CIA Ends World Factbook After Over 60 Years

The Central Intelligence Agency has discontinued its long-running World Factbook, a comprehensive public reference on global nations, geography, and cultures that has served students, researchers, and policymakers for more than six decades. The decision, announced on February 4, 2026, under the Trump administration, ends free online access to the resource, which the agency described as an evolution aligned with changes in its core mission.

The World Factbook traces its roots to the aftermath of the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, which highlighted gaps in U.S. intelligence coordination. This led to the creation of the Joint Army-Navy Intelligence Studies program during World War II, the nation's first interagency effort to compile basic information on foreign countries. By 1946, experts recognized the need for broader coverage beyond wartime enemies, encompassing all nations and human activities. The following year, the newly established CIA assumed responsibility for producing such intelligence.

The Factbook became an unclassified publication in 1971 and was released to the public in 1975, coinciding with congressional scrutiny of intelligence agencies. That year, Senator Frank...