Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
Seal of the Central Intelligence Agency
Agency overview
Formed
July 26, 1947
Preceding
agency
Central Intelligence Group
Headquarters Langley, Virginia United
States 38°57′06″N 77°08′48″W
/ 38.951796°N 77.146586°W /
38.951796; -77.146586
Employees
Classified[1][2]
20,000 estimated[3]
Annual
budget
Classified[4][5]
$26.7 billion in 1998[1]
Agency
executives
Leon Panetta, Director
Stephen Kappes, Deputy
Director
Scott White, Associate Deputy
Director
Website
www.cia.gov
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
is a civilian intelligence agency of the United
States government. It is the successor of the
Office of Strategic Services (OSS) formed,
during World War II, to coordinate espionage
activities between the branches of the US
military services. The National Security Act
of 1947 established the CIA, affording it "no
police or law enforcement functions, either at
home or abroad."
The entrance of the CIA Headquarters
Today, the CIA’s primary function is col-
lecting, and analyzing information about for-
eign governments, corporations, and indi-
viduals which it uses to advise public policy-
makers. The agency conducts covert opera-
tions, paramilitary actions and exerts foreign
political influence through its Special Activit-
ies Division. Prior to December 2004, the CIA
was literally the central intelligence organiz-
ation for the US government, charged with
coordinating and overseeing not only its own
activities, but also the activities of the intelli-
gence community as a whole. The Intelli-
gence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act
of 2004 created the office of the Director of
National Intelligence (DNI), who took over
some of the government and intelligence
community (IC)-wide functions that had pre-
viously been the CIA’s. The DNI manages the
United States Intelligence Community and in
so doing it manages the intelligence cycle.
Among the functions that moved to the DNI
were the preparation of estimates reflecting
the consolidated opinion of the 16 IC agen