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The Encyclopedia of the World's Nations. By George Thomas Kurian. New York: Facts On File, 2002. 3 vols. acid free $330 (ISBN 0-8160-4139-3).
As stated in this resource's introduction, The Encyclopedia of World Nations "is at once a new publication and an old one" (ix). Many librarians may remember (and may still use) three previous country encyclopedias compiled by George Thomas Kurian: The Encyclopedia of the First World (Facts On File, 1990), Encyclopedia of the Second World (Facts On File, 1991), and The Encyclopedia of the Third World (Facts On File, 1987). These encyclopedias set a precedent in content and format for presenting concise but thorough geographical, historical, political, economic, and social profiles on the nations of the world. But, these resources are at least ten years out-of-date. Now, Kurian, through the same publisher, has compiled an updated three-volume version providing alphabetical entries on 190 nations regardless of their status as "First World," "Second World," or "Third World."
Each nation entry, with lengths varying from nine to twenty-five pages, follows a similar format. A "Basic Fact Sheet" provides quick reference information, such as the country's capital, population,...