Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations. United Nations

Gale Group Staff9780787673307, 0-7876-7330-7, 0787673315, 0787673323, 0787673331, 078767334X, 0787673358

A companion to Worldmark Yearbook 2000, this tenth edition offers four volumes on the continents plus one on the United Nations and a new volume on world leaders. Each continent volume contains alphabetically arranged chaptersDranging from ten to 30 pagesDdescribing about 200 countries and dependencies. Each chapter contains a wide variety of information on 50 topics, including population, topography, history, government, media, and a bibliography. Especially noteworthy: some of these sections provide information not available in other geographical encyclopedias (e.g., judicial system, local government, and libraries and museums). Compiled mostly by academics, the succinctly written articles contain much current information, some of it dating from as recently as August 2000. The volume on leaders is especially useful, providing hard-to-find biographical information on lesser-known heads of state. These profiles, mostly written or updated in 2000, have been culled from a variety of print and web sources. The volume on the United Nations is a superb ready reference, describing the history and structure of U.N. agencies and including useful comparative statistical tables. A very minor quibble: the country volumes do not contain signed entries. Still, this set is an outstanding source providing reliable, comprehensive, and easily accessible information for frequently asked reference questions. The price may be steep for smaller libraries, but this is highly recommended for larger public and academic collections.