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Rating: 
Summary: Complete Wast of Money
Review: I don't know about the printed edition, but the online version has Vatican City listed under "Holy See" and clearly states, "Serbia and Montenegro have asserted the formation of a joint independent state, but this entity has not been formally recognized as a state by the US. The US view is that the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) has dissolved and that none of the successor republics represents its continuation." If the printed version omits these statements, or if the Yugoslavia was recognized as a state by the time this was published, just ignore this review.
Rating:
Summary: Complete Wast of Money
Review: If you like tables, charts, graphs, and maps, this is not the book for you. Everything in the book is available for free on the CIA website. Check out the website before you decide to buy the book, so you can see how little (in the way of anything interesting, useful, or detailed) the book offers.
Rating: 
Summary: Flawed edition of a great reference
Review: In 1995, my high school history teacher gave me a copy of the World Factbook. It has information about every area in the world including all UN Members, colonies of nations (Puerto Rico, Aruba, American Samoa), and areas under dispute (West Bank, Gaza Strip, Taiwan, Western Sahara), and the five oceans. I have used the book for six years since then. This leads us to this edition. This edition is in black and white. Because of this flaw, you cannot tell the colors in the various flags. The publisher left out a series of maps that are published in the back of the Factbook. Despite what the publisher says, this leaves the Factbook imcomplete. Another flaw is that the publisher dates the previous years Factbook with the next years date. This could leave users confused. A previous reviewed faulted this edition for having the former Yugoslavia as 'Serbia & Montenegro'. There is a reason for this. Until his ouster in 2001, the US Government did not recognize the former government of Slobodan Milosevic. The CIA, being apart of the government followed suit. You can't fault them for that. The bottom line: go to the CIA site first to preview the factbook before you buy. If you decide to buy, get the Factbook from the GPO and not this flawed edition.
Rating: 
Summary: Who ever said the media got things right?
Review: Someone mentioned that the factbook lists a country as "Serbia and Montenegro" instead of as "Yugoslavia" as a big complaint about possible factual errors. Serbia existed long before the name "Yugoslavia" ever existed to be put on a map; and with the dissolution of Yugoslavia (for whatever reason one chooses to explain it), it has become Serbia once again, irregardless of what CNN uses on their news reports. If we substitute "Wales and Scotland" and "Great Britian" for "Serbia and Montenegro" and "Yugoslavia", those complaints sound rather silly.
Rating:
Summary: Does not have all the Facts
Review: This book was disappointing. I expected a highly accurate book that would be an interesting source to quote. The authority of the name Central Intelligence Agency would sound great on my essays. But in just casually reading through this book, I was surprised to find two significant problems. First, the omission of Vatican City as a nation. Vatican City has been an independent nation since Feb 11, 1929. There is no explanation for why it is not listed. Second, is a problem with Yugoslavia. It isn't listed under "Y". The book renames it "Serbia and Montenegro". I watch CNN and all the fuss over the October elections this year was in Yugoslavia. Solbodan Milosovic was the President of Yuglosavia, not of Serbia and Montenegro, as this book lists him. How can a reference book make such major mistakes? There is a lot of interesting stuff listed in this book. I really liked the detailed information about population, governments, geography, economics, communications and transporation. But I can't really trust it. When they make such major mistakes with countries, how can you possibly trust the smaller facts about population or the communcations industry. No one should use this book for reference. The World Factbook 2000 does not have all the facts.
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