Wikipedia:About

Wikipedia is an online free-content encyclopedia helping to create a world where everyone can freely share and access all available knowledge. It is supported by the Wikimedia Foundation and consists of freely editable content. The name "Wikipedia" is a blending of the words wiki (a technology for creating collaborative websites, from the Hawaiian word wiki, meaning "quick") and encyclopedia. Wikipedia's articles provide links to guide readers to related pages with more information.

Wikipedia is written collaboratively by largely anonymous volunteers. Anyone with Internet access and in good standing can write and make changes to Wikipedia articles, except in limited cases where editing is restricted to prevent disruption or vandalism.

Since its creation on January 15, 2001, Wikipedia has grown into the world's largest reference website, attracting 1.7 billion unique-device visitors monthly as of November 2021. It currently has more than fifty-eight million articles in more than 300 languages, including 6,486,156 articles in English with 126,829 active contributors in the past month.

The fundamental principles of Wikipedia are summarized in its five pillars. The Wikipedia community has developed many policies and guidelines; however, being familiar with the pillars, policies, and guidelines is not a requirement for contributing.