Diplomatic representation: The US Government has diplomatic relations with 184 nations, including 178 of the 185 UN members (excluded UN members are Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, former Yugoslavia, and the US itself). In addition, the US has diplomatic relations with 6 nations that are not in the UN—Holy See, Kiribati, Nauru, Switzerland, Tonga, and Tuvalu. Diplomatic representation from the US: This entry includes the chief of mission, embassy address, mailing address, telephone number, FAX number, branch office locations, consulate general locations, and consulate locations. Diplomatic representation in the US: This entry includes the chief of mission, chancery address, telephone number, FAX number, consulate general locations, consulate locations, honorary consulate general locations, and honorary consulate locations.
Disputes—international: This entry includes a wide variety of situations that range from traditional bilateral boundary disputes to unilateral claims of one sort or another. Information regarding disputes over international terrestrial and maritime boundaries has been reviewed by the US Department of State. References to other situations involving borders or frontiers may also be included, such as resource disputes, geopolitical questions, or irredentist issues, however, inclusion does not necessarily constitute official acceptance or recognition by the US Government.
Economic aid: This entry refers to bilateral commitments of official development assistance (ODA) and other official flows (OOF). ODA is defined as financial assistance which is concessional in character, has the main objective to promote economic development and welfare of LDCs, and contains a grant element of at least 25%. OOF transactions are also official government assistance, but with a main objective other than economic development and with a grant element less than 25%. OOF transactions include official export credits (such as Ex-Im Bank credits), official equity and portfolio investment, and debt reorganization by the official sector that does not meet concessional terms. Aid is considered to have been committed when agreements are initialed by the parties involved and constitute a formal declaration of intent. The entry is separated into two components—donor and recipient.
Economy: This category includes the entries dealing with the size, development, and management of productive resources, i.e., land, labor, and capital.
Economy—overview: This entry briefly describes the type of economy, including the degree of market orientation, the level of economic development, the most important natural resources, and the unique areas of specialization. It also characterizes major economic events and policy changes in the most recent 12 months and may include a statement about one or two key future macroeconomic trends.
Electricity—capacity: This entry gives the maximum designed potential for electricity production expressed in kilowatts.
Electricity—consumption per capita: This entry gives the figure for annual electricity generation plus net imports or minus net exports, divided by total population for the same year expressed in kilowatt hours.
Electricity—production: This entry gives the annual amount of electricity actually generated expressed in kilowatt hours.
Elevation extremes: This entry includes both the highest point and the lowest point.
Entities: Some of the nations, dependent areas, areas of special sovereignty, and governments included in this publication are not independent, and others are not officially recognized by the US Government. "Nation" refers to a people politically organized into a sovereign state with a definite territory. "Dependent area" refers to a broad category of political entities that are associated in some way with a nation. "Country" names used in the table of contents or for page headings are usually the short-form names as approved by the US Board on Geographic Names and may include nations, dependencies, or other geographic entities. There are a total of 266 separate geographic entities in The World Factbook that may be categorized as follows: