World

The World is a name for the planet Earth seen from a human point of view, as a place inhabited by human beings. It is often used to mean the sum of human experience and history, or the 'human condition' in general.[1]
Especially in a metaphysical context, it can also refer to everything that makes up reality, the universe: see World (philosophy).
Origin and history of the name
In English, world is rooted in a compound of the obsolete words were, man, and eld, age; thus, its oldest meaning is "age or life of man".
Usage
'World' distinguishes the entire planet or population from any particular country or region: world affairs are those which pertain not just to one place but to the whole world, and world history is a field of history which examines events from a global (rather than a national) perspective. Earth, on the other hand, refers to the planet as a physical entity, and distinguishes it from other planets and physical objects.
In Christian theology, the 'World' connotes the corrupt, mortal order of society outside the community of believers. It is often cited alongside the flesh and the Devil as a source of temptation that Christians should flee. The adjective worldly refers to world in this sense: 'mortal', 'mundane', 'devoted to the interests of this world'. See World (theology).
'World' can also be used attributively, as an adjective, to mean 'global', 'relating to the whole world', forming usages such as World community. See World (adjective).
By extension, a 'world' may refer to any planet or heavenly body, especially when it is thought of as inhabited.
In the study of religion and mythology, the Underworld is a place, often thought of as below the (flat) world, where souls go upon death. In some mythologies there were numerous underworlds, the choice of which depended on the soul's virtue or worth: the Elysian Fields are an example from Roman religion.
'World', when qualified, can also refer to a particular domain of human experience.
The world of work describes paid work and the pursuit of a career, in all its social aspects, to distinguish it from home life and academic study.
The fashion world describes the environment of the designers, fashion houses and consumers that make up the fashion industry.
The New World is a part of the world discovered or colonized later than other parts; it usually refers to the American continents or to Australia. The Old World refers, by contrast, to the continents of Europe, Asia and north Africa.

CIA - The World Factbook United States government profiles of countries and non-self-governing territoriesaround the world. Information on geography, people, government, ...[http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/]
The World Bank WBI is part of the World Bank Group. Site includes reports from both their DistanceLearning and their Evaluation Units.[http://www.worldbank.org/]
Education World® The Educator's Best Friend Education World®. The Educator's Best Friend. The surfing is over. Here you willfind the best education links and original content the Net has to offer.[http://www.education-world.com/]
The World Clock - Time Zones The World Clock shows current local time in cities and countries, in all time zones.[http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/]
World Wide Web Consortium The World Wide Web Consortium was created to lead the World Wide Web to its fullpotential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ...[http://www.w3.org/]
WHO World Health Organization The United Nations public health arm. Monitors disease outbreaks, assesses theperformance of health systems around the globe, maintains world ...[http://www.who.int/]
Volcano World - The Web's Premier Source of Volcano Info Brings modern and near real-time volcano information to school kids.[http://volcano.und.edu/]
PC World Computer and Internet news and information resource. Reviews, how-tos, downloads,product and price information.[http://www.pcworld.com/]
world atlas of maps flags and geography facts a world atlas of facts flags and maps including every continent, country,dependency, exotic destination, island, major city, ocean, province, ...[http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/world.htm]