Seeking documentary about every country.

October 16, 2009 1:03 PM

Is there a documentary that contains basic info (+ maybe some cultural info) for every country in the world?

I don't want to spend my life traveling everywhere in the world, but I would like to know how people do things in different places, for the sake of being a little less confined to my bubble of thought.

I'd like to know things like: What does language X sound like? What kind of government and tax structure does every country have? Which key historical events have shaped the current culture of each country?

Is there a film (or compilation of them) that would help me out?

posted by nnevvinn to Society & Culture (5 answers total)

So when I first read your question I thought it said document. So, I have a non-video solution for you. check out The CIA World Fact Book for cut and dry printed information about every country in the world.
posted by mrsshotglass at 1:07 PM on October 16, 2009 [1 favorite]

I don't know about a film... but there is a book called The Travel Book: A journey Through Every Country in the World which basically does this. It has one country per page - some big photos and a few paragraphs of basic statistics, fun facts, and whatnot. It a "coffee table" book, to be sure, so don't expect academic essays, but it's a pretty crazy compilation.
posted by gyusan at 1:11 PM on October 16, 2009

Not a film, Wikipedia.
posted by fire&wings at 1:16 PM on October 16, 2009

Almanac
posted by CathyG at 1:26 PM on October 16, 2009

your bubble of thought probably won't be expanded much by cramming the whole world into one documentary . . . documentary series though, I always love GlobeTrekker
posted by Think_Long at 2:19 PM on October 16, 2009