When purchasing tickets over-the-counter for foreign travel, a passport is usually required to be presented to the agent. Within a homecountry, a passport can also be used as identification to obtain certain services such as application for a new bank account.
The first convention on passports was when, in 1920, the League of Nations decided that all passport contain information in French, being the diplomatic language of that era. Today all passports contain information in at least English and French, as well as the official language(s) of the issuing nation (if not English or French).
The '''cover page''' includes the word "passport" and the name of the the issuing country in the native language(s) of the issuing country(and possibly a second language, such as English); some sort of national symbol; and special, universal symbol if it is biometric. Additionally, all EU member states have "European Union" above the name of the issuing country.
The '''information page''' of the passport reveals basic information about the bearer such as the bearer's: surname (last name), given names (first & middle names), date and place of birth, validity period and place of issue of the passport, issuing authority and passport number. The bearer's photograph is also included on this page. Most passports also contain a request for safe passage and right to consul in event of incarceration.
In some countries, the next pages are for '''amendments''' where the bearer country's issuing may place travel restrictions, change conditions for travel abroad, or amend the period of validity. In addition, pages may be included which provide helpful legal and practical information for the bearer. For instance a US passport contains 6 pages regarding websites and contacts for various reasons (travel restrictions, treasury restrictions on imports, paying taxes while in a foreign country, registering your stay in a foreign country), common sense subjects (don't be a target, be mindful of security threats, ways to lose citizenship), and important information (loss, theft, destruction, alteration, or mutilation of the passport, what to do in a natural disaster or catastrophic event, etc).
Most of the passport pages are alloted for visas where visas coming from different embassies or consulates are pasted. Stamps from passport control officers of both the bearer's home country and countries visited revealing the history of entry and exit of those countries are also found on these pages.
As the name implies, this passport is typically issued to diplomats as well as high-level government officials. In some cases, bearers of these passports will have different visa requirements from regular passport bearers.
This type of passport is generally issued to government employees for work-related travel. These are often treated like diplomatic passports.
This is the most common type of passport issued. It must meet certain established criteria to be recognized and is allowed for general international travel.
In some countries (e.g. Russia) a local passport is for citizen's domestic use only; for international travel a regular (tourist) passport should be issued. An internal passport often serves to prevent the flow of persons from one region of a country to another, this is often implemented to prevent residents of a volatile region from spreading their conflict to another region.
Many Americans cross the Canadian border daily and new requirements require passports to travel to to all nations, including Canada and Mexico. The passport card has the same status as the passport book, but in card form for the convenience of frequent border crossing and is '''only''' valid for land and sea travel between the United States and Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean (sea travel only).
Over the years, the way passports are produced have changed. Passports where the frontpages are handwritten still exist although they are being phased out due to security concerns.
Increasingly in the 90s, machine-readable passports have been introduced where the front page of the passport is automated. That information is also encoded into 2 strips at the bottom of the page. This helps speed-up lines at most passport control stations as the officers don't need to type-in the most of the entries in their respective fields manually in the computers.
Most nations have implemented biometric passports - a passport containing an RFID chip which contains (depending on issuing country): electronic recording of passport data, a photograph, and/or fingerprints.
Your home country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs usually takes care of passport applications, and applicants typically go to their nearest representative. Some countries' applications can be initiated online.
Most people traveling outside of their home country have had at least one nightmare about losing their passport and being molested in a Turkish prison. While that outcome is unlikely, take a deep breath and contact your embassy ASAP to begin the replacement process. It can often take anywhere from a few days to a couple weeks to get a new passport in a foreign country, depending on your citizenship, and which country you happen to be in.
Some countries offer "emergency passports" if you can convince them that you can't wait out the normal turnaround time. While these are valid for international travel, they will usually expire within a year of issue, and often raise eyebrows and slow you down when going through immigration at airports and land borders. These can usually be issued ''much'' faster than a full-fledged replacement passport, often in a matter of hours.
A police report is a good idea and may even be required by your embassy, even if there was no crime involved. And don't forget to bring a couple passport photos.
It is always advisable to have a photocopy of your passport's important pages handy and placed separately from the passport itself.
In some cases, countries with poor or no diplomatic relations may bar the bearers of the other country's passport (or merely having stamps of that other country) from seeking entry. This is the case for instance with Israeli passport holders who are usually not permitted to enter most Arab/Islamic states.