The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) announced this week that it is shuttering its venerable publication, The World Factbook. Described by the CIA as one of its “oldest and most recognizable intelligence publications,” the Factbook has served the intelligence community and the general public — including journalists, teachers, and researchers — since 1962.
In 1997, The World Factbook went digital and debuted to a worldwide audience on CIA.gov, where it garnered millions of views each year. A reason for the shuttering of the publication was not provided in the “we bid a fond farewell” press release. Former Republican Congressman and Director of National Intelligence during the latter part of the first Trump administration, John Ratcliffe is the current Director of the CIA.
When Republican pollster Frank Luntz shared the news on social media, retired U.S. Army Colonel Myles Caggins III, CEO of the political PR firm Words Warriors and a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, replied: “Strongly recommend @CFR_org 101 as an alternative to the CIA’s discontinued World Factbook.”
Strongly recommend @CFR_org 101 as an alternative to the CIA’s discontinued World Factbook. https://t.co/0YP9bxGyRi
— Myles Caggins III (@MylesCaggins) February 4, 2026
American blogger Eleanor Konik replied: “Aww man I used the World Factbook a ton back when I was teaching world history. Bummer.”
Another retired teacher replied: “I taught geography for 33 years. My students started using the CIA World Factbook when it was an actual book. When it went digital the added features made it an even better source of information. Why would they stop releasing it?”
Radio-Canada journalist Annie Dufour took a dim view, shared by other online commenters, of the shuttering of the publication, replying: “The death of expertise, knowledge, collective wisdom, seems to be a Trump regime avowed goal so as to better subjugate the people of the USA, and beyond.”
The news comes in a week when another venerable Washington-based publication, the privately held Washington Post, saw its newsroom gutted and nearly a third of its staffers laid off by billionaire owner Jeff Bezos, an enthusiastic Trump donor.