vered.

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 = 9,826,630 sq km
China = 9,596,960 sq km

Land only (without any water features)

United States = 9,161,923 sq km
China = 9,326,410 sq km

Why has The World Factbook dropped the four French departments of
Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion, and French Guiana?

The reason the four entities are no longer in The World Factbook is
because their status has changed. While they are overseas
departments of France, they are also now recognized as French
regions, having equal status to the 22 metropolitan regions that
make up European France. In other words, they are now recognized as
being part of France proper. Their status is somewhat analogous to
Alaska and Hawaii vis-a-vis the contiguous United States. Although
separated from the larger geographic entity, they are still
considered to be an integral part of it.

Spelling and Pronunciation

Why is the spelling of proper names such as rulers, presidents, and
prime ministers in The World Factbook different than their spelling
in my country?

The Factbook staff applies the names and spellings from the Chiefs
of State link on the CIA Web site. The World Factbook is prepared
using the standard American English computer keyboard and does not
use any special characters, symbols, or most diacritical markings in
its spellings. Surnames are always spelled with capital letters;
they may appear first in some cultures.

The spelling of geographic names, features, cities, administrative
divisions, etc. in the Factbook differs from those used in my
country. Why is this?

The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) recommends and
approves names and spellings. The BGN is the component of the United
States Government that develops policies, princip