der
international law as a sovereign state, but it does not send or
receive diplomatic representatives. Consequently, Holy See is
included as a Factbook entry, with Vatican City cross-referenced in
the Geographic Names appendix.

Why is Palestine not listed in The World Factbook?

The areas that could potentially form a future Palestinian state --
the West Bank and Gaza Strip -- do appear in the Factbook. These
areas are presently Israeli-occupied with current status subject to
the Israeli-Palestinian 1995 Interim Agreement; their permanent
status is to be determined through further negotiation.

Why are the Golan Heights not shown as part of Israel or Northern
Cyprus with Turkey?

Territorial occupations/annexations not recognized by the United
States Government are not shown on US Government maps.

Why don't you include information on entities such as Tibet,
Kashmir, or Kosovo?

The World Factbook provides information on the administrative
divisions of a country as recommended by the United States Board on
Geographic Names (BGN). The BGN is a component of the US Government
that develops policies, principles, and procedures governing the
spelling, use, and application of geographic names--domestic,
foreign, Antarctic, and undersea. Its decisions enable all
departments and agencies of the US Government to have access to
uniform names of geographic features.

Also included in the Factbook are entries on parts of the world
whose status has not yet been resolved (e.g., West Bank, Spratly
Islands). Specific regions within a country or areas in dispute
among countries are not covered.

What do you mean when you say that a country is "doubly landlocked"?
A doubly landlocked country is one that is separated from an ocean
or an ocean-accessible sea by two intervening countries. Uzbekistan
and Liechtenstein are the only countries that fit this definition.

Why is the area of the United States described as "slightly larger
than China" in the Factbook, while other sources list China as
larger in area than the United States?

It all depends on whether one is looking at total area (land and
water) when making the comparison (which is the criterion used by
the Factbook) or just land area (which excludes inland water
features such as rivers or lakes).

Total area (combining land and water)

United States = 9,631,418 sq km
China = 9,596,960 sq km

Land only (without any water features)

United States = 9,161,923 sq