Era of the World Factbook comes to an end – CIA bids farewell to its publication after 60 years

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on Wednesday said it is drawing the curtains on the CIA World Factbook after more than 60 years. This publication by the American spy agency served as a popular reference manual.

The CIA broke the news in a post on its website and offered no reason for ending the publication of the World Factbook.

It not only served the CIA, but was also useful to other federal agencies. “The World Factbook served the Intelligence Community and the general public as a longstanding, one-stop basic reference about countries and communities around the globe,” the CIA wrote.

Within a decade, an unclassified version was released to the public.

After going online in 1997 on CIA.gov, the Factbook quickly became a popular reference site for journalists, trivia aficionados and the writers of college essays, racking up millions of visits per year.

“The World Factbook appealed to researchers, news organisations, teachers, students, and international travellers,” the CIA said. “Some readers even inquired whether their preferred geographic designation or world entity could be included on the high-profile site.”

The spy agency noted that only the CIA insiders know that officers donated some of their personal travel photos to The World Factbook, which hosted more than 5,000 photographs that were copyright-free for anyone to access and use.

It is also in line with the Donald Trump administration's decision to cut staffing at the CIA and the National Security Agency, forcing the agencies to do more with less.

In February last year, the White House offered buyouts to every CIA employee and is reportedly planning to cut about 1,200 further jobs at the agency over the next several years.

CIA did not return AP's request seeking comment on their decision.

(With agency inputs)