Wikipedia is a free content online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read reference work in history. Founded by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger on January 15, 2001, Wikipedia has been hosted since 2003 by the Wikimedia Foundation, an American nonprofit organization funded mainly by donations from readers. Wikipedia has been praised for its enablement of the democratization of knowledge, extent of coverage, unique structure, and culture.
It has been criticized for exhibiting systemic bias, particularly gender bias against women and geographical bias against the Global South (Eurocentrism). While the reliability of Wikipedia was frequently criticized in the 2000s, it has improved over time, receiving greater praise from the late 2010s onward while becoming an important fact-checking site. Wikipedia has been censored by some national governments, ranging from specific pages to the entire site. Articles on breaking news are often accessed as sources for frequently updated information about those events.
Here are the top 20 most viewed Wikipedia pages.
Rank | Page | Views |
1. | United States | 254 million |
2. | Donald Trump | 243 million |
3. | Elizabeth II | 198 million |
4. | India | 165 million |
5. | Barack Obama | 161 million |
6. | Cristiano Ronaldo | 151 million |
7. | World War II | 145 million |
8. | United Kingdom | 144 million |
9. | Michael Jackson | 142 million |
10. | Elon Musk | 135 million |
11. | Sex | 132 million |
12. | Lady Gaga | 129 million |
13. | Adolf Hitler | 129 million |
14. | Eminem | 127 million |
15. | Lionel Messi | 125 million |
16. | Game of Thrones | 122 million |
17. | World War I | 121 million |
18. | The Beatles | 116 million |
19. | Justin Bieber | 114 million |
20. | Canada | 113 million |
Freddie Mercury | 113 million |