Label	Element	Value
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Registrant Name	dei_EntityRegistrantName	VANGUARD WHITEHALL FUNDS
Prospectus Date	rr_ProspectusDate	Feb. 25, 2016
Retail | Vanguard Emerging Markets Government Bond 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 U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued by governments and government-related issuers in emerging market countries.
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. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 20% of the average value of its portfolio.
Portfolio Turnover, Rate	rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate	20.00%
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 Barclays USD Emerging Markets Government RIC Capped Index. This Index includes U.S. dollar-denominated bonds that have maturities longer than one year and that were issued by emerging market governments and government-related issuers. The Index is capped, which means that its exposure to any particular bond issuer is limited to a maximum of 20% and its aggregate exposure to issuers that individually constitute 5% or more of the Index is limited to 48%. If the Index, as constituted based on market weights, would exceed the 20% or 48% limits, the excess is reallocated to bonds of other issuers represented in the Index. The Fund invests by sampling the Index, meaning that it holds a range of securities that, in the aggregate, approximates the full Index in terms of key risk factors and other characteristics. All of the Fund’s investments will be selected through the sampling process, and under normal circumstances at least 80% of the Fund’s assets will be invested in bonds included in the Index. The Fund maintains a dollar-weighted average maturity consistent with that of the Index, which generally ranges between 10 and 15 years and, as of October 31, 2015, was 10.1 years.
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: • Country/regional risk, which is the chance that world events—such as political upheaval, financial troubles, or natural disasters—will adversely affect the value and/or liquidity of securities issued by foreign governments, government agencies, and government-owned corporations. Because the Fund may invest a large portion of its assets in bonds of issuers 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 bonds of governments, government agencies, and government-owned corporations located in emerging markets will be substantially more volatile, and substantially less liquid, than the bonds of governments, government agencies, and government-owned corporations 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. Emerging markets risk should be high for the Fund. • Nondiversification risk, which is the chance that the Fund’s performance may be hurt disproportionately by the poor performance of bonds issued by just a few issuers or even a single issuer. The Fund is considered nondiversified, which means that it may invest a significant percentage of its assets in bonds issued by a small number of issuers. • Credit risk, which is the chance that a bond issuer will fail to pay interest or principal in a timely manner or that negative perceptions of the issuer’s ability to make such payments will cause the price of that bond to decline. Credit risk should be high for the Fund because it invests a large portion of its assets in bonds rated below investment-grade (also known as high-yield or junk bonds). • Liquidity risk, which is the chance that the Fund may not be able to sell a security in a timely manner at a desired price. • Interest rate risk, which is the chance that bond prices will decline because of rising interest rates. Interest rate risk should be moderate for the Fund based on expected sensitivity of the portfolio to interest rate movement. • Income risk, which is the chance that the Fund’s income will decline because of falling interest rates. Income risk should be moderate for the Fund, so investors should expect the Fund’s monthly income to fluctuate accordingly. • 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. • Call risk, which is the chance that during periods of falling interest rates, issuers of callable bonds may call (redeem) securities with higher coupon rates or interest rates before their maturity dates. The Fund would then lose any price appreciation above the bond’s call price and would be forced to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income. Such redemptions and subsequent reinvestments would also increase the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate. Call risk should be low for the Fund. A Note on Risk: Many investors invest in bonds and bond funds in an attempt to lower the overall risk of their portfolios. This strategy makes sense when the bonds owned are U.S. bonds because U.S. bond returns typically are not highly correlated with, and are far less volatile than, stock returns. The strategy is less likely to be effective, however, when the bonds owned are emerging market bonds. Returns of emerging market bonds, even dollar-denominated bonds like those owned by the Fund, can be quite volatile and tend to correlate more closely with U.S. and foreign stock returns than with U.S. bond returns. Consequently, if your goal is to lower risk and volatility, this Fund may not be an appropriate investment. 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 Nondiversified Status [Text]	rr_RiskNondiversifiedStatus	• Nondiversification risk, which is the chance that the Fund’s performance may be hurt disproportionately by the poor performance of bonds issued by just a few issuers or even a single issuer. The Fund is considered nondiversified, which means that it may invest a significant percentage of its assets in bonds issued by a small number of issuers.
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	The following bar chart and table are intended to help you understand the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the performance of the Fund‘s Investor Shares (including annual fund operating expenses but excluding shareholder fees) has varied from one calendar year to another over the periods shown. If applicable shareholder fees were reflected, returns would be less than those shown in the bar chart. The table shows how the average annual total returns of the share classes presented (including annual fund operating expenses and any applicable shareholder fees) compare with those of the Fund‘s target index, which has investment characteristics similar to those of the Fund. Keep in mind that the Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does not indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available on our website at vanguard.com/performance or by calling Vanguard toll-free at 800-662-7447.
Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text]	rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns	The following bar chart and table are intended to help you understand the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the performance of the Fund‘s Investor Shares (including annual fund operating expenses but excluding shareholder fees) has varied from one calendar year to another over the periods shown. If applicable shareholder fees were reflected, returns would be less than those shown in the bar chart. The table shows how the average annual total returns of the share classes presented (including annual fund operating expenses and any applicable shareholder fees) compare with those of the Fund‘s target index, which has investment characteristics similar to those of the Fund.
Performance Availability Phone [Text]	rr_PerformanceAvailabilityPhone	800-662-7447
Performance Availability Website Address [Text]	rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress	vanguard.com/performance
Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text]	rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture	Keep in mind that the Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does not indicate how the Fund will perform in the future.
Bar Chart [Heading]	rr_BarChartHeading	Annual Total Returns — Vanguard Emerging Markets Government Bond Index Fund Investor Shares
Bar Chart Does Not Reflect Sales Loads [Text]	rr_BarChartDoesNotReflectSalesLoads	If applicable shareholder fees were reflected, returns would be less than those shown in the bar chart.
Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]	rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock	During the periods shown in the bar chart, the highest return for a calendar quarter was 4.70% (quarter ended June 30, 2014), and the lowest return for a quarter was –2.34% (quarter ended September 30, 2015).
Performance Table Heading	rr_PerformanceTableHeading	Average Annual Total Returns for Periods Ended December 31, 2015
Performance Table Does Reflect Sales Loads	rr_PerformanceTableDoesReflectSalesLoads	The table shows how the average annual total returns of the share classes presented (including annual fund operating expenses and any applicable shareholder fees) compare with those of the Fund‘s target index, which has investment characteristics similar to those of the Fund.
Performance Table Uses Highest Federal Rate	rr_PerformanceTableUsesHighestFederalRate	When after-tax returns are calculated, it is assumed that the shareholder was in the highest individual federal marginal income tax bracket at the time of each distribution of income or capital gains or upon redemption. State and local income taxes are not reflected in the calculations.
Performance Table Not Relevant to Tax Deferred	rr_PerformanceTableNotRelevantToTaxDeferred	After-tax returns are not relevant for a shareholder who holds fund shares in a tax-deferred account, such as an individual retirement account or a 401(k) plan.
Performance Table One Class of after Tax Shown [Text]	rr_PerformanceTableOneClassOfAfterTaxShown	Please note that after-tax returns are shown only for the Investor Shares and may differ for each share class.
Performance Table Explanation after Tax Higher	rr_PerformanceTableExplanationAfterTaxHigher	Also, figures captioned Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares may be higher than other figures for the same period if a capital loss occurs upon redemption and results in an assumed tax deduction for the shareholder.
Performance Table Narrative	rr_PerformanceTableNarrativeTextBlock	Actual after-tax returns depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown in the preceding table. When after-tax returns are calculated, it is assumed that the shareholder was in the highest individual federal marginal income tax bracket at the time of each distribution of income or capital gains or upon redemption. State and local income taxes are not reflected in the calculations. Please note that after-tax returns are shown only for the Investor Shares and may differ for each share class. After-tax returns are not relevant for a shareholder who holds fund shares in a tax-deferred account, such as an individual retirement account or a 401(k) plan. Also, figures captioned Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares may be higher than other figures for the same period if a capital loss occurs upon redemption and results in an assumed tax deduction for the shareholder.
Retail | Vanguard Emerging Markets Government Bond Index Fund | Investor Shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Purchase Fee (other than on reinvested dividends or capital gains)	rr_MaximumCumulativeSalesChargeOverOther	0.75%
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	0.39%
12b-1 Distribution Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	none
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.10%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	0.49%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	$ 125
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	231
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	347
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	686
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01	125
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03	231
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear05	347
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear10	$ 686
2014	rr_AnnualReturn2014	4.97%
2015	rr_AnnualReturn2015	1.47%
Highest Quarterly Return, Label	rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel	highest return
Highest Quarterly Return, Date	rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate	Jun. 30, 2014
Highest Quarterly Return	rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn	4.70%
Lowest Quarterly Return, Label	rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel	lowest return
Lowest Quarterly Return, Date	rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate	Sep. 30, 2015
Lowest Quarterly Return	rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn	(2.34%)
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	0.71%
Since Inception	rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception	0.99%
Inception Date	rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate	May 31, 2013
Retail | Vanguard Emerging Markets Government Bond Index Fund | Admiral Shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Purchase Fee (other than on reinvested dividends or capital gains)	rr_MaximumCumulativeSalesChargeOverOther	0.75%
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	0.30%
12b-1 Distribution Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	none
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.03%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	0.33%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	$ 109
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	180
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	259
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	490
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01	109
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03	180
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear05	259
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear10	$ 490
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	0.86%
Since Inception	rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception	1.14%
Inception Date	rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate	May 31, 2013
Retail | Vanguard Emerging Markets Government Bond Index Fund | Return After Taxes on Distributions | Investor Shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	(1.30%)
Since Inception	rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception	(0.88%)
Inception Date	rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate	May 31, 2013
Retail | Vanguard Emerging Markets Government Bond Index Fund | Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | Investor Shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	0.41%
Since Inception	rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception	(0.09%)
Inception Date	rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate	May 31, 2013
Retail | Vanguard Emerging Markets Government Bond Index Fund | Barclays USD Emerging Markets Government RIC Capped Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	1.70%
Since Inception	rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception	1.51%
Inception Date	rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate	May 31, 2013

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