World Desk Reference

Designed to be a comparable guide to the countries of the world, this reference book gives profiles of 192 countries plus Antarctica. It includes the solar system, global mapping of the physical world, mapping of the continents, climate, time zones, politics, environment, population, economy, global security and a guide to international organisations. It includes information on election dates, environmental treaties, education standards, crime rates, tourist patterns and global Internet usage. Included is a brief chronology of world history and the development of the modern world's political structure and a listing of more than 20,000 world place names, with alternative spellings, historical variants and recent name changes.