Label	Element	Value
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Registrant Name	dei_EntityRegistrantName	VANGUARD WHITEHALL FUNDS
Prospectus Date	rr_ProspectusDate	Feb. 25, 2016
Retail | Vanguard International High Dividend Yield Index Fund
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Risk/Return [Heading]	rr_RiskReturnHeading	Fund Summary
Objective [Heading]	rr_ObjectiveHeading	Investment Objective
Objective, Primary [Text Block]	rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock	The Fund seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of non-U.S. companies that are characterized by high dividend yield.
Expense [Heading]	rr_ExpenseHeading	Fees and Expenses
Expense Narrative [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock	The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold Investor Shares or Admiral Shares of the Fund.
Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]	rr_ShareholderFeesCaption	Shareholder Fees (Fees paid directly from your investment)
Operating Expenses Caption [Text]	rr_OperatingExpensesCaption	Annual Fund Operating Expenses (Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Portfolio Turnover [Heading]	rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading	Portfolio Turnover
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]	rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock	The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in more taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the previous expense examples, reduce the Fund’s performance. The Fund has no operating history and therefore has no portfolio turnover information.
Other Expenses, New Fund, Based on Estimates [Text]	rr_OtherExpensesNewFundBasedOnEstimates	The expense information shown in the table reflects estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.
Expense Example [Heading]	rr_ExpenseExampleHeading	Examples
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock	The following examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund’s Investor Shares or Admiral Shares with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. They illustrate the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over various periods if you invested $10,000 in the Fund’s shares. These examples assume that the Shares provide a return of 5% each year and that total annual fund operating expenses remain as stated in the preceding table. You would incur these hypothetical expenses whether or not you redeem your investment at the end of the given period. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Strategy [Heading]	rr_StrategyHeading	Principal Investment Strategies
Strategy Narrative [Text Block]	rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock	The Fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the FTSE All-World ex US High Dividend Yield Index, which focuses on companies located in developed and emerging markets, excluding the United States, that are forecasted to have above-average dividend yields. The Fund invests by sampling the Index, meaning that it holds a broadly diversified collection of securities that, in the aggregate, approximates the full Index in terms of key characteristics. These key characteristics include industry weightings and market capitalization, as well as certain financial measures, such as price/earnings ratio and dividend yield.
Risk [Heading]	rr_RiskHeading	Principal Risks
Risk Narrative [Text Block]	rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock	An investment in the Fund could lose money over short or even long periods. You should expect the Fund’s share price and total return to fluctuate within a wide range. The Fund is subject to the following risks, which could affect the Fund’s performance: • Stock market risk, which is the chance that stock prices overall will decline. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices. The Fund’s investments in foreign stocks can be riskier than U.S. stock investments. Foreign stocks tend to be more volatile and less liquid than U.S. stocks. The prices of foreign stocks and the prices of U.S. stocks may move in opposite directions. In addition, the Fund’s target index may, at times, become focused in stocks of a particular market sector, which would subject the Fund to proportionately higher exposure to the risks of that sector. • Country/regional risk, which is the chance that world events—such as political upheaval, financial troubles, or natural disasters—will adversely affect the value of securities issued by companies in foreign countries or regions. Because the Fund may invest a large portion of its assets in securities of companies located in any one country or region, the Fund’s performance may be hurt disproportionately by the poor performance of its investments in that area. Country/regional risk is especially high in emerging markets. • Emerging markets risk, which is the chance that the stocks of companies located in emerging markets will be substantially more volatile, and substantially less liquid, than the stocks of companies located in more developed foreign markets because, among other factors, emerging markets can have greater custodial and operational risks; less developed legal, tax, regulatory, and accounting systems; and greater political, social, and economic instability than developed markets. • Currency risk, which is the chance that the value of a foreign investment, measured in U.S. dollars, will decrease because of unfavorable changes in currency exchange rates. Currency risk is especially high in emerging markets. • Index sampling risk, which is the chance that the securities selected for the Fund, in the aggregate, will not provide investment performance matching that of the Fund’s target index. Index sampling risk for the Fund should be low. • Investment style risk, which is the chance that returns from dividend-paying stocks will trail returns from global stock markets. Dividend-paying stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better—or worse—than the global markets in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for as long as several years. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Risk Lose Money [Text]	rr_RiskLoseMoney	An investment in the Fund could lose money over short or even long periods.
Risk Not Insured Depository Institution [Text]	rr_RiskNotInsuredDepositoryInstitution	An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading]	rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading	Annual Total Returns
Performance Narrative [Text Block]	rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock	This is the Fund’s initial prospectus, so it contains no Fund performance data.
Performance One Year or Less [Text]	rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess	This is the Fund’s initial prospectus, so it contains no Fund performance data.
Retail | Vanguard International High Dividend Yield Index Fund | Investor Shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Purchase Fee	rr_MaximumCumulativeSalesChargeOverOther	none
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases	rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice	none
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends	rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther	none
Redemption Fee	rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption	none
Account Service Fee (for certain fund account balances below $10,000)	rr_MaximumAccountFee	$ 20	[1]
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.29%
12b-1 Distribution Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	none
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.11%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	0.40%	[2]
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	$ 41
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	128
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01	41
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03	$ 128
Retail | Vanguard International High Dividend Yield Index Fund | Admiral Shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Purchase Fee	rr_MaximumCumulativeSalesChargeOverOther	none
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases	rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice	none
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends	rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther	none
Redemption Fee	rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption	none
Account Service Fee (for certain fund account balances below $10,000)	rr_MaximumAccountFee	$ 20	[1]
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.20%
12b-1 Distribution Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	none
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.10%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	0.30%	[2]
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	$ 31
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	97
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01	31
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03	$ 97

[1] /year

[2] The expense information shown in the table reflects estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.