BBC News World Editions: Country Profiles 

The BBC offers "instant guides" to news, history, politics, event timelines, and economic background of world countries. 

Country Briefings

Country Briefings is a collection of news background profiles, forecasts and statistics from ECONOMIST magazine.

Country Profiles

The Country Profiles present environmental information, including "notes and sources, about the key variables for each topic area. View the charts and graphs to find the vital statistics you need for your country, region, or research topic."

Cultural Profiles Project

Intended as a guide to aid in cultural awareness of new immigrants to Canada, the Cultural Profiles Project is an excellent source of information for learning "what life is like" in countries around the world. Each profile provides an overview of life and customs in the profiled country, with sections on work, food, holidays, family life, spirituality, communication, education, sports and recreation, landscape and climate, history, health care, and arts and literature.—Copyright 2001 Librarians' Index to the Internet.

Flag Detective

Flag Detective helps you find a flag by its design rather than by the name of the country.

InfoNation

"InfoNation is an easy-to-use, two-step database that allows you to view and compare the most up-to-date statistical data for the Member States of the United Nations."

Library of Congress:   Country Studies

This is a digital version of the familiar white handbook series on library shelves. The most useful features are those that allow searching within and across the handbooks.   "The COUNTRY  STUDIES series presents a description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world and examines the interrelationships of those systems and the ways they are shaped by cultural factors."

Portals to the World

Portals to the World, developed by the Library of Congress, contains selective links providing authoritative, in-depth information about the nations and other areas of the world.