Sources & methodology

Read the date before the number

The 2025 label identifies the historical archive baseline. It does not mean every statistic was measured in 2025. Essential figures preserve their observation years. Source-check dates record retrieval, not the date of measurement.

Publication and review timestamps

Measured or estimated dates describe the underlying observation. “Independent edition last checked” records retrieval by this project, not a fresh measurement or independent verification. The archive supplies profile update and publication timestamps; when a field revision timestamp is unavailable, each field says so and displays the profile update only as an explicitly labeled fallback.

Country names, regions, capitals and coordinates come from the World Bank directory. They have no supplied observation year, may be stale and are labeled single-source unverified metadata. Historical government and capital text remains available in the dated archive entry.

Two layers of evidence

Essential figures come from World Bank World Development Indicators. Historical country narratives come from a third-party December 2025 archive of The World Factbook. These layers may use different dates and definitions and should not be treated as synchronized.

Verification labels

Single source

One source lineage supports the fact. Mirrors and republishers of the same upstream dataset do not provide independent corroboration.

Primary source checked

The observation has been checked against the official primary release, including its reference period, definition, provider-reported country series and ISO identity. This does not establish historical border comparability or independent corroboration; the source lineage remains visible.

Corroborated

Reserved for independent evidence with compatible definitions, units and observation dates. Several links alone do not establish corroboration.

Conflict

Sources disagree, or definitions and dates prevent a safe reconciliation. Any known difference should be retained in a field note.

Initial observations retain their single-source label until a recorded review supports a different status. An automated archive cross-check records date and definition mismatches, shared lineage and conflicts. A detected same-year GDP discrepancy for New Caledonia is held for review and omitted from essential figures. Source attribution is not independent factual verification. No blanket accuracy claim is made.

Coverage and missing information

The index follows the supplied World Bank economies dataset, including territories. Historical narratives are shown only when an archive entry has been matched. Missing information is not estimated or invented. Inclusion and naming do not express a position on sovereignty or recognition.

Inspect the evidence

Select a numbered reference or linked observation year to open its source information. Reference observations retain their original dates; source records are not changed by display conversions. Original markup is parsed into safe text and structured labels.

Independence

This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Central Intelligence Agency or the U.S. government. The design is inspired by printed reference books.