This directory, last reviewed in these columns in 1999 (RR 1999/137), comes from the same stable as the Europa Yearbook (available electronically as Europa World Plus (RR 2011/052)) and might be described as a filleted version of that work, or rather as its backbone, for the material left out of the Directory, but included in the Yearbook, comprises the latter's extensive coverage of recent history, its economic and statistical information, and its lists of non‐governmental organizations. What remains is the material related to the governments of 199 independent states and 48 dependent territories. Entries for the states have an average length of three pages, the dependent territories usually about a page. The longest entries cover countries with the largest number of subordinate governments, such as Russia. The date of coverage extends to 2010.
A typical entry will comprise a (very) short description of the country's system of government; the name and contact details of the head of state; a list of members of the government; contact details of government departments; a summary account of the judicial system, with the names of the judges of the highest court; and the names and contact details of the most important government agencies, in a standard classified order, including, for instance, trade, banking, energy and broadcasting.
Devolved administrations, such as Scotland, are usually accorded a short sub‐section, often confined to the name of the chief minister and contact details (in a few cases to the name alone). The general lack of descriptive text means that the constitutions of nations are usually taken at their face value, so there is seldom any comment on those which are, in practice, dictatorships. Occasionally the editors do concede, as in the case of Somalia, that the authority of a government does not extend throughout its nominal territory.
It is interesting to observe how the directory approaches areas whose status is disputed. Thus the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” receives a standard entry as a subsidiary of Cyprus, but each time its name is mentioned, it appears in inverted commas. The same solution is adopted for Abhkazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria. In one instance even the capitalisation becomes a matter of diplomatic controversy, under the heading for “the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia”, which appears thus, and not as “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, because it is the name, not the country's independence, that is disputed. However, there is no mention at all of the unrecognised administration of “Somaliland” which by some reports exercises more effective control over its territory than the official Somali Government does. The directory certainly provides a comprehensive guide to its chosen field, but librarians will be aware that, unless their readers have a particular need to trace contact details for government members and officials, they could find many of its contents in other reference works.
