The World Factbook is an online publication of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency that provides statistics and demographics about nations around the world. If you use the CIA World Factbook as a source of information for your paper, you must include it in the reference list at the end of your paper. If your professor has asked you to format your paper according to Modern Language Association (MLA) style, cite the CIA World Factbook as you would any nonperiodical Internet source.
Step 1
List the author, followed by a period:
Central Intelligence Agency.
Step 2
List the title of the article or page in quotation marks, followed by a period. For example:
"Botswana."
Step 3
List the name of the Web site in italics, followed by a period:
cia.gov.
Step 4
List the name of the publisher, followed by a comma:
Central Intelligence Agency,
Step 5
List the date of publication in a day-month-year format. Abbreviate the names of months down to three letters.
For example:
14 Dec. 2010.
If no date of publication is listed, use:
n.d.
Step 6
List the medium of publication, followed by a period. For example:
Web.
Step 7
List the date on which you accessed the Web site in a day-month-year format. Abbreviate the names of months down to three letters. For example:
17 Mar. 2011.
Step 8
Ensure that the finished citation appears in the following manner:
Central Intelligence Agency. "Botswana." cia.gov. Central Intelligence Agency, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2011.
MLA style no longer requires the use of URLs. However, if you would like to include the Web address, enclose it in angle brackets and position it directly underneath your citation.
For example:
Central Intelligence Agency. "Botswana." cia.gov. Central Intelligence Agency, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2011.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bc.html
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