Wikipedia celebrates 20 years of free, trusted information for the world

Wikipedia, the world’s largest free online encyclopaedia, turns 20 years old on January 15, 2021. This birthday commemorates two decades of global efforts to support free knowledge, open collaboration, and trust on the internet. In a time when disinformation and polarization challenge our trust in information and institutions, Wikipedia is more relevant than ever. Wikipedia celebrates its past and looks ahead to how it will meet the challenges of tomorrow to grow into a more resilient, accessible resource for knowledge.

“Wikipedia has evolved from a seemingly impossible idea into a sprawling testament to humanity—a place where we can collaborate, share, and learn about anything and everything,” said Katherine Maher, CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation. “It is a global effort of volunteers who elevate knowledge and cooperation over conflict and self-interest. We are committed to preserving the integrity and value of information at a time when the world needs it most.”

Today, Wikipedia’s more than 55 million articles can be accessed in over 300 languages, for free, and without advertisements, all created by volunteers. Indian readers visit Wikipedia more than 750 million times each month, making it the fifth highest number of views from any country. As of 2020, the platform is available in 24 Indian languages. Indian languages that have the most speakers such as Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu also have more than 60,000 articles each in their respective Wikipedia languages.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wikipedia saw record-breaking increases in daily traffic with a growing community of medical professionals contributing knowledge about COVID-19 to the platform. Studies have shown that Wikipedia is one of the most-viewed sources for health information, and its role in providing trusted access to information about COVID-19 in the pandemic led to a milestone collaboration with the World Health Organization in October 2020.

“In a world where information is increasingly commoditized, Wikipedia’s model has always been based on the belief that knowledge belongs to all humans,” said Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. “Wikipedia forces us to step outside of our echo chambers and contend with what a shared understanding of the world could really look like. After all, a Wikipedia article is the same no matter who or where you are in the world, and if something isn’t right in the article, you can change it.”

Wikipedia aspires to reflect the sum of all human knowledge. As it celebrates 20 years and looks to the future, the people who contribute to Wikipedia also acknowledge that there are deep knowledge gaps that must be addressed. Initiatives such as WikiProject Women in Red, WikiGap, and AfroCROWD, among many others, aim to ensure that Wikipedia more fully represents the diversity of the world. In India, the platform hosts programs such as Wikiproject India, Project Tiger and Project SWASTHA to engage with local communities and enable credible information with Indian relevance to be available through partners such as Google, Centre for Internet & Society (CIS-A2K), NHA and global universities.

The Wikimedia movement’s 2030 strategic direction also reflects this commitment. In addition, the Foundation recently developed a $4.5 million Equity Fund that will offer grants to advance more equitable, inclusive representation in Wikimedia projects, including Wikipedia.