1.
You use ~ to indicate that something happens or is true in any place or situation.
Some people enjoy themselves ~ they are...
Jack believed in finding happiness ~ possible...
CONJ
2.
You use ~ when you indicate that you do not know where a person or place is.
I’d like to leave as soon as possible and join my children, ~ they are...
CONJ
3.
You use ~ in questions as an emphatic form of ‘where’, usually when you are surprised about something.
Wherever did you get that idea?...
Wherever have you been?
QUEST emphasis