On May 20, 2026, Wikipedia celebrates 25 years since its launch as its total articles have exceeded 66 million articles distributed across 342 languages according to a Pew Research Center report issued in January 2026. The site ranks eighth globally in terms of number of visits while the number of articles in the Russian version reached 2,101,318 articles to rank eighth among the language versions. Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger founded the project as a free encyclopedia that anyone can edit according to the wiki model.
According to the Russian page on Wikipedia itself, the project began as a complement to Nupedia that was established in March 2000 before it was officially launched on January 15, 2001. The non-profit Wikimedia Foundation, which was created in June 2003, owns the project and manages it. Wikipedia relies on three main policies that include not publishing original research, relying on reliable sources, and neutrality in presenting information.
Data from the Pew Research Center showed that the total articles across all languages exceeded 66 million articles until December 2025, while the English version contains about 7 million articles. The site adds about 500 new articles daily in the English version alone according to Wikimedia statistics. The total views over the past decade reached 1.9 trillion views, or about 508 million views daily.
The Russian Wikipedia page stated that the content is subject to the Creative Commons license and any user can edit articles immediately without prior official review. Studies showed that only 1 percent of contributors produced 80 percent of the content between 2001 and 2010. The foundation operates servers in the United States and the Netherlands to ensure service continuity.
Wikimedia statistics indicated that the Russian version ranks eighth in terms of the number of articles, while it previously held fourth place in terms of visits. The encyclopedia published versions on compact discs and in print format between 2004 and 2010. Wikipedia received several awards in the years 2004, 2007, and 2008 in recognition of its role in disseminating knowledge.
According to the Pew Research report, the content is widely used in education, science, and media despite being subject to some criticisms related to bias or vandalism. Some countries have imposed restrictions on access to it at various times. The spread of artificial intelligence technologies has led to a slight decline in the site’s popularity as a primary source of information.
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