The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an independent US
Government agency responsible for providing national security
intelligence to senior US policymakers.
This entry includes those persons residing in a country as refugees or internally displaced persons (IDPs). The definition of a refugee according to a United Nations Convention is "a person who is outside his/her country of nationality or habitual residence; has a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion; and is unable or unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution." The UN established the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1950 to handle refugee matters worldwide. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has a different operational definition for a Palestinian refugee: "a person whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948 and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict." However, UNHCR also assists some 400,000 Palestinian refugees not covered under the UNRWA definition. The term "internally displaced person" is not specifically covered in the UN Convention; it is used to describe people who have fled their homes for reasons similar to refugees, but who remain within their own national territory and are subject to the laws of that state.
refugees (country of origin): 6,398 (Pakistan) (2010)
IDPs: 447,000 (mostly Pashtuns and Kuchis displaced in the south and west due to drought and instability) (2012)
refugees (country of origin): 90,000 (Western Saharan Sahrawi, mostly living in Algerian-sponsored camps in the southwestern Algerian town of Tindouf); 30,000 (Mali) (2010)
IDPs: undetermined (civil war during 1990s) (2012)
refugees (country of origin): 28,957 (Democratic Republic of the Congo) (2010)
IDPs: 100,000 (armed conflict between government and rebels; most IDPs in northern and western Burundi) (2011)
refugees (country of origin): 278,257 (Sudan); 69,428 (Central African Republic) (2010)
IDPs: 131,000 (fighting between government forces and rebel groups; majority are in the east) (2011)
refugees (country of origin): 79,617 (Angola); 69,836 (Rwanda); 17,777 (Burundi); 12,845 (Uganda) (2010)
IDPs: 1.7 million (fighting between government forces and rebels since mid-1990s; most IDPs are in eastern provinces) (2011)
refugees (country of origin): 3,773 (Somalia) (2012)
IDPs: 10,000 ((border war with Ethiopia from 1998-2000; most IDPs are near the central border region) (2006)
refugees (country of origin): 252,338 (Sudan); 81,247 (Somalia); 44,791 (Eritrea) (2012)
IDPs: 200,000-300,000 (border war with Eritrea from 1998-2000, ethnic clashes in Gambela, and ongoing Ethiopian military counterinsurgency in Somali region; most IDPs are in Tigray and Gambela Provinces) (2008)
refugees (country of origin): 100,003 (Tibet/China); 69,998 (Sri Lanka); 9,094 (Afghanistan)
IDPs: at least 506,000 (about half are Kashmiri Pandits from Jammu and Kashmir) (2012)
refugees (country of origin): 522,000 (Somalia); 20,528 (Sudan); 34,000 (Ethiopia); 11,500 (Democratic Republic of Congo)
IDPs: 250,000-350,000 (2007 post-election violence; KANU attacks on opposition tribal groups in 1990s) (2012)
refugees (country of origin): 436,154 (Palestinian refugees (UNRWA)); 9,056 (Iraq); 85,300 (Syria)
IDPs: at least 76,000 (1975-90 civil war, Israeli military activity) (2012)
refugees (country of origin): 3,100 (Iraq); 2,700 (Palestinian Territories) (2012)
IDPs: 93,000 (conflict between pro-Qadhafi and anti Qadhafi forces) (2011)
refugees (country of origin): 74,536 (Bhutan); 15,000 (Tibet/China) (2010)
IDPs: 50,000 (remaining from ten-year Maoist insurgency that officially ended in 2006; displacement spread across the country) (2012)
refugees (country of origin): 27,950 (Mali) (2012)
IDPs: 11,000 (conflict between government and Tuareg groups since 2007; inter-communal clashes) (2007)
refugees (country of origin): 5,316 (Liberia) (2010)
IDPs: undetermined (communal violence between Christians and Muslims; displacement is mostly short-term) (2012)
refugees (country of origin): 1,899,842 (Afghanistan) (2010)
IDPs: 818,000 (fighting in Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Khyber-Pakhtunkwa, and Balochistan since 2004; military operations in SWAT in 2009; flooding in 2010) (2012)
refugees (country of origin): 55,027 (Democratic Republic of the Congo) (2010)
IDPs: undetermined (fighting between government and insurgency in 1998-99; returning refugees) (2012)
refugees (country of origin): 14,000 (Mauritania) (2010)
IDPs: 10,000-40,000 (clashes between government troops and separatists in Casamance region) (2012)
IDPs: 1.36 million (civil war since 1988, clan-based competition for resources; 2011 famine; insecurity because of fighting between al-Shabaab and TFG allied forces) (2011)
refugees (country of origin): 108,000 (Sudan); 20,980 (Democratic Republic of the Congo); 4,967 (Ethiopia)
IDPs: 350,000 (rebel militia attacks and inter-communal clashes in 2011) (2012)
refugees (country of origin): 103,798 (Eritrea); 39,578 (Chad); 5,600 (Ethiopia)
IDPs: more than 2.1 million (civil war 1983-2005; ongoing conflict in Darfur region; government and rebel fighting along South Sudan border) (2012)
refugees (country of origin): 5,277 (Iraq); 93,600 (Syria)
IDPs: 954,000-1.2 million (fighting 1984-99 between Kurdish PKK and Turkish military; most IDPs in southeastern provinces) (2012)
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated in June 2011 that there were 43.7 million people forcibly displaced worldwide; this includes 15.1 million refugees and as many as 27.5 million IDPs in more than 40 countries (2011)
IDPs: undetermined (political violence, human rights violations, land reform, and economic collapse) (2011)
The online Factbook is updated weekly. ISSN 1553-8133
For additional information on government leaders in selected foreign countries, go to World Leaders.
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