On December 27, 1944, twenty-eight nations created the World Bank as a result of the Bretton Woods Conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. The World Bank is an international financial institution designed to combat poverty.

In July 1944, after World War II, delegates from forty-four nations met at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, commonly called the Bretton Woods Conference. In the aftermath of the war, many nations were in a state of financial and economic turmoil. The Allied nations called the conference in order to regulate the international monetary and financial crisis. As a result of the conference, the World Bank was created on December 27, 1944. John J. McCloy, assistant Secretary of War, was chosen as the first president of the Bank.

Twenty-eight of the forty-four nations in attendance at the conference signed the document creating the World Bank. The United States and the United Kingdom were the largest contributors in creating the Bank. The Bank’s main goal was, and still is, combating poverty in developing nations. The Bank grants loans to nations in economic need to build up infrastructures and more stable economies.

Today, the World Bank’s main areas of concern are Arab and African nations, with an emphasis on environmental consciousness.