English Wikipedia at the source of all other Wikipedias?

by notafish It is interesting to note that many articles in the other-than-English languages Wikipedias are often translated from the English Wikipedia, which results in sometimes strong reactions within the language based communities, due to what is referred as "anglo-centrism" on subjects that they feel ought to be first served in their language of origin.

A historic and mathematic reality

The fact that the English Wikipedia naturally comes as a source for other wikipedias can be explained in many ways. Of course, the English Wikipedia has been around for longer than most others, and has become the reference for users as well as external viewers. The number of active contributors which probably directly influences the number of articles is also relevant to that fact. As a matter of fact, many non-English speakers contribute to the English Wikipedia rather than their own language Wikipedia, for various reasons, but also because the English Wikipedia was there before and they've gotten into the habit of being there rather than on their own language wikipedia.

Anglo-centrism?

Of course, all contributors

Comparison of active wikipedians on the major wikis

Stats from December 2004

English:6091
German:2578
Japanese:659
French:764
Polish:285
Dutch:335