Where the facts come from
Which countries?
The daily country pool uses 195 states: the 193 United Nations members, the Holy See and Palestine. The country index also contains territories and other places from the source dataset. Labels and map boundaries are there to explain the data; they do not settle sovereignty disputes.
Country names, flags, capitals and reference coordinates come from our stored REST Countries dataset. Games use these saved values rather than live estimates. Multiple capital roles are explained when a question accepts more than one answer.
Names and aliases
Country search accepts familiar alternative names, including Holland, Burma, Turkey, Ivory Coast and Czech Republic. We keep identifiers stable when a display name changes.
Maps
Map geometry comes from Natural Earth, a public-domain dataset. Tiny islands and complex borders are simplified at this scale. GeoWordle labels its distances as approximate. A boundary distance of zero means touching boundaries, not a correct guess.
People and portraits
Country Draft uses biographies and public records, with references shown after you make a choice. Job-fit points are game judgements based on a person’s documented occupations, offices and military ranks. Fame compares their Wikidata language coverage within the eligible roster and their homeland; it is not a measure of personal worth. Real portraits come from Wikimedia Commons. Authors and licences are listed on Picture credits. Clay objects are generated illustrations, not photographs.
Statistics
Source years vary by statistic. Rankings exclude missing values and show the actual number of countries with data. The figures are comparisons from that dataset, not live estimates.
Population
Total population of the country
Total Area
Reported total area in square kilometers
GDP per Person
GDP per capita: average economic output per person
Total GDP
Total GDP: the size of the country's economy
Life Expectancy
Average life expectancy at birth
Urban Population
Percentage of population living in cities
Internet Users
Percentage of population using the internet
Fertility Rate
Average number of children per woman
Tourist Arrivals
International tourist arrivals per year
Forest Cover
Percentage of land covered by forest
Unemployment Rate
Percentage of workforce that is unemployed
Military Spending
Military spending as a share of the economy
Renewable Energy
Renewable energy share of total energy use
Inflation Rate
Annual consumer price inflation rate
Beer Consumption
Annual beer consumption per person
Coffee Consumption
Annual coffee consumption per person
Wine Consumption
Annual wine consumption per person
Education Spending
Government spending on education as share of GDP
Health Spending
Health expenditure as share of GDP
Arable Land
Percentage of land used for farming
Foreign Direct Investment
Foreign direct investment flowing into the country
Curated consumption figures
Coffee, beer and wine figures are curated values in the current data pipeline. Publisher labels are retained, but individual rows do not yet have independently verified source citations. Treat these comparisons as indicative.
Caveats
GDP per person is not household income. Renewable energy may include biomass and is not the same as clean electricity. Consumption figures cover reporting countries and do not describe every resident. Total area includes inland water where the source does.
Corrections
Something looks wrong? Email countrivo@gmail.com with the country, statistic and source.