Appendix F - Cross-Reference List of Geographic Names
Appendix G - Weights and Measures
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Notes and Definitions
Along with regular information updates, The World Factbook features several new or revised fields. In the Economy category, the Factbook is now reporting national GDP figures in US dollars converted at Official Exchange Rates (OER) in addition to GDP at Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) rates, since both measures contain information useful to our readers. Traditionally, only PPP-converted GDP values had been reported. In the Transportation category, the former Highways entry is now Roadways, while Ports and harbors has been retitled Ports and terminals.
Abbreviations
This information is included in Appendix A: Abbreviations, which includes all abbreviations and acronyms used in the Factbook, with their expansions.
Acronyms
An acronym is an abbreviation coined from the initial letter of each successive word in a term or phrase. In general, an acronym made up solely from the first letter of the major words in the expanded form is rendered in all capital letters (NATO from North Atlantic Treaty Organization; an exception would be ASEAN for Association of Southeast Asian Nations). In general, an acronym made up of more than the first letter of the major words in the expanded form is rendered with only an initial capital letter (Comsat from Communications Satellite Corporation; an exception would be NAM from Nonaligned Movement). Hybrid forms are sometimes used to distinguish between initially identical terms (WTO: for World Trade Organization and WToO for World Tourism Organization.)
Administrative divisions