NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 15 – Wikipedia, the world’s largest online encyclopaedia, is marking its 25th anniversary, celebrating a quarter-century of providing free, reliable, and human-powered knowledge to billions of users worldwide.
To commemorate the milestone, the Wikimedia Foundation has launched a global “Wikipedia 25” campaign highlighting the platform’s evolution, its volunteer editors, and its future at a time when digital trust and artificial intelligence are reshaping how information is accessed.
“Wikipedia is a digital wonder of the world,” said Wikimedia Foundation CEO Maryana Iskander, noting that the platform has become integral to the architecture of the internet, with billions of visits each month.
Central to the celebrations is the release of a new video docuseries spotlighting Wikipedia’s volunteer editors. The platform’s more than 65 million articles are written and maintained by nearly 250,000 contributors worldwide, including Nigerian librarian Goodness Ignatius, whose work reflects Africa’s growing role in shaping global digital knowledge.
The Foundation has also unveiled a “25 Years of Wikipedia” digital time capsule, featuring defining moments in the site’s history and reflections from founder Jimmy Wales.
As artificial intelligence transforms the digital landscape, Wikipedia has emerged as a key source of trusted data for search engines and AI systems. Its content is available in more than 300 languages and viewed nearly 15 billion times each month.
Africa’s influence on the platform continues to grow through expanding contributor communities and local-language projects, positioning the continent as an increasingly important creator of digital knowledge.
Wikipedia’s anniversary celebrations will run throughout 2026, culminating in a global virtual birthday event and other digital activities.
