established - 9 October 1874, affiliated with the UN 15 November 1947; effective - 1 July 1948 aim - to promote international postal cooperation; a UN specialized agency members - (191) includes all UN member countries except Andorra, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau (189 total); plus Holy See and Overseas Territories of the UK; note - includes the following dependencies or areas of special interest: Australia (Norfolk Island), China (Hong Kong, Macau), Denmark (Faroe Islands, Greenland), France (French Polynesia including Clipperton Island, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Mayotte, New Caledonia, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Scattered Islands [Bassas da India, Europe, Juan de Nova, Glorioso Islands, Tromelin], Wallis and Futuna), Netherlands (Aruba, Netherlands Antilles), NZ (Cook Island, Niue, Tokelau), UK (Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey; Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos), US (American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands)
W
Warsaw Pact (WP)
established 14 May 1955 to promote mutual defense; members met 1 July 1991 to dissolve the alliance; member states at the time of dissolution were: Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the USSR; earlier members included German Democratic Republic (GDR) and Albania
West African Development Bank (WADB)
note - also known as Banque Ouest-Africaine de Developpement (BOAD); is a financial institution of WAEMU established - 14 November 1973 aim - to promote regional economic development and integration regional members - (8) Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo
West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU)
note - also known as Union Economique et Monetaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA) established - 1 August 1994 aim - to increase competitiveness of members' economic markets; to create a common market members - (8) Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo
Western European Union (WEU)
established - 23 October 1954; effective - 6 May 1955 aim - to provide mutual defense and to move toward political unification members - (10) Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, UK associate members - (6) Czech Republic, Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Turkey associate partners - (7) Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia observers - (5) Austria, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Sweden