# CIA World Factbook Archive

16 Hacker News commenters recommended CIA World Factbook Archive and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a searchable, exportable archive of Factbook editions from 1990 to 2025, easier to browse than PDFs; the common caveat is wrong country links.

## Why people recommend it

- Easier to browse than PDFs (2 comments): "This is such a breath of fresh air. Dense data should be presented like a book" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47118979)) "imo superior than flipping through a PDF" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47116165))
- Clean, readable design (2 comments): "This is such a breath of fresh air. Dense data should be presented like a book" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47118979)) "I love the current design. Personally, it seems to be just perfect." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47118996))
- Creator open and responsive (2 comments): "Good on the creator for being responsive instead of defensive about the bug reports." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47118696)) "Really appreciate that you put all of your backend work into the open." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47116786))

## What people warn about

- Country links go to wrong entries (5 comments): "the link to the entry for “Germany” will take you to the entry for the Gambia" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47117745)) "clicking Australia goes to American Samoa, similar issue with some others" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47116431)) "will take you to the entry for the Gambia for every year I have checked" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47117868))

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "CIA World Factbook Archive", https://hackerapproved.com/p/cia-world-factbook-archive/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).