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Wikipedia Encyclopedia
(Reference,
General)
Wikipedia is a Web-based, free-content encyclopedia written collaboratively by volunteers. It has editions in roughly 200 different languages (about 100 of which are active) sponsored by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation and contains entries both on traditional encyclopedic topics and on almanac, gazetteer, and current events topics. Its purpose is to create and distribute a free international encyclopedia in as many languages as possible. Wikipedia is one of the most popular reference sites on the internet[1] ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia#endnote_PopularityRef ), receiving around 60 million hits per day. Wikipedia contains approximately 1.5 million articles. More than 580,000 of these are in English, more than 200,000 in German, and more than 100,000 each in Japanese and French. It began as a complement to the expert-written Nupedia on January 15, 2001. Having steadily risen in popularity,[2] ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia#endnote_Popularity ) it has spawned several sister projects, such as Wiktionary, Wikibooks, and Wikinews. It is edited by volunteers in wiki fashion, meaning articles are subject to change by nearly anyone. Wikipedia's volunteers enforce a policy of "neutral point of view" whereby views presented by notable persons or literature are summarized without an attempt to determine an objective truth. Because of its open nature, vandalism and inaccuracy are problems in Wikipedia. |