The Fifth Edition is now organized alphabetically, covering each nation on Earth, sequentially, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. Every country is profited in depth, with sections on landscape, climate, vegetation, history, politics, and economy. With each entry is a full-color topographic map drawn by Europe's finest cartographers, combining relief shading and layer-colored contours that convey a superb visual impression of the land surface. The Atlas also offers a wealth of supplemental information -- a 16-page section of country-by-country facts, a 32-page World and Continents section, 200 national flags (including their origin and significance), 160 climate graphs, and a 25,000-name index.

Completely up to date, packed with data, and more easy to use than ever, Encyclopedic World Atlas is indeed "the information atlas", an ideal resource for business reports and homework assignments, and the first place to turn to answer questions about the world around you.