Research Guides: Africana Studies: Find Data and Maps

Recommended Data Sources (National and International)

CIA World Factbook
Provides concise information, including geographic, demographic, and economic data, for over 250 countries. Prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Some earlier editions are also archived online from the US GPO.
Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)
ICPSR is an archive of behavioral and social science data; most datasets are raw, primary data drawn from surveys, censuses, and administrative records.
To download datasets you must set up an account using your Davidson email. Davidson is a member of ICPSR; use of the data is restricted to Davidson students, faculty and staff engaged in non-commercial research projects.
International Financial Statistics
Online version of the IMF's International Financial Statistics. Contains annual, quarterly, and monthly time series of financial and economic data for more than 200 countries.
UNdata
Contains official statistics produced by countries as well as statistics, estimates, projections, indicators, and other data from United Nations Statistics and Population Divisions and other United Nations agencies.

International Programs Data
Includes the International Data Base (IBD), which provides population and demographic data. From the U.S. Census Bureau.

World DataBank
(1960 - present) Time series data on a variety of topics related to developing countries; includes World Development Indicators.

Census of Population and Housing (1790-2010)
From the U.S. Census Bureau (pdf files).
Data.gov
A gateway to data from the Executive Branch of the Federal Government; provides descriptions of and access to a variety of data sets.
FedStats
Find data about the U.S., such as maps and population, demographic, and economic data.

HeritageQuest
Genealogy research database. Includes historical census, PERSI, Revolutionary War records, and more.
Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
The Roper Center focuses on public opinion data primarily collected by commercial and media survey organizations.
Social Explorer
Visualization and data-mapping tool with thousands of data indicators across demography, economy, crime and more.

Africa Map Collection
(16th-20th centuries) Digital images of approximately 700 historical maps. From the George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida.
AfricaMap
Provides current and historical spatial data. From the Center for Geographic Analysis (CGA), Harvard University.
Afriterra
(1480-1900) Over 1600 digitized rare maps of Africa.
American Memory: Map Collections
(15th-20th centuries) National and international maps, from the Library of Congress.
David Rumsey Map Collection: Images of Africa
(c. 1700-1990s) Includes over 500 digital images of historical maps.
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection: Africa Maps
Includes digitized political, reference, and topographical maps, many of which were produced by the CIA. Most date from the second half of the twentieth century. From the University of Texas at Austin.