirected and consolidated in United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges entry Howland Island Jarvis Island Johnston Atoll Kingman Reef Midway Islands Palmyra Atoll 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 Serbia and Montenegro June 13, 2006 dropped due to independence of Montenegro SerbiaJune 29, 2006 added due to independence of Montenegro Montenegro Bassas da IndiaSeptember 7, 2006consolidated in Iles Eparses entry Europa Island Glorioso Islands Juan de Nova Island Tromelin Island Iles Eparses a consolidation of the entries for Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island, and Tromelin Island French GuianaJanuary 18, 2007dropped because the area is now an Overseas region and a part of France proper Guadeloupe Martinique Reunion Saint Barthelemy July 19, 2007added due to the fact the area is now an Overseas collectivity of France Saint Martin Bassas da Indiadropped because the area is now part of the Iles Eparses district of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands 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 Kosovo February 28, 2008 added South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands September 1, 2009 renamed South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands Saint Helena January 15, 2010 renamed Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha Netherlands Antilles October 12, 2010 dropped after the Netherlands Antilles dissolves. (Archived by WebCite at ) October 20, 2010added after the Netherlands Antilles dissolves Sint Maarten Mayotte April 8, 2011 dropped because the area is now an Overseas department and a part of France proper (Archived by WebCite at ) South Sudan July 11, 2011 added following independence from Sudan (Archived by WebCite at https://web.archive.org/web/20190110145941/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cc.html Cape Verde January 7, 2014 renamed Cabo Verde Swaziland May 25, 2018 renamed Eswatini Macedonia February 19, 2019 renamed North Macedonia

Notes

These entities have been consolidated into the United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges entry.

On April 27, 1992, Serbia and Montenegro, the final two republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), formed a new nation, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). Until 2001, the U.S. Government did not recognize the FRY as a state. The U.S. government also decided not to accept the FRY or any the other republics as a successor state to the SFRY.

List of entities and changes in The World Factbook

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