Wikipedia Surpasses 65 Million Articles Worldwide as Russian Edition Grows in June 2026

The Russian Wikipedia page, updated on June 25, 2026, reported that it contains 2,106,865 articles, placing it eighth among the various language editions. The Wikimedia Foundation said in a Facebook post in April 2026 that the encyclopedia had exceeded 65 million articles across more than 300 languages. The growth comes 25 years after the project’s founding, which began as a complement to Nupedia before becoming the world’s largest free encyclopedia.

Wikipedia was founded on January 15, 2001, by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger, according to the encyclopedia’s Russian page. The Wikimedia Foundation, created on June 20, 2003, assumed ownership of the project as a non-profit organization. The encyclopedia has become one of the world’s most visited sites, ranking eighth in May 2025 according to Similarweb statistics.

Wikipedia follows clear policies that prohibit original research, require reliable sources and mandate neutrality, as stated in the Russian document. Any user can edit articles directly, supported by fast mechanisms to correct occasional vandalism. Studies show that a large share of the content comes from a small group of active volunteers.

The English edition reached approximately 7,200,709 articles in June 2026, according to Wikipedia’s statistics page. Wikimedia Foundation reports highlight the encyclopedia’s role in strengthening education and scientific research by providing free knowledge to billions of users. More than 1,700 academic studies on Wikipedia’s impact were conducted between 2001 and 2010.

Wikipedia has faced criticism over the possibility of inaccurate or biased information, but volunteers address such issues quickly, the Russian page reported. Research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pittsburgh underlined the importance of links and references in bolstering content credibility. The project continues to expand despite competition from artificial intelligence technologies that have affected visitation rates.

The Wikimedia Foundation supports sister projects such as Wiktionary and Wikisource, along with the Arabic edition that continues to see steady growth. The encyclopedia runs on servers in the United States and the Netherlands using MediaWiki software. Its slogan, «The free encyclopedia that anyone can edit,» reflects the collaborative model that has transformed access to knowledge.