List of articles every Wikipedia should have

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There are a growing number of Wikipedia projects, some very active and others quite stagnant. This list is intended as a guideline for those projects so that they will contain a minimum amount of basic, useful information. This way, people will be encouraged to use these projects and help in their growth. The articles should contain at least basic information on the topics they describe, thus providing a starting point for growth besides being a useful reference for the readers. This list provides links to corresponding Wikidata objects, containing links to articles in various Wikipedias which can be used as a translatable resource.

This list is limited to 1000 articles, but a much larger list is available at List of articles every Wikipedia should have/Expanded.

v · d · e
Recent changes
Date Adding Removing
2024-03-02 Algae Marine mammal
2024-01-19 Discrimination Universal Declaration of Human Rights
2023-12-26 Shinto Zen
2023-12-05 Reincarnation Yoga
2022-11-11 Taste Breast
2022-08-17 Korean Hangul
2022-04-02 Trade Japanese Yen
2022-04-02 Table salt Oat
2022-04-02 Shia Islam Sufism
2022-03-18 Citrus Lemon
2022-03-02 Swimming Karate
Section Version 1.1 Current Number Target Number Vital articles
Biography 216 204 TBD 113
Philosophy 18 13 TBD 18
Religion 21 22 TBD 37
Social sciences 71 77 TBD 135
Language and literature 43 46 TBD 31
Arts and recreation 73 75 TBD 60
Measurements 19 12 TBD 2
Science 195 257 TBD 293
* Astronomy 22 22 TBD 26
* Biology 118 83 TBD 82
* Health and medicine 34 38 TBD 41
* Chemistry 27 27 TBD 32
* Earth science 21 21 TBD 23
* Physics 36 39 TBD 41
* Mathematics 22 25 TBD 45
Food and agriculture 19 35 TBD 2
Technology 69 67 TBD 98
History 40 46 TBD 83
Geography 148 146 TBD 106
Total 1000 1000 1000 998

Count checked: 16:05, 20 November 2019 (UTC)

How to use this list[edit]

There are several different ways to use this list. The first is to translate it into the language of your Wikipedia and see whether you have articles on all of these topics. The topics here are linked to corresponding items in the Wikidata project. If your Wikipedia is missing an article, or if you are starting out with a new language, you may want to translate these basic articles from a different language that you are familiar with (for example, English). Language links to Wikipedias in which the topic is covered are provided at the bottom of each Wikidata item page.

In addition to simply listing the articles, this project hopes to eventually create easily translatable versions of these articles, possibly containing core information at simple:Wikipedia:List of articles all languages should have.

This list is also used to obtain the List of Wikipedias by sample of articles. Articles which are absent from one wikipedia are shown in List of Wikipedias by sample of articles/Absent Articles.

It's possible to list the top 1000 most translated (linked) pages in some languages, at Wikidata Terminator; or even compare any two wikis, with Not in the other language.

Since this list is full, it is important that you discuss any changes (adds or deletes) on the discussion for this list first. If you add an entry at this point, it will be necessary to justify deleting something else.

Six versions from the history of this page can be found at Version 1.0 (14 August 2006), Version 1.1 (15 November 2008), Version 1.2 (3 February 2010), Version 1.3 (24 June 2012), Version 1.4 (1 June 2014), and Version 1.5 (6 February 2022).

Top-priority entries, which are considered especially necessary for any Wikipedia to have, are marked in bold. Like the list itself, these selections should not be viewed as dictating how important certain topics are, but only as a utility for smaller Wikipedias to start from.

Biography[edit]

Philosophers and social scientists[edit]

Religious figures and theologians[edit]

  1. Abraham
  2. Aquinas, Thomas
  3. Augustine of Hippo
  4. Buddha
  5. Al-Ghazali
  6. Jesus
  7. Luther, Martin
  8. Moses
  9. Muhammad
  10. Nagarjuna

Political leaders[edit]

Inventors, scientists and mathematicians[edit]

Artists and architects[edit]

Composers and musicians[edit]

Film directors, screenwriters and actors[edit]

Authors, playwrights and poets[edit]

Explorers and travelers[edit]

Philosophy[edit]

Religion[edit]

Social sciences[edit]

Language and literature[edit]

Measurements[edit]

  1. Measurement
  2. International System of Units

Weight, volume and distance[edit]

  1. Kilogram
  2. Litre
  3. Metre

Time[edit]

  1. Calendar
    1. Gregorian calendar
  2. Clock
  3. Second
  4. Day
  5. Year
  6. Time zone

Science[edit]

  1. Science
  2. Nature

Astronomy[edit]

Biology[edit]

Biological processes[edit]

  1. Metabolism
    1. Digestion
    2. Photosynthesis
    3. Breathing
  2. Evolution
  3. Reproduction
    1. Pregnancy
    2. Sex

Organisms[edit]

Anatomy[edit]

Health and medicine[edit]

Chemistry[edit]

Earth science[edit]

Physics[edit]

Mathematics[edit]

Food and agriculture[edit]

Agriculture[edit]

  1. Agriculture
    1. Irrigation
    2. Plough
    3. Domestication

Food[edit]

Beverages[edit]

Technology[edit]

Arts and recreation[edit]

History[edit]

  1. History

Prehistoric and ancient history[edit]

Medieval and Renaissance periods[edit]

Early modern and modern periods[edit]

Geography[edit]

Countries[edit]

Eventually, there should be articles on most or all of the countries listed at List of countries. However, for the smaller Wikipedias, some of the more high-priority countries to have articles on are:

Africa[edit]

  1. Algeria
  2. Democratic Republic of the Congo
  3. Egypt
  4. Ethiopia
  5. Nigeria
  6. South Africa
  7. Sudan
  8. Tanzania

Asia[edit]

  1. Afghanistan
  2. Bangladesh
  3. China
  4. India
  5. Indonesia
  6. Iran
  7. Iraq
  8. Israel
  9. Japan
  10. Pakistan
  11. Philippines
  12. Saudi Arabia
  13. South Korea
  14. Thailand
  15. Turkey
  16. Vietnam

Europe[edit]

  1. Austria
  2. France
  3. Germany
  4. Italy
  5. Netherlands
  6. Poland
  7. Portugal
  8. Russia
  9. Spain
  10. Switzerland
  11. Ukraine
  12. United Kingdom
  13. Vatican City

North America[edit]

  1. Canada
  2. Cuba
  3. Mexico
  4. United States

South America[edit]

  1. Argentina
  2. Brazil
  3. Venezuela

Oceania[edit]

  1. Australia

Cities[edit]

Bodies of water[edit]

Mountains and deserts[edit]

  1. Alps
  2. Andes
  3. Himalayas
    1. Mount Everest
  4. Mount Kilimanjaro
  5. Rocky Mountains
  6. Sahara