What is the Area Handbooks/Country Studies series?
Books within this series provide basic background information on each country’s history, culture, economics, government and politics, and national security. The Department of the Army, which had been the sponsor since the 1950s, terminated funding for the project in 1998. These publications may be out of date as to current data but continue to provide valuable, in-depth background on a country’s history, culture, geography, and society. The Library of Congress is working through a variety of channels to revive the program and thus continue to expand and update both the print versions and Country studies online versions.
