The World Bank Group (WBG) is a group of five international organizations which came into formal existence in 1945. The five agencies that are part of WBG are the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Development Association (IDA), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

The term “World Bank” refers to the IBRD and IDA, which make leveraged loans to poor countries. The World Bank loans at preferential rates to member countries, especially developing countries, for projects that are related to education, health, agricultural and rural development, environment protection, infrastructure development, and governance.

The World Bank offers many working papers and nice data sets such as the World Development Indicators. visit this site