Amazon.com description: Product Description: The world, as they say, is getting smaller all the time. Thanks to speed-of-light communications via the Internet, we are told about events happening all over the world in the blink of an eye. But learning takes longer than an eye blink. This fascinating reference book provides readers with essential facts about countries, cultures, and people in a learned, thoughtful, and engaging way, including big-picture facts such as the difference between a country and a nation, as well as data showing which country is the best place for a bookworm to live. (Hint: its in the Eastern Hemisphere.)