The Background Notes series is a collection of works by the United States Department of State

United States Department of State

The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...

. These publications include facts about the land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations of independent states

Sovereign state

A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...

, some dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty. The series is available online through the State Department's website.