Data codes: This information is presented in Appendix D: Cross-
Reference List of Country Data Codes and Appendix E: Cross-Reference
List of Hydrographic Data Codes.
Date of information: In general, information available as of 1 January 2007, was used in the preparation of this edition.
Daylight Saving Time (DST): This entry is included for those entities that have adopted a policy of adjusting the official local time forward, usually one hour, from Standard Time during summer months. Such policies are most common in mid-latitude regions.
Death rate: This entry gives the average annual number of deaths during a year per 1,000 population at midyear; also known as crude death rate. The death rate, while only a rough indicator of the mortality situation in a country, accurately indicates the current mortality impact on population growth. This indicator is significantly affected by age distribution, and most countries will eventually show a rise in the overall death rate, in spite of continued decline in mortality at all ages, as declining fertility results in an aging population.
Debt - external: This entry gives the total public and private debt owed to nonresidents repayable in foreign currency, goods, or services. These figures are calculated on an exchange rate basis, i.e., not in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms.
Dependency status: This entry describes the formal relationship between a particular nonindependent entity and an independent state.
Dependent areas: This entry contains an alphabetical listing of all nonindependent entities associated in some way with a particular independent state.
Diplomatic representation: The US Government has diplomatic relations with 188 independent states, including 187 of the 192 UN members (excluded UN members are Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and the US itself). In addition, the US has diplomatic relations with 1 independent state that is not in the UN, the Holy See, as well as with the EU.
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, telephone, FAX, consulate general locations, and consulate locations.