Compendia of Comparative National Statistics

Some of the best places to start when you don’t know where to start (e.g., you find yourself asking, who collects international education statistics?).

Word of Caution: In general, I don’t recommend using these as a final source. Rather, use these as a way to identify the “standard” source of a particular measure, then go to the source for the numbers you will use in your work. Even though the titles listed here are reputable, specialized research tools, they are not themselves the authors of the information but are instead compilers. In most cases, it is more thorough to go to the authoring source of statistics.

Brief statistical information organized by country

• CIA World Fact Book
  CC Ready Reference PREX 3.15:
  Available online and in print, the Factbook is frequently cited and is a handy source for country statistics. It is not as good as other sources here, though, for leading you to its source data. This is what the Factbook says about its sources, “The Factbook staff uses many different sources to publish what we judge are the most reliable and consistent data for any particular category. Space considerations preclude a listing of these various sources.” (quoted from FAQ)
• Europa World Yearbook
  CC Ready Reference JN1 .E85 2006
  Country reports (brief history, political overview, names of leaders and agencies, etc.) along with statistical overviews of each country. Information is very up to date, and documentation leads to the sources of the statistics — important information for finding more detailed, less aggregated statistics.
• Whitaker’s Almanack
  CC Ready Reference AY754 .W5 2006
  Brief statistical information by country along with historical, political, and economic information. Previous years kept in general stacks.
• CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online)
  Accessible from Carleton campus or off-campus via proxy server
  Brief information and country maps, usually more detailed than the CIA World Factbook.
• CQ Political Handbook of the World
  Accessible from Carleton campus or off-campus via proxy server
  Brief country information plus political system information (e.g., regime type, party system, electoral system, and system of government) from standard sources such as Freedom House, Pippa Norris’ “democracy type” adapted from Freedom House rankings, and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).  Also includes maps.

More detailed statistics organized by series or variable

• EarthTrends Database
  From the World Resources Institute which publishes the World Resources series of reports and data tables, this comparative online database includes demographic, economic, infrastructure, politics, and natural resources. It draws from major sources listed on this page.
• Nationmaster
  “a massive central data source and a handy way to graphically compare nations. NationMaster is a vast compilation of data from such sources as the CIA World Factbook, United Nations, World Health Organization, World Bank, World Resources Institute, UNESCO, UNICEF and OECD.”
• Maplecroft Maps
  This interactive mapping application allows you to visualize data from such sources as Transparency International, the OECD, and the World Bank on many topics divided into four broad categories: economic, political, social, and environmental. Besides the value of the maps themselves you can use them and their accompanying documentation to access the data used to create them or to find other sources of data on that topic.
• Statistical Abstract of the United States
  The section on Comparative International Statistics contains Excel tables that can be downloaded. More about the Statistical Abstract.