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Latin American and Caribbean Studies
This guide provides resources on Latin America and the Caribbean to help you with your research.
These websites provide reliable political, social, economic information on individual countries in Latin America or on major policies in the region such as democracy, development, and U.S. relations.
The Organization of American States (OAS) is the world’s oldest regional organization established in 1948 in Bogotá, Colombia. The purpose of the OAS is to promote social and economic development in the Western hemisphere through cooperation. The Organization’s four main pillars are democracy, human rights, security, and development.
A research series published by the Library of Congress that presents a description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world. Searchable by continent or individual country.
Established in 1959, the IADB is the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean. It has a strong commitment to achieve measurable results, increased integrity, transparency and accountability. It supports the efforts of Latin America and the Caribbean countries to reduce poverty and inequality with the goal of bringing about development in a sustainable, climate-friendly way.
The Inter-American Dialogue is the leading U.S. center for policy analysis, exchange, and communication on issues in Western Hemisphere affairs. It brings together public and private leaders from across the Americas to address hemispheric problems and opportunities. The Dialogues seeks to build cooperation among Western Hemisphere nations and advance a regional agenda of democratic governance, social equity, and economic growth.
The Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs is responsible for managing and promoting U.S. interests in the region by supporting democracy, trade, and sustainable economic development, and fostering cooperation on issues such as drug trafficking and crime, poverty reduction, and environmental protection.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is headquartered in Washington, DC and is dedicated to the promotion and protection of human rights.
The Political Database of the Americas (PDBA) is a non-governmental project of the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) at Georgetown University. The PDBA offers centralized and systematized information about institutions and political processes, national constitutions, branches of government, elections, political constitutional studies and other subjects related to the strengthening of democracy in the region.
The Latin American Network Information Center (LANIC) is affiliated with the Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies (LLILAS) at the University of Texas at Austin. LANIC's mission is to facilitate access to Internet-based information to, from, or on Latin America. Our target audience includes people living in Latin America, as well as those around the world who have an interest in this region.
ECLAC, which is headquartered in Santiago, Chile, is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations. It was founded with the purpose of contributing to the economic development of Latin America, coordinating actions directed towards this end, and reinforcing economic ties among countries and with other nations of the world. The promotion of the region's social development was later included among its primary objectives.
The Hispanic Reading Room, as it is usually called, serves as the primary access point for research relating to those parts of the world encompassing the geographical areas of the Caribbean, Latin America, and Iberia; the indigenous cultures of those areas; and peoples throughout the world historically influenced by Luso-Hispanic heritage, including Latinos in the U.S., and peoples of Portuguese or Spanish heritage in Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
Here you will find every page of every World Development Report published by the World Bank since the first report was released in 1978. Users can search or browse by topic or title .
The World Factbook provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities. Our Reference tab includes: maps of the major world regions, as well as Flags of the World, a Physical Map of the World, a Political Map of the World, a World Oceans map, and a Standard Time Zones of the World map.
