Three excellent sources of background information on individual countries are the "Country Briefings" prepared by the Economist magazine, the "Country, Economy and Regional Information" developed by the Australian Government, and the "Background Notes" offered by the U.S. State Department.
To check out these offerings go to:
www.economist.com/countries/
http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/
www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/
Global Edge, a project of Michigan State University, offers "Market Potential Indicators" for 24 emerging country markets at:
http://globaledge.msu.edu/ibrd/marketpot.asp
Coface, a provider of export financing, offers assessments of the risks of non-repayment by companies in 150 countries, at this site:
http://www.coface-usa.com/CofacePortal/redirection.jsp?pageId=pages/home/wwd/inform/Country_risk/Country%20Risk%20Ratings&site=US_en_EN
And Freedom House, a nonpartisan research institute, annually assesses the level of freedom in over 100 nations at:
http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=363&year=2007
