World Factbook: All the Country Facts You Need

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Can you imagine travelling to a foreign destination without checking any relevant country facts? Seriously, this is like going to the cinema without knowing what movie is playing.

I’m sure you see many inspiring travel pictures and read highly motivating travel blogs that are sparking wanderlust in you? That’s great to hear! The one crucial thing you need to be aware of is that traveling isn’t easy and planning along with preparation could be the most annoying process. Everyone needs to pass that process as it’s nearly impossible to travel without doing any previous research. Alright, you can try to take a trip without any preparation except getting your visa, but you will find so many difficulties on the road. Don’t do that and do your research before visiting the country.

What are the Most Important Things You Need to Check Before Taking a Trip

First of all, you need to decide which country you are going to visit. It may seem like the easiest part of the preparation process, but believe me, it could be tough to decide! You read one blog post about a particular country, and you say “I’m going there!” then you stumble upon a breathtaking picture from another place. It happens to us all the time, and that’s normal. Collect every country you’d like to visit at the moment on a list for further research. You will shortly have a few countries listed; which is great as it means you’re very interested in the cultures and different perspectives.

Now when you have the list, but you don’t know what to do next, it’s time for the research! Check out if you can enter and stay the country with your passport only or you need to apply for a visa. What’s the process of getting the visa and how long the visa allows you to stay in the country? That is a crucial information as it determines the budget, time to explore and many other things on the road. When you’re knowledgeable about the visa information and how to acquire it, you should start with the research of the country or city you want to visit.

There are so many different sources of information coming from bloggers, governments, forums and other resources. The most important thing is to differentiate the reliable sources from other ones. You want the accurate country facts so you could be prepared and have everything planned for your trip.

How to Find a Reliable Country Facts and Overviews Online

There is so much information spread on the internet, and sometimes it’s hard to differentiate a reliable source from unreliable one. I love to read different authority travel blogs where people share their experiences during and after their trip. You can find such valuable information there as these people have been to these countries and have tried the things they are sharing firsthand. My advice is to find a list of authority travel blogs and then read experiences of people there to get the idea about the country or city. Once you gather necessary information, you can start reading guides for a more in-depth overview.

The most reliable source of information I always use before preparing our travel is the site called CIA World Factbook. You won’t find the experiences of people on the site, but you will find the crucial country facts that will introduce you to the culture, history, tradition, politics and other similar information about the country. This site is very accurate as the information is updated annually. You can find the country facts of 266 independent countries around the world, and the site is developed by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States. The facts are usually spread on two to three pages, and it’s edited to meet CIA standards. Many publications, student papers, websites and non-governmental publications use the information from this site as a reference in their work. So yeah, this site and country facts you can find on it are pretty accurate and reliable.

Using the site is pretty straightforward as the site doesn’t have a fancy design and have only a search bar with the navigation on the sidebar. You can use the navigation bar where you can list all the world’s countries, or you can search by the continents. Another way to easily navigate the desired country is to type it in the search bar at the top of the site.

Once you find the country, you should click on it, and you will get the country facts listed in the form of an essay. You will find the information about the history, geography, politics, people, government, culture, economy, transportation, military and issues the country is facing.  

I believe it’s enough information for everyone to get knowledgeable about the particular country you plan to visit.

Now when you’re familiar with how and where to look for the country facts, you’re ready to start with the preparation and planning process. Which resources do you use when preparing the trip? What do you find the most reliable and accurate?