Finding Country Information: Regions

The Encyclopedia of Africa presents the most up-to-date and thorough reference on this region of ever-growing importance in world history, politics, and culture. Its core is comprised of the entries focusing on African history and culture from 2005's acclaimed five-volume Africana - nearly two-thirds of these 1,300 entries have been updated, revised, and expanded to reflect the most recent scholarship. Organized in an A-Z format, the articles cover prominent individuals, events, trends, places, political movements, art forms, business and trade, religions, ethnic groups, organizations, and countries throughout Africa.

This 4-vol. set covers its people, its cultures, and its complex history. Intended for students and the general reader, the Encyclopedia provides current and accurate information in more than 1,000 articles on the sub-Saharan region. The articles describe such topics as archaeology family and kinship; government; politics and law; and African arts; cultures; and languages.

Updating the 1996 edition in light of many new developments (e.g., the failed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in 2000, September 11th, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan), this new edition presents some 3,000 entries covering topics in fields such as politics, history, economics, religion, sociol

The original 1995 encyclopedia, an award winner from both the American Library Association (Dartmouth Certificate) and the American Historical Association, was celebrated as a landmark in the development of Latin American studies (The Americas). This new edition adds nearly 600 entirely new topics, replaces some 150 obsolete entries, and also provides substantial revisions to hundreds more. Every one of the 5,700+ entries has been reviewed for currency of content and bibliography. An entirely new illustration program features over 100 full-color photographs in addition to hundreds in black-and-white. National statistics have been conveniently tabulated for every one of Latin America's 37 countries. New content addresses research on prehistoric environments and cultures, U.S. Haitian interventions, the consequences of NAFTA and increased Mexican immigration, the troubled aftermaths of Pinochet's Chile and Fujimori's Peru, truth and reconciliation commissions, and the still-contested legacy of the Mexico City massacre of 1968. New leaders like Brazil's Lula da Silva and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez are profiled along with hundreds of other rising figures in politics, letters, and the arts. Newly commissioned master essays synthesize current knowledge on such major regional themes as Democracy in the Americas, Hemispheric Affairs, and the Hispanic Impact on the U.S. Includes full index and table of biographical subjects by profession. Edited by Jay Kinsbruner and an international team of consultants on three continents.

The Handbook includes a section on theoretical approaches that analyze Latin America's place in the international political and economic system and its foreign policy making. Other sections focus on the main countries, actors, and issues in Latin America's international relations.

The Encyclopedia of Modern Asia is a monumental new scholarly work, as expansive in scope as the continent of Asia itself. Under the direction of cultural anthropologist David Levinson, 800 contributors from around the world -- including 25 Asian countries -- provide 6, 000 articles on Modern Asia from a global perspective. The Encyclopedias comparative, cross-cultural approach allows students and researchers to identify the similarities and differences among Asian nations and religions. The work focuses on Asia in the modern world -- including Central Asia, the Middle East and the Far East -- and contemporary issues are given full and authoritative treatment. Historical articles emphasize people, places, events and developments that have had a lasting influence on Asia. Articles also cover Asian relations with Western nations, the relations between nations within Asia and also the flow of people, goods and ideas within Asia and globally. Also includes approximately 1, 000 black-and-white photographs, maps, sidebars and a comprehensive index.

Updating the 1996 edition in light of many new developments (e.g., the failed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in 2000, September 11th, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan), this new edition presents some 3,000 entries covering topics in fields such as politics, history, economics, religion, sociol