The 2006 CIA World Factbook

"The 2006 CIA World Factbook" by the United States Central Intelligence Agency is a comprehensive reference guide published in the early 21st century. This factual document provides detailed information about countries and locations around the world, including updates on geopolitical changes, economic statistics, and demographic data. The Factbook serves as an essential resource for understanding global issues and the status of nations. The opening of the Factbook outlines its structure, including sections on countries, field listings, rank orders, and appendices. It highlights new features for this edition, such as the inclusion of significant geopolitical changes like Montenegro's independence, expanded government category entries, and new data on issues like human trafficking. This careful compilation of facts is aimed at providing accurate and timely information for readers, be they policymakers, students, or general interest individuals seeking knowledge about world affairs. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

The Central Intelligence Agency, known informally as the Agency, metonymously as Langley and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world, primarily through the use of human intelligence (HUMINT) and conducting covert action through its Directorate of Operations. The agency is headquartered in the George Bush Center for Intelligence in Langley, Virginia.