United Nations Cartographic Center
The Country Profile Maps section on this site is a great resource for overview maps.

View a video to see how to copy the maps to a PowerPoint presentation.

The CIA World Factbook
The CIA World Factbook includes brief statistical data about the geography, people, economy, government, communication, defense and transportation of each country.

CountryWatch.com
CountryWatch is a world leader in providing country specific geopolitical intelligence on each of the 192 countries of the world.

Countries and Cultures Research Guide
Use this research guide to explore a wealth of library and Internet resources.

Country Studies at the Library of Congress
This site contains studies of over 101 countries by the federal government. Click on the name of the country to go to that country's study. To determine the copyright date of the study, click on the country's name. Also, each individual study has a search option.

Culture and Customs Series
(Titles in this series are shelved at various call numbers. Be sure to check the library catalog to determine where the title on the country you need is located. A link to a title search in the catalog is included in the series title above.)
Use these volumes to learn about "the land, peoples, and brief historical overview; religion and world view; literature and media; art and architecture/housing; cuisine and traditional dress; gender, marriage, and family; social customs and lifestyles; and music and dance" of various nations. These books can be located in the Owens Library and MOBIUS catalogs by using a title search and entering culture and customs of followed by a country name. An example of a search is - culture and customs of nigeria You can also access this series online through the Daily Life through History database.

Earth Calendar
The Earth Calendar is a daybook of holidays and celebrations around the world. Search by date, country, religion, lunar phase, or holiday name.

African News Sources

LexisNexis Academic/Browse Sources/Africa
LexisNexis Academic News is one way to find articles written in English about African current events. Non-African news sources are included in Filter by: Country in the example below:



LexisNexis Academic/Browse Sources/Specific Country Name
You can also select an individual African countries if they appear in the Filter by: Country list. South Africa is the country most well represented as the example below indicates:


CountryWatch - Country Wire
Short timely news articles by country:

1) Click Country Review




2) Select your country, then click Featured Country Wire or View Our News Archive

World-Newspapers.com
This site provides links to country specific news sources and pan-African news sites.

SULAIR - Africa South of the Sahara: African News
This site is created and maintained for the African Collection of Stanford University. Africa South of the Sahara provides links for many social and cultural aspects of African countries. You can browse by country or topic, or search the entire site by keyword. Topics of interest include:
Radio Stations, Radio in Africa
Media & Mass Communications
Music
Newspapers by Country
News on Africa (Continent-wide)

African Music in the Owens Library Collection
Search the Owens Library Catalog Keyword Search, limiting by Material Type - Music Audio. Use continent, country, region, city, or type of music to narrow your search. Below is a screen capture with a search example:



Naxos Music Library/World-Folk
Play recordings of African music using streaming audio. Browse or search by continent or country to locate the African oriented recordings.

SULAIR - Africa South of the Sahara: African Music on the Internet

Last.fm
Listen to music and watch videos by African musicians. Play a "radio station" with music by an african musician or group with music by similar artists.

AfroPop Worldwide
The stated goal of this site is "connecting world class veteran and emerging artists from Africa, the Caribbean and the Americas with music lovers everywhere continues in full in the web world." Stream entire shows, download podcasts, listen to interviews with musicians, and link to African radio stations on the web.

YouTube
Search for video clips of African music:
1) Enter african music

or

2) Enter the name of an African musician, music group, or type of African instrument or music genre.

1) Use the following reference books to identify important African writers:
African writers / C. Brian Cox, editor.
LOCATION CALL # STATUS
NW Owens Reference 896 A25a v.1 LIB USE ONLY
NW Owens Reference 896 A25a v.2 LIB USE ONLY

Postcolonial African Writers : A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/nwmsu/Doc?id=5005064&ppg=1

2) Use the Owens Library catalog to locate African writers with an author search

3) SULAIR - Africa South of the Sahara: African Literature and Writers on the Internet

YouTube
YouTube search examples:

Nollywood (Nigerian film and cinema)
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Nollywood&search_type=&aq=f

Actor - Seun Jonathan
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22seun+jonathan%22&search_type=&aq=f

Film Title - Blood on the Altar
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22Blood+on+the+Altar%22&search_type=&aq=f

Library Catalog/MOBIUS Catalog
Search for (primarily) books located in Owens Library, a "cluster" of 4 academic libraries (Towers) in our region, or the combined holdings of over 50 Missouri academic libraries (MOBIUS).

1) Use Subject (LC) search to search by continent:
Africa
Africa Economic Conditions
Africa History
Africa Politics and Government
Africa Social Conditions
Africa Social Life and Customs
African Literature
Art African
Music African

2) Use Subject (LC) search to search by country
Nigeria
Nigeria History
Nigeria Social Conditions
Nigeria Social Life and Customs

3) Use Subject (LC) search to search by region or ethnic group
Africa West
Yoruba
Benin

4) Use Search MOBIUS to repeat a search in the MOBIUS Catalog and use MOBIUS REQUEST to borrow books from other MOBIUS libraries





Countries and Cultures: Selected Sources
These are books in the Owens Library collection covering various aspects of countries and cultures of the world recommended by librarians.

WorldCat
Search for books in libraries outside of Missouri and order them through Interlibrary Loan.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices are submitted annually by the U.S. Department of State to the U.S. Congress. The reports cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Click the appropriate year, then region, then country to access a specific report.

Amnesty International
"Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights." Browse by country.

United Nations High Commission for Human Rights
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), a department of the United Nations Secretariat, is mandated to promote and protect the enjoyment and full realization, by all people, of all rights established in the Charter of the United Nations and in international human rights laws and treaties. The mandate includes preventing human rights violations, securing respect for all human rights, promoting international cooperation to protect human rights, coordinating related activities throughout the United Nations, and strengthening and streamlining the United Nations system in the field of human rights.

Africa South of the Sahara: Selected Sources - Human Rights
This page contains links to a wide variety of organizations and agencies devoted to all aspects of human rights.

Background Notes
Use the the links at this site to read facts about the land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations of independent states, some dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty.

Business Source Premier
Click Advanced Search
In the first Find: box, type foreign relations
After word in, click the drop down arrow and click SU Subject Terms
In the second Find: box, type your country name
After word in, click the drop down arrow and click SU Subject Terms
Click the Search button to retrieve articles and reports

Gale Academic OneFile
Click Advanced Search
In the first drop down box, click Subject(su)
In the search box, type foreign policy
In the second drop down box, click Subject(su)
In the search box, type your country name
Click the Search button to retrieve articles and reports

Stat-USA 
This US Commerce Department site provides a wide range of current trade and social information on African Countries. In particular, the Country Commercial Guides and Country Background Notes located in the GLOBUS & NTDB section of the site are very useful for providing a current economic snapshots of countries.

United States Mission to the United Nations
Use the Search and and the Site Index links on this page to find foreign policy information about a country from the United States' point of view.

US Department of State
Use this site to search for a wide variety of reports and documents that provide information about foreign policy and international relations. Click in the search box in the upper right corner of the screen and search for the name of your country and "foreign policy"

US International Trade Statistics
This web resource provide statistical information describing imports and exports by category and country.