Page "The World Factbook" Paragraph 44

: Specific regions within a country or areas in dispute among countries, such as Kashmir, are not covered, but other areas of the world whose status is disputed, such as the Spratly Islands, have entries.

Subnational areas of countries ( such as US States or the Canadian provinces and territories ) are not included in the Factbook.

Instead, users looking for information about subnational areas are referred to " a comprehensive encyclopedia " for their reference needs.

This criterion was invoked in the 2007 and 2011 editions with the decision to drop the entries for French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, and Reunion.

They were dropped because besides being overseas departments, they were now overseas regions, and an integral part of France.