Organizations

West-Eastern Divan Orchestra A youth orchestra founded by Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said in 1999 to foster dialogue between Israeli and Arab musicians through joint study, performance and educational project…

Westboro Baptist Church A small, controversial American church based in Topeka, Kansas, known for provocative public protests, anti-LGBT rhetoric, and legal cases that raised free-speech and public-order…

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference founded in 1962, historically centered in the western United States and subject to signif…

Western Bloc (Cold War-era alliance) Western Bloc Coalition of states aligned with the United States and NATO during the Cold War, opposing the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc; a political, military and economic grouping shaped by post‑Wo…

Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Western Collegiate Hockey Association The WCHA is a collegiate athletic conference best known for Division I women's ice hockey in the U.S. Midwest. It organizes regular season play and a postseason champion that quali…

Western European Union A defunct European defence organisation established by the 1948 Treaty of Brussels, later expanded in 1954; its security roles were transferred to the EU and it was formally dissol…

Western Michigan University Public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan, founded in 1903. Offers undergraduate, graduate and professional programs, serves about 25,000 students, and fields NCAA Division…

Western Water Polo Association Overview of the Western Water Polo Association: a collegiate athletic conference organizing competitive water polo among member colleges and universities, its structure, season, an…

White House Plumbers Covert Nixon-era unit formed in 1971 to stop leaks such as the Pentagon Papers. Its illegal break-ins, including the Watergate operation, helped trigger a major political scandal a…

Wiener AF — Vienna association football club Wiener AF Wiener AF is a local football club from Vienna, Austria, active in the city's regional league system. It emphasizes community participation, youth development and amateur competiti…

Wikibooks: Free, Collaborative Textbooks and Educational Resources Wikibooks Wikibooks is a Wikimedia Foundation project for collaboratively written, openly licensed textbooks and learning materials, editable by volunteers and distributed under CC-BY-SA.

WikiLeaks: organization, history, and public impact WikiLeaks Overview of WikiLeaks: origin, methods of publication, notable disclosures, legal and ethical debates, and its influence on journalism, whistleblowing and secure document handling.

Wikimedia Foundation Nonprofit organization that operates Wikipedia and a family of free, collaboratively edited knowledge projects, supporting software, servers, governance, and global volunteer commu…

Wikinews: the Wikimedia Foundation's free-content news wiki Wikinews Wikinews is a community-driven, free-content news wiki operated by the Wikimedia Foundation that publishes collaboratively written, verifiable news articles under the Creative Comm…

Wikipedia administrators Volunteer editors granted special technical privileges to assist with maintenance, dispute mitigation, and site protection on Wikipedia, selected through community processes.

Wikiquote — a free, community-edited collection of quotations Wikiquote Wikiquote is a multilingual, Wikimedia-hosted encyclopedia of quotations: sourced citations, context, and translations for sayings, book passages, proverbs, and notable utterances.

Wikisource Wikisource is a multilingual, volunteer-built digital library of source texts hosted by the Wikimedia movement, focusing on accessible, freely licensed or public-domain primary doc…

Wiktionary: the free collaborative multilingual dictionary and thesaurus Wiktionary Wiktionary is a free, multilingual dictionary and thesaurus maintained by volunteers under the Wikimedia Foundation. It provides definitions, pronunciations, etymologies, translati…

Wingate Institute — Israel's National Center for Sports and Physical Education Wingate Institute Israel's principal sports academy and research center, founded in 1957 near Netanya. Provides coach education, athlete development, sports science research and hosts national sport…

Wolfson College, University of Oxford Wolfson College, Oxford Graduate college of the University of Oxford, founded in 1966 with major donations from the Wolfson and Ford Foundations; noted for its graduate focus, modern architecture and inte…

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.: history, identity and achievements Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (Wolves) is an English professional football club founded in the 1870s, based at Molineux in Wolverhampton. This article summarizes its histor…

Woman's Christian Temperance Union Overview of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), a pioneering women's reform organization founded in the 1870s that promoted temperance, social reforms, and women's publi…

Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) Women Airforce Service Pilots WASP was a United States civilian pilot program in World War II. Women flew noncombat missions—ferrying, testing, towing, and instruction—to release male pilots for combat duty; la…

Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Women's Tennis Association The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body for professional women's tennis, running the global WTA Tour, managing rankings, events, awards and player rep…

Wookieepedia — the fan encyclopedia for the Star Wars universe Wookieepedia Wookieepedia is a community-maintained, fan-run encyclopedia covering characters, locations, technologies and continuity from the Star Wars franchise, including both current canon…

Worcester College, Oxford: history, architecture and academic life Worcester College, Oxford College of the University of Oxford founded on the medieval site of Gloucester College (1283); refounded as Worcester College in 1714 and noted for its historic buildings and garde…

Worcester Sharks A former American Hockey League team based in Worcester, Massachusetts (2006–2015), the Worcester Sharks served as the AHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks and developed players fo…

World Anti‑Doping Agency (WADA): role, structure, and functions World Anti-Doping Agency Independent international foundation that develops and enforces harmonized anti‑doping rules, maintains the World Anti‑Doping Code and Prohibited List, coordinates testing, researc…

World Bank: mission, structure, history and operations World Bank The World Bank is an international development institution that provides financing, policy advice and technical assistance to reduce poverty and support economic development.

World Bank Group A multinational development institution of five organizations that provides finance, advice and technical assistance to reduce poverty and promote economic development worldwide.

World Bridge Federation International governing body for contract bridge, organizing world championships, maintaining rules and promoting the game through national organisations across geographic zones.

World Cat Federation: international association of cat clubs World Cat Federation The World Cat Federation (WCF) is an international federation of cat clubs that sets breed standards, registers pedigrees and organizes shows; it is based in Germany and comprises…

World Dance Council International organization that governs competitive ballroom and Latin dance, setting rules, sanctioning championships, and representing member countries in professional, amateur,…

World Draughts Federation (Fédération Mondiale du Jeu de Dames) World Draughts Federation International governing body for the game of draughts (checkers), founded in 1947. Organizes world championships, coordinates national federations, and promotes international rules…

World Economic Forum: purpose, meetings, influence and criticisms World Economic Forum Overview of the World Economic Forum, its structure and annual Davos meeting, major activities and reports, notable participants, public responses and common criticisms.

World Health Organization United Nations specialized agency for international public health, founded in 1948 and based in Geneva. Coordinates disease surveillance, standards, vaccination programs, emergency…

World Heritage Committee UNESCO body that selects and oversees World Heritage Sites, manages the World Heritage Fund, and monitors implementation of the World Heritage Convention.

World Hockey Association: rival league that reshaped professional hockey World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (WHA) was a North American professional ice hockey league (1972–1979) that challenged the NHL, raised player pay, brought European talent, and led to a…

World Meteorological Organization Intergovernmental body coordinating global meteorology, climate, hydrology and related geophysical sciences; supports weather services, data exchange, standards and disaster risk r…

World Nuclear Association International trade association for the civil nuclear industry that promotes nuclear power, provides information and analysis, and represents members across the fuel cycle.

World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association The WPBSA is the international governing body for professional snooker and English billiards, responsible for rules, discipline, development and promotion, headquartered in Bristol…

World Trade Organization (WTO): purpose, structure, agreements, and impact World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization is an international body established in 1995 to supervise and liberalize cross-border trade, administer trade rules, resolve disputes, and support trad…

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) World Wide Fund for Nature International conservation charity focused on protecting biodiversity, forests, freshwater and oceans; known for its panda logo and work across policy, field projects and species r…

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) World Wide Web Consortium The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international standards organization that develops open standards and guidelines to ensure the long-term growth and interoperability of th…

WorldCat Identities A descriptive service built on the WorldCat bibliographic catalog that produces summary pages for authors and named entities to aid discovery, disambiguation, and basic bibliograph…

Wuhan Institute of Virology (Chinese Academy of Sciences) Wuhan Institute of Virology Major Chinese virology research center in Wuhan, run by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Home to China's first BSL‑4 laboratory, focused on virus ecology, bat coronavirus surveilla…

X.Org Foundation: nonprofit steward of the X Window System and X.Org Server X.Org Foundation X.Org Foundation, a nonprofit steward of the X Window System and X.Org Server, coordinates development, infrastructure and releases for the open-source display server used on Linux…

Xavier University — Jesuit Catholic University in Norwood, Ohio Xavier University Private Jesuit, Catholic university founded in 1831 in Norwood (Cincinnati), Ohio. Primarily undergraduate liberal arts institution with graduate offerings, community engagement an…