Terms of Use

These Terms of Use govern your access to and use of briefworld.net (the "Site"). By using the Site you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, please don't use the Site.

1. The Site is a reference, not advice

briefworld.net is a reference site about the geography of the world. Entries are written for general educational and informational purposes only. Geographic data — boundaries, coordinates, elevations, areas, and populations — is provided for general reference and must not be relied upon for navigation, surveying, legal boundary determination, emergency response, or any use requiring certified or survey-grade accuracy.

2. Accuracy and editorial discretion

We try to be accurate, fair, and well-sourced, and we update entries when we find errors or when the underlying data changes. That said, no reference of this scope is perfect. The Site is provided on an "as is" basis. We make no warranty — express or implied — that the content is complete, current, error-free, or fit for any particular purpose. If you spot an error, please tell us. We read every message.

3. Intellectual property

Our content

The text of briefworld.net entries, the visual design, the logos (the "BriefWorld" name and the compass-rose mark), and the organization of the Site are owned by briefworld.net and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws. You may quote brief passages for commentary, scholarship, criticism, teaching, or research, consistent with fair use, with attribution to briefworld.net. Wholesale copying, scraping, mirroring, or republication of the Site or substantial portions of it is not permitted without our written permission.

Images and third-party material

Photographs are sourced from public-domain and Creative Commons holdings via Wikimedia Commons and similar archives; their use is governed by the original licenses, which are credited on each entry. Original illustrations rendered specifically for briefworld.net are owned by us. Map tiles are © OpenStreetMap contributors and used under the Open Database License.

AI training

The content of briefworld.net may not be used to train commercial machine-learning models without our written permission. Personal, academic, and noncommercial study use is fine.

4. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Use the Site for any unlawful purpose or in violation of these terms.
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Site, its servers, or any data.
• Probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Site or its underlying systems.
• Submit malicious content, malware, or automated abuse through the contact form.
• Scrape the Site at a volume or rate that imposes an unreasonable load on our servers.
• Misrepresent yourself or impersonate any person or entity in communications with us.

5. External links

Entries link to external sources for further reading. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for their content, accuracy, privacy practices, or availability. Following an external link is at your own discretion.

6. Disclaimer of warranties

The Site, its content, and any services made available through it are provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

7. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, briefworld.net and its operators will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits or revenues, arising from your use of — or inability to use — the Site or its content.

8. Changes to the Site and to these terms

We may add, change, or remove any part of the Site at any time without notice. We may also update these Terms; the "Last updated" date at the top of the page reflects the most recent revision. Continued use of the Site after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

9. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the United States, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Site shall be resolved in the state or federal courts of the United States.

10. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Reach us through the contact form.