The World Factbook, also known as the CIA World Factbook, is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official print version is available from the Government Printing Office. Other companies—such as Skyhorse Publishing—also print a paper edition. The Factbook is available in the form of a website that is partially updated every week. It is also available for download for use off-line. It provides a two- to three-page summary of the demographics, geography, communications, government, economy, and military of each of 267 international entities including U.S.-recognized countries, dependencies, and other areas in the world.
The Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) was the head of the American Central Intelligence Agency from 1946 to 2005, acting as the principal intelligence advisor to the President of the United States and the United States National Security Council, as well as the coordinator of intelligence activities among and between the various U.S. intelligence agencies.
William Joseph Burns is an American diplomat and career ambassador serving as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency since March 19, 2021. He previously served as the United States deputy secretary of state from 2011 to 2014. He retired from the US Foreign Service in 2014 after a 33-year diplomatic career. From 2014 to 2021, he served as president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Michael Vincent Hayden is a retired United States Air Force four-star general and former Director of the National Security Agency, Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Hayden currently co-chairs the Bipartisan Policy Center's Electric Grid Cyber Security Initiative. In 2017, Hayden became a national security analyst for CNN.
The Central Intelligence Agency, known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world, primarily through the use of human intelligence (HUMINT) and performing covert actions. As a principal member of the United States Intelligence Community (IC), the CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence and is primarily focused on providing intelligence for the President and Cabinet of the United States.
The Distinguished Intelligence Cross is the highest decoration awarded by the United States Central Intelligence Agency. It is the agency's equivalent of the military's Medal of Honor or Service Cross, i.e., Navy Cross, Army Distinguished Service Cross, Air Force Cross. It has been said that the DIC is the equivalent to the Medal of Honor, but the MOH is awarded by the president of the United States in the name of the U.S. Congress and the DIC is awarded by the CIA.
According to the CIA World Factbook, Muslims make up almost 100 percent of the population of the Western Sahara.
The Memorial Wall is a memorial at the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia. It honors CIA employees who died in the line of service.
The Exceptional Service Medallion is a civilian decoration of the United States government. It is awarded by the Central Intelligence Agency in recognition of "an employee's injury or death resulting from service in a hazardous area."
The Intelligence Medal of Merit is awarded by the Central Intelligence Agency for performance of especially meritorious service or for achievement conspicuously above normal duties.
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA is a 2007 book by Tim Weiner. Legacy of Ashes is a detailed history of the Central Intelligence Agency from its creation after World War II, through the Cold War years and the War on Terror. The book is based on more than 50,000 documents, primarily from the archives of the CIA, and hundreds of interviews with CIA veterans, including ten Directors of Central Intelligence. Legacy of Ashes won the 2007 National Book Award for Nonfiction.
The Agency Seal Medal is awarded by the Central Intelligence Agency to non-Agency personnel, including U.S. Government employees and private citizens, who have made significant contributions to the Agency's intelligence efforts.
The Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal is awarded by the Central Intelligence Agency for an individual's cumulative record of service reflecting a pattern of increasing levels of responsibility or increasingly strategic impact and with distinctly exceptional achievements that constitute a major contribution to the mission of the Agency.
The Career Intelligence Medal is awarded by the Central Intelligence Agency for a cumulative record of service which reflects exceptional achievements that substantially contributed to the mission of the Agency.
The Intelligence Commendation Medal is awarded by the Central Intelligence Agency for the performance of especially commendable service or for an act or achievement significantly above normal duties which results in an important contribution to the mission of the Agency.
Markovo Airport is an airport located in Markovo, in the Chukotka autonomous district of Russia. Starting in the 1940s, Markovo was one of eight stops on the backbone Aeroflot passenger route from Moscow to Anadyr.
Adherents of Islam constitute the world's second largest religious group. According to a study in 2020, Islam has 1.9 billion adherents, making up about 24.7% of the world population. Most Muslims are either of two denominations: Sunni or Shia. Islam is the majority religion in several subregions: East Asia, South Asia, North Africa, the Sahel, and the Middle East. The diverse Asia-Pacific region contains the highest number of Muslims in the world, easily surpassing the combined Middle East and North Africa.
Gina Cheri Walker Haspel is an American intelligence officer who served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2018 to 2021. She was the first woman to hold the post on a permanent basis and was previously the deputy director under Mike Pompeo during the early days of Donald Trump's presidency.
The Report is a 2019 American political drama film written and directed by Scott Z. Burns and starring Adam Driver, Annette Bening, Ted Levine, Michael C. Hall, Tim Blake Nelson, Corey Stoll, Maura Tierney and Jon Hamm. The plot follows staffer Daniel Jones and the Senate Intelligence Committee as they investigate the Central Intelligence Agency's use of torture following the September 11 attacks. It covers more than a decade's worth of real-life political intrigue, exploring and compacting Jones's 6,700-page report. It is partly based on the article "Rorschach and Awe" by Katherine Eban which originally appeared in Vanity Fair in July 2007.
