Almanac of the 50 States is an annual ready-reference source, containing eight statistical profile pages for every State. The main portion of the book is a collection of 52 basic data profiles: one for each of the 50 States; one for the District of Columbia; and one for the U.S. in summary. The same format is used for each profile, which are collected State by State and presented in alphabetical order.Supplementing the profiles is a group of 92 comparative tables which list the States in rank order on 92 key characteristics selected from the individual profiles. Information for the Almanac of the 50 States comes from the latest reports of federal government agencies, augmented with selected data from the private sector. The book is updated annually.Each profile contains the following information:State Summary: highlights the important facts about the State. Geography & Environment: includes total area; highest and lowest points; federally owned land; capital city; largest city; state parks revenues & visitors; national forest land. Demographics & Characteristics of the Population: includes Census data on population; persons by age, race, sex, marital status; households & families; population projections to the year 2010; immigration & naturalization. Vital Statistics & Health: includes marriages, divorces, births, & deaths by major causes; abortions; physicians; hospital costs. Education: includes college graduates, school enrollment level; teachers & teachers' salaries; school receipts & expenditures; graduating high school seniors; higher education. Social Insurance & Welfare Programs: includes Social Security benefits & beneficiaries; Medicare/Medicaid enrollment & payments; Temporary Assistance to Needy Families; Food Stamps. Housing & Construction: includes housing units, occupancy; housing units authorized, value & housing starts; existing home sales. Government & Elections: includes major State officials; the governorship; State legislature; local government; voting age populations; vote for president; federal representation; women & Blacks holding public office. Governmental Finance: includes revenues by source; expenditures by object; federal aid by program. Crime, Law Enforcement & Courts: includes crimes & crime rates; arrests & prisoners; persons under sentence of death; court system. Labor & Income: includes civilian labor force by occupation & industry; employment & unemployment; average annual pay; hours and earnings of workers; union membership; personal income; federal income tax data. Economy, Business, Industry & Agriculture: includes patents issued and bankruptcies filed; Gross State Product; payroll by industry; farm data; federal expenditures; defense department payroll and contracts; principal commodities; employees, payroll and receipts for 12 major industry groups. Communication, Energy & Transportation: includes daily newspapers; computers and internet; energy consumption data; nuclear plants; highway mileage; motor vehicle registration; drivers' licenses.

On 20 November 2009, the global community celebrates the 20th anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the unique document that sets international standards for the care, treatment and protection of all individuals below age 18. To celebrate this landmark, the United Nations Children's Fund is dedicating a special edition of its flagship report The State of the World's Children to examining the Convention's evolution, progress achieved on child rights, challenges remaining, and actions to be taken to ensure that its promise becomes a reality for all children.