LibGuides: A Guide to Political Science: Researching Countries

Europa World Regional Surveys

This set of reference books in the library is a gold mine in providing information about specific countries. It's a highly recommended place to start. Each country has a separate entry within its corresponding volume, containing geographical, historical, political, economic, and statistical information. Each entry also contains a directory of governmental and non-governmental organizations.

New volumes are shelved in the Reference section (main floor; Beck Hall side). We keep older volumes as well, in case you need historical data; these are shelved in the General and/or Oversize collection (use the same call numbers from the list below). Find information about your country by locating the volume corresponding to your country's geographical region. Countries are then listed alphabetically:

Africa South of the Sahara - Reference DT 351 .A37
Central and South-Eastern - Europe Reference HC 244 .A1 C46
Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia - Reference HC 244 .A1 E29
The Far East and Australasia - Reference DS1 .F3
The Middle East and North Africa - Reference DS 49 .M62
South America, Central American, and the Caribbean - Reference F 1401 .S28
Western Europe - Reference HC 240 .A1 W47

Academic Articles

While many of our databases provide international coverage, these databases in particular will help you explore scholarship on international topics.

CIAO (International affairs) This link opens in a new window
Contains full text documents on international politics and related fields. Includes content from government research organizations, independent think tanks, university analysis centers, and scholarly journals. Also includes country surveys with political data, economic data, and maps from The Economist Intelligence Unit.
Public Affairs Index This link opens in a new window
Covers global contemporary public policy issues, ranging from public health, the environment, housing, human and civil rights, to international conflict and natural disasters. Draws on scholarly publications, conference papers, government documents and reference works.

Human Rights

If you're investigating the status of human rights in a given geographical area, explore these resources.

Amnesty International
Human Rights Watch
United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
Guide to Law Online: Nations of the World
A country-by-country directory of legal information, including constitutional, executive, legislative, and judicial law as well as related information such as human rights reports. From the Law Library of Congress.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Use the Countries menu to search for information for specific countries

Country Information

CIA World Factbook
Each entry contains a succinct overview of your country's history, geography, government, economy and transnational issues.
Countries and Economies
The World Bank provides overviews of individual countries and their economies, including measures of climate change, education, and health.
Country Information (IMF)
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) offers information about each of its 190 member countries, including economic outlooks, as well as numerous reports.
Library of Congress Country Studies
Primarily intended for historical research, this collection contains electronic versions of eighty books originally sponsored by the U.S. Army.
Political Handbook of the World - Ref JF 37 .P76
Covers countries of the world, giving basic background information, discussion of political parties and structures, and analysis of current trends.

Statistics and Data - Regions

Afro Barometer
Afrobarometer, a non-profit company limited by guarantee with headquarters in Ghana, is a pan-African, non-partisan survey research network that conducts public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, the economy, and society.
Arab Barometer
Arab Barometer is a nonpartisan research network that provides insight into the social, political, and economic attitudes and values of ordinary citizens across the Arab world
Asian Barometer
Asian Barometer surveys cover many countries and territories in East, South, and Southeast Asia.
Eurasia Barometer
Eurasia Barometer is a large-scale cross-national time-series survey research program. Its main aim is to monitor political, social and economic transformations in the countries of post-communist Europe and post-Soviet Eurasia in the opinion of their populations.
Eurobarometer
Use this resource to access public opinion data in the EU
LAPOP-Latin American Public Opinion Project
Results from most Latin American countries as well as Madagascar, Israel, and Albania.
Latinobarometro
Latinobarómetro is an annual public opinion survey that involves some 20,000 interviews in 18 Latin American countries, representing more than 600 million inhabitants. Data can be downloaded.
US Census Bureau International Programs Center
The U.S. Census Bureau provides demographic, economic, and geographic studies of other countries.

Newspaper Articles

Both of these databases contain international news coverage, so browse them and see what you can find. You can also look at their publication list to see which papers are included. Searching via these databases gets you around paywalls you might encounter otherwise. Contact a librarian if you need more help finding international news sources.

Access World News (Newsbank) This link opens in a new window
Provides the full text of global, regional and local news sources. Coverage ranges from over 40 Minnesota sources to international sources from over 200 countries.
US Newsstream This link opens in a new window
Indexing and selected full text access to over 350 newspapers from around the world. Archival coverage begins in 1985 for some titles. Access is provided by eLibraryMN (ELM).

Statistics and Data - Worldwide

There are many sources available to help you find statistical information on your country, although keep in mind that access and availability will vary by country, due to a variety of factors.

Comparative Agendas: Comparing Policies Worldwide
Collects and analyzes data to track policy outcomes in the US and other countries from World War II to the present. Includes downloadable datasets.
Demographic Yearbook
Published by the United Nations, the Demographic Yearbook offers demographic and social statistics on a wide range of topics.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Data
The IMF provides economic and other types of data for member countries.
OECD Stat Extracts
OECD.stat includes data and metadata for 34 member countries and selected non-member economies. This data covers a wide range of topics, including the economy, health, the environment, and information technology.
Our World in Data
An easy-to-use and visually compelling tool for exploring data related to a variety of challenges, including poverty, hunger, climate change, and other major world issues
Statistical Abstract of the World - Ref HA 154 .S83
Presents data on over 180 countries, covering geography, demographics, education, science and technology, government and law, and economics. Sources for all data are noted, and an appendix lists and describes sources, offering important leads to additional data.
United Nations Statistics
The Statistics Division of the United Nations' Department of Economic and Social Affairs contains a wealth of data about countries and global trends.
World Bank Data Catalog
This resource from the World Bank provides multiple tools and data sets for comparing development indicators across countries, including the World Development Indicators.
World Public Opinion
Results of studies from polls conducted around the world.
World Values Survey
Tables and graphs from World Values Survey conducted 1981-2004.

These two statistical guides may also help you in your research.

Guide to Statistics - International
The Gustavus Library's guide to statistics has a section on international statistics.

Statistical Sites on the World Wide Web
A cleanly-organized and helpful guide to US and world statistical sources. From the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

A Guide to Political Science: Researching Countries

Overview