Presents text, statistics and directory information on the geography, recent history and economy of the Western European countries and territories.

Key features include:

* Contributions from acknowledged experts

* A definitive factual and statistical survey of each country

* Some 800 pages of impartial data.

General Survey

* Introductory articles written by acknowledged experts cover issues of regional importance, such as: The European Union Towards 2006; European Defence: All Illusions Exposed; The Politics of Immigration and Asylum in Western Europe; Economic Survey of Western Europe and Western Europe and the Developing World.

Country Surveys

Individual chapters on each country, which comprise of:

* An introductory survey, containing essays on the geography, history and economy of each country, which includes a full chronology and map

* An extensive economic and demographic survey of the latest available statistics on area and population, health and welfare, agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, industry, finance, trade, transport, tourism, communications media and education

* A full directory section with names, addresses, contact numbers and e-mail and internet addresses covering the constitution, government, legislature, judiciary, political organizations, diplomatic representation, religious groups, the media, finance, trade and industry, tourism, defence and education

* A select bibliography, containing suggestions for further research.

Seika Sato is a professor at the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Teikyo University. She has worked on ethnographic studies in Nepal, centering around various issues in lives of minority women. She is the author of Conversing with the Hyolmo Women: An Anthropology of Life/Story in Nepal (Tokyo: Sangensha, 2015, in Japanese).