Official Soviet political and economic reference handbook.
Published periodically throughout the 1970s and 1980s by Politizdat (the official publishing arm of the Central Committee of the CPSU), these reference books served as state-authorized compendiums of statistical, geographical, and political data regarding the USSR.
Publishing house: Politizdat
Published: 1977
Pages: 367
Circulation: 200,000 copies
Price: 2 Rubles 60 Kopeks
These books contained the following:
Republic by Republic Breakdown: Detailed socio-economic profiles for each of the 15 Soviet Socialist Republics (population, key industrial centers, agricultural output, and major geographic features).
Five Year Plan Progress: Charts, statistics, and official summaries detailing production goals, industrial expansion (energy, metallurgy, manufacturing), and infrastructure developments (like railway networks and power grids).
State Structure & Foreign Policy: Explanations of the Soviet political system, election processes to the Supreme Soviet, party organization, and official foreign relations stances.
Social & Cultural Metrics: Data on public health, education networks, scientific institutes, housing construction, and state cultural programs.
These handbooks were widely distributed to party functionaries, journalists, educational institutions, libraries, and visiting foreign delegations as an authoritative reference on state achievements and economic planning.
