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March 21, 2017

What is Wikipedia?

Welcome to the world’s largest encyclopaedia.

By Joao Lima

Wikipedia is the world’s largest online encyclopedia.

Billed as ‘the free encyclopaedia anyone can edit’, it was launched in January 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. It has since grown to become the world’s sixth most visited website, according to Alexa.

Wikipedia is owned by the Wikipedia Foundation, created in June 2003, and which also owns other Wiki products, like Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Wikibooks, Wikisource, Wikimedia Commons, Wikispecies, Wikinews, Wikiversity, Wikidata, Wikivoyage, Wikimedia Incubator, and Meta-Wiki.

The online encyclopedia is available in 292 languages, from Latin, Portuguese, English, to Mandarin, Creole, and so on.

 

Can anyone really edit Wikipedia?

Users can sign up to Wikipedia for free and also edit the platform free of charge. The encyclopedia has a vast community of contributors and maintains a strict hierarchy of administrators and other supervisors that ensure rules are followed.

Requirements are set by this community, such as the need for links that prove the information provided.

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The encyclopedia also makes extensive use of different medias such as pictures, videos and audio files.

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