Encyclopaedia of World Gazetteers

A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or directory, an important reference for information about places and place names, used in conjunction with a map or a full atlas. It typically contains information concerning the geographical makeup of a country region, or continent as well as the social statistics and physical features, such as mountains, waterways, or roads. This information is generally divided into overhead topics with entries listed in alphabetical order. Gazetteers are often categorized by the type, and scope, of the information presented. World gazetteers usually consist of an alphabetical listing of countries, with pertinent statistics for each one, with some gazetteers listing information on individual cities, towns, villages, and other settlements of varying sizes. This gazetteer provides encyclopedic information about the countries of the world. Describing important aspects of its land and people, it gives a detailed account of its physical features, history, popular religion, public health, agriculture and irrigation, natural calamities, systems of rent payment, land revenue system, occupations, means of communication, public and justice administration, education and local self-government.