[Wagram], a village, 10 m. NE. of Vienna, where Napoleon gained a great victory over the Austrians under the Archduke Charles, on July 5 and 6, 1809.
[Wahabis], a Mohammedan sect which arose among the Nedj tribe in Central Arabia, whose aims were puritanic and the restoration of Islamism to its primitive simplicity in creed, worship, and conduct; in creed they were substantially the same as the [Sunnites] (q. v.).
[Waikato], the largest river in New Zealand, in the North Island, the outlet of the waters of Lake Taupo, the largest lake; has a course of 170 m.
[Wakefield] (37), a borough of Yorkshire, 9 m. S. of Leeds; has large woollen and other manufactures.
[Walcheren], an island in the province of Zeeland, in the delta formed by the Maas and Scheldt; was the destination of an unfortunate expedition sent to the help of the Austrians against Napoleon in Antwerp, in which 7000 of the army composing it died of marsh fever, from which 10,000 were sent home sick and the rest recalled.
[Waldeck-Pyrmont] (57), two high-lying territories in North Germany forming one principality and subject to imperial authority; consists of hill and valley.
[Waldenses], a Christian community founded in 1170 in the south of France, on the model of the primitive Church, by Peter Walden, a rich citizen of Lyons, and who were driven by persecution from country to country until they settled in Piedmont under the name of the [Vaudois] (q. v.), where they still exist.
[Wales] (1,519), one of three divisions of Great Britain; is 135 m. in length and from 37 to 95 m. in breadth, and bounded on the NW. and S. by the sea; it is divided into 12 counties, of which 6 form North Wales and 6 South Wales; is a mountainous country, intersected by beautiful valleys, which are traversed by a number of streams; it is largely agricultural; has mines of coal and iron, lead and copper, as well as large slate-quarries, which are extensively wrought; the Church of England is the church established, but the majority of the people are Nonconformists; it is represented in Parliament by 30 members; the natives are Celts, and the native language Celtic, which is still the language of a goodly number of the people.
[Wales, Prince of], title borne by eldest son of the English monarch; first conferred in 1301 on eldest son of Edward I. after subjugation of Wales (1282); since 1901 borne by Prince George, formerly Duke of York; entered the navy in 1877, and attained the post of commander in 1890; became heir of the throne on death of his brother, Duke of Clarence (1892); married Princess Mary of Teck (1893), and has by this marriage four sons and a daughter; b. 1865.