like Qatar
and Kiribati.

Why is the name of the Labour party misspelled?

When American and British spellings of common English words differ,
The World Factbook always uses the American spelling, even when
these common words form part of a proper name in British English.

Policies and Procedures

What is The World Factbook's source for a specific subject field?

The Factbook staff uses many different sources to publish what we
judge are the most reliable and consistent data for any particular
category. Space considerations preclude a listing of these various
sources.

The names of some geographic features provided in the Factbook
differ from those used in other publications. For example, in Asia
the Factbook has Burma as the country name, but in other
publications Myanmar is used; also, the Factbook uses Sea of Japan
whereas other publications label it East Sea. What is your policy on
naming geographic features?

The Factbook staff follows the guidance of the United States Board
on Geographic Names (BGN). The BGN is the component of the United
States 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. The position of the
BGN is that the names Burma and Sea of Japan be used in official US
Government maps and publications.

Why is most of the statistical information in the Factbook given in
metric units, rather than the units standard to US measure?

US Federal agencies are required by the Metric Conversion Act of
1975 (Public Law 94-168) and by Executive Order 12770 of July 1991
to use the International System of Units, commonly referred to as
the metric system or SI. In addition, the metric system is used by
over 95 percent of the world's population.

Why don't you include information on minimum and maximum temperature
extremes?

The Factbook staff judges that this information would only be useful
for some (generally smaller) countries. Larger countries can have
large temperature extremes that do not represent the landmass as a
whole. In the future, such a category may be adopted listing the
extremes, but also adding a normal temperature range found
throughout most of a country's territory.

What information sources are used for the country flags?

Flag de