Glossary — W

Glossary terms beginning with W.

wadad (pl., wadaddo): A religious figure or functionary; member of an Islamic religious order or brotherhood or of a hereditary lineage of religious figures; the Arabic term shaykh is sometimes used for wadad.
Wahhabi: Name used outside Saudi Arabia to designate adherents to Wahhabism (q.v.).; Source: Library of Congress
Wahhabism: Name used outside Saudi Arabia to designate official interpretation of Islam in Saudi Arabia. The faith is a puritanical concept of unitarianism (the oneness of God) that was preached by Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab, whence his Muslim opponents derived the name. The royal family of Qatar and most indigenous Qataris are Wahhabis (q.v.); Source: Library of Congress
Walachia: Former principality; a region in modern southern Romania.; Source: Library of Congress
Walachia (var., Wallachia)
wali: Governor general of a vilayet (q.v.).
waqf: In Muslim law, a permanent endowment or trust, usually of real estate, in which the proceeds are spent for purposes designated by the benefactor. Usually devoted to charitable purposes.
waranle: Spear carrier (warrior). Applied to adult males, particularly those of the pastoral tradition; excluded from this category are religious figures (wadad--q.v.).
Warsaw Pact: Informal name for the Warsaw Treaty Organization, a mutual defense organization founded in 1955. Included the Soviet Union, Albania (which withdrew in 1968), Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Hungary, Poland, and Romania. The Warsaw Pact enabled the Soviet Union to station troops in the countries of Eastern Europe to oppose the forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO--q.v.). The pact was the basis for the invasions of Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968). Disbanded in July 1991.; Source: Library of Congress
Warsaw Treaty Organization: Formal name for Warsaw Pact. Political-military alliance founded by the Soviet Union in 1955 as a counterweight to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Albania, an original member, stopped participating in Warsaw Pact activities in 1962 and withdrew in 1968. Members in 1991 included Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union. Before it was formally dissolved in April 1991, the Warsaw Pact served as the Soviet Union’s primary mechanism for keeping political and military control over Eastern Europe.; Source: Library of Congress
wayang: Literally, ""shadow."" A dramatic form in several major variations, in which puppets or human performers, and sometimes both, portray gods, heroes, villains, and other characters in literary epics. The wayang kulit is shadow theater using highly decorated flat leather puppets.
West Bank: The area of Palestine west of the Jordan River seized from Jordan by Israel in the June 1967 War. In 1988 it remained Israeli- occupied territory and was not recognized by the United States government as part of Israel. Israelis refer to this area as Judea and Samaria.; Source: Library of Congress
West Indies: Term for islands in or bordering the Caribbean Sea, including the small islands off the north coast of South America, and the Bahama Islands. The West Indies are commonly divided into three groups: the Bahamas, which include the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and the British crown colony of the Turks and Caicos; the Greater Antilles, which consist of the four largest islands of Cuba, Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti), Jamaica, and Puerto Rico; and the Lesser Antilles (q.v.) which consist of the smaller easternmost islands stretching from the Virgin Islands through Trinidad and the small islands off the coast of South America.; Source: Library of Congress
West Sahara(n): Region of West Africa comprising parts of Mauritania, Mali, Morocco, and Algeria.
Western European Union (WEU): Founded in 1948 to facilitate West European cooperation in economic, social, cultural, and defense matters. Reactivated in 1984 to concentrate on the defense and disarmament concerns of its members, the WEU is headed by a council consisting of its members’ ministers of foreign affairs and defense. The council meets twice a year; lower-level WEU entities meet with greater frequency. In late 1993, WEU members consisted of Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain.; Source: Library of Congress
Western Sahara: Formerly Spanish Sahara. Region of West Africa bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, on the north by Morocco, on the south and nearly all of its west by Mauritania. In the northwest corner, it shares a very short border with Algeria. Spain divided Spanish Sahara between Morocco and Mauritania--ignoring the sentiments of indigenous groups--when it relinquished colonial control in 1976. Subsequently Polisario (q.v.) guerrillas supported by Algeria among other states waged a war for independence primarily against forces of Morocco.
Westernizers: Russian intellectuals in the mid-nineteenth century who emphasized Russia’s cultural ties with the West as a vital element in the country’s modernization and development. Opposed by the Slavophiles (q.v.).
wet zone: Area of southwest side of hill country and southestern plain receiving an average of 250 centimeters of rain per year.
White armies: Various noncommunist military forces that attempted to overthrow the Bolshevik (q.v.) regime during the Civil War (1918-21). Operating with no unified command, no clear political goal, and no supplies from the Russian heartland, they were defeated piecemeal by the Red Army.
White Revolution: Term used by Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi to designate the program of economic and social reforms he initiated in 1963.
WHO.: World Health Organization (United Nations)
Witwatersrand: Literally, ""Ridge of White Waters"" (Afrikaans), often shortened to Rand; mining region south of Johannesburg known primarily for rich deposits of gold and other minerals.
wn: North Korean currency, also used as a monetary unit in South Korea although its value differs. The North Korean wn is divided into 100 chon and has multiple exchange rates--such as for official transactions and for commercial rates in most foreign trade. As of December 1991, US$1=97.1 chon.
won: The monetary unit. In January 1989, the exchange rate was W682.4 per US$1.
World Bank: Name used to designate a group of four affiliated international institutions that provide advice on long-term finance and policy issues to developing countries: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). The IBRD, established in 1945, has the primary purpose of providing loans to developing countries for productive projects. The IDA, a legally separate loan fund administered by the staff of the IBRD, was set up in 1960 to furnish credits to the poorest developing countries on much easier terms than those of conventional IBRD loans. The IFC, founded in 1956, supplements the activities of the IBRD through loans and assistance designed specifically to encourage the growth of productive private enterprises in less developed countries. The president and certain senior officers of the IBRD hold the same positions in the IFC. The MIGA, which began operating in June 1988, insures private foreign investment in developing countries against such non-commercial risks as expropriation, curl strife, and inconvertibility. The four institutions are owned by the governments of the countries that subscribe their capital. To participate in the World Bank group, member states must first belong to the IMF (q.v.).; Source: Library of Congress
World Trade Organization (WTO): Established 1995 as successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), aimed at liberalizing and securing international trade. Formed in the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, the WTO had 115 member nations in 1996, and fifteen others applied WTO rules to their trade policies. Administered by a general council, trade dispute negotiation panel, and secretariat.
World Zionist Organization (WZO): Founded in August 1897 at the First Zionist Congress called by Theodor Herzl at Basel, Switzerland. The movement, named after Mount Zion in Jerusalem, was designed to establish in Palestine a national home for Jews scattered throughout the world. Since 1948 its efforts have been devoted primarily to promoting unity of the Jewish people and raising funds. In 1929 it established the Jewish Agency (q.v.). Until 1960 its formal name was Zionist Organization, but word World added in new constitution.; Source: Library of Congress