LibGuides: GLS101: Globalization: Finding Country Information

Bentley Databases and Institutional Websites

Europa World This link opens in a new window
Europa World provides profiles of over 250 countries and territories, including extensive sections on political history, foreign affairs, and economic affairs. Directory information on international and country-specific organizations, including government agencies, is also included.
IHS Connect This link opens in a new window
IHS Connect provides continuously updated analysis of global business conditions and economic information. Proprietary reports and ratings assess country, banking and sovereign risk. Interactive maps, charts, and graphs present data on specific geographies. Users can build, save, export, and share status and time series reports and charts from a variety of datasets. Use MyConnect to set email notifications, set custom search alerts, and save content for later viewing. First time users should visit the IHS Connect Registration Guide to register for an account using a Bentley email address.
Euromonitor Passport This link opens in a new window
Euromonitor Passport provides business intelligence on selected Industries, Countries & Consumers, Companies, and Geographies, and comprehensive tools for analysis across datasets. Each category includes in-depth reports, analyst comments, statistics and external sources. New reports, analyses and comments are added daily, while industry reports are updated annually. Historical and forecasted date coverage varies by country, within a broad range of 1977 to five-year projections. Users will have to fill out a short registration form the first time they access Euromonitor. Faculty & Staff members please list your department under "Course".
Business Source Complete (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
To find Country Profiles: Click on [Country Reports] on the right side of the landing page. Sources provided within this database include MarketLine In-depth PESTLE Insights (analysis of a country's political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental structure), Political Risk Yearbook, CountryWatch,and Business Monitor International (BMI).
World Development Indicators (WDI) This link opens in a new window
A project of the World Bank, this web resource provides data on thousands of development indicators and statistics on most of the countries in the world. Click on the By Country heading and select the countries you're researching from the list.
World Factbook This link opens in a new window
Published by the CIA, this web resource lists brief but detailed facts on virtually every country in the world. This information is broken up into the categories of people and society, government, economy, energy, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues. Click the continent where the country you're researching is located on the map and select the country from the list provided.
United Nations Data This link opens in a new window
This website of the United Nations contains millions of records and statistics on the nations of the world. Do a keyword search using the name of the country you're researching and a type of statistic or topic area, such as Germany population.
OECD Country Profiles This link opens in a new window
This website of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has detailed country profiles and statistics on most of the countries in the world. Click on Countries and select the country you're interested in from the alphabetical categories listed. The data is divided into the larger categories of agriculture, development, economy, education, energy, environment, finance, government, health, innovation and technology, jobs, and society.
Global Issues in Context This link opens in a new window
Click on the World Map heading and select the country you're researching from the list. This will take you to that country on the map. Double click on the red pin to go to a profile of that country which provides a general overview, statistics, reference material, news, and scholarly articles on that country.

Fitch Solutions Risk Reports
Available through the ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry database, the Fitch Solutions Risk Reports (formerly BMI Risk Reports) provide information on the economic outlook, political outlook and ten year forecasts for countries from around the world. Use the "Search Within" box to search for your country's name.

Reference Books

The Statesman's Yearbook 2023 by Palgrave Macmillan (Editor)
Call Number: Reference Desk JA51 .S7
The Statesman's Yearbook provides political, cultural, and economic information. Includes information about international organizations as well as country profiles. Country profiles include key statistics and facts, information on historical events, current government & leaders, natural resources, trade, social institutions, and culture. Each profile includes recommended further reading for each country.
Political Handbook of the World 2018-2019 by Tom Lansford (Editor)
Call Number: Reference Desk JF37 .P6 2018/2019 v.1-2
The Political Handbook of the World offers country profiles and information on intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations, European Union, World Trade Organization, and more. Each country entry is introduced with basic information about the country but focuses on the government and politics of the country providing detailed information about the government's history, current government, and political parties and groups.
Nations of the World 2018 by World of Information (Editor)
Call Number: Reference Desk HC10 .N36
Nations of the World provides information about the economic and business outlook for each country. Articles provide some key facts and events for each country. Includes information trade, the economy, industries, political climate, and more. Also available online via Salem Press History.
Transformation Index BTI 2018 by Bertelsmann Stiftung (Editor)
Call Number: Stacks JC489 .B47
The Transformation Index reports on political and economic transformation around the world as well as governance. Findings are also reported out by region. This index is published every 2 years. Also available online.

International Law & Policy Resources

Finding international law or policy resources may prove challenging, especially if the documents are written in another language. The following website from the Library of Congress offers a good starting point for law research from countries around the world. You can find the country or countries you are interested in to find some ideas of where to start.

Guide to Law Online: Nations
Library of Congress collection of resources to assist with doing legal research concerning other nations.

Another way to begin would be to find the official website of the country and then finding the agencies or ministries who would be in charge of the area related to your topic to find any online resources.

EUR-Lex
The EUR-Lex search provides the opportunity to search European Union law and legislation.