99

Example 2 42.8 43
31.6 32
25.6 26
---- --
100.0 101

When this occurs, we do not force the numbers to add exactly to 100,
because doing so would introduce additional error into the
distribution.

What rounding convention does The World Factbook use?

In deciding on the number of digits to present, the Factbook staff
assesses the accuracy of the original data and the needs of US
Government officials. All of the economic data are processed by
computer--either at the source or by the Factbook staff. The economic
data presented in The Factbook, therefore, follow the rounding
convention used by virtually all numerical software applications,
namely, any digit followed by a "5" is rounded up to the next higher
digit, no matter whether the original digit is even or odd. Thus,
for example, when rounded to the nearest integer, 2.5 becomes 3,
rather than 2, as occurred in some pre-computer rounding systems.

Why do you list "Independence" dates for countries like France,
Germany, and the United Kingdom?

For most countries, this entry presents the date that sovereignty
was achieved and from which nation, empire, or trusteeship. For
other countries, the date may be some other significant nationhood
event such as the traditional founding date or the date of
unification, federation, confederation, establishment, or state
succession and so may not strictly be an "Independence" date.
Dependent entities have the nature of their dependency status noted
in this same entry.

Technical

Does The World Factbook comply with Section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act regarding accessibility of Web pages?

The World Factbook home page has a link entitled "Text/Low Bandwidth
Version." The country data in the text version is fully accessible.
We believe The World Factbook is compliant with the Section 508 law
in both fact and spirit. If you are experiencing difficulty, please
use our comment form to provide us details of the specific problem
you are experiencing and the assistive software and/or hardware that
you are using so that we can work with our technical support staff
to find and implement a solution. We welcome visitors' suggestions
to improve accessib