African Studies

UBC Library has a large number of governmental and statistical information sources. The following categories highlight some select resources to get you started in your search.

• African Population Database Documentation Compilation of existing data sources for population data by country. The summary table has country population figures for 1960-2000.
• African Statistical Yearbook (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa)
• Afrobarometer, is a pan-African, non-partisan research network that conducts public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, the economy, and society.
• Statistical yearbook (United Nations Statistical Division) World population, health, finance, national accounts, labour force, wages and prices.
• UN Data Selective summary tables cover agriculture, population, industry, national accounts, energy, health, human development, trade, refugees, education, employment, and information and communication technology.
• World Bank Open Data Databases, pre-formatted tables, reports, and other resources for the key indicators of development over the past twenty years.  In total, 550 development indicators,  for over 200 countries and 18 country groups. Data includes social, economic, financial, natural resources, and environmental indicators.

• African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
• Africa Governance, Monitoring and Advocacy Project (AfriMAP) Works with national civil society organizations to conduct systematic audits of government performance.
• ChildInfo.org (UNICEF) Provides statistics on the well-being of children; data can be selected by indicator, topic or country. Indicators include mortality, child labour, literacy, and a range of health topics
• Children and Armed Conflict Site presents short summaries on topics such as child soldiers, girls in war, displaced children, landmines, HIV/AIDS.

• World Economic outlook International Monetary Fund - Statistical appendix gives estimates and 1-year projections for industrialized and developing countries on GDP and consumer prices, also available online as the World Economic Outlook (WEO) Database.

• African Development Bank Group includes 54 African and 27 non-African member countries. Provides links to research, statistics, financial reports, country profiles for member countries, and more.
• African Development Indicators, also issued on CD-ROM as World Bank Africa database and available online, provides 1500 indicators of macroeconomic, sectoral and social data, covering 54 African countries.
• African Data Dissemination Service (ADDS) is part of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), an information system designed to identify problems in the food supply system that potentially lead to famine or other food-insecure conditions in sub-Saharan Africa and other countries.
• Human Development Reports include both regional and country annual reports, with Human Development Insights for 191 countries and territories according to the Human Development Index (HDI). Also available in print in Koerner Library.
• World Development Indicators offers statistical data for over 550 development indicators, and time series data from 1960 for over 200 countries and 18 country groups. Data includes social, economic, financial, natural resources, and environmental indicators.

For further information about accessing governmental publications and data, please consult the Government Publications: International Statistics research guide.