News | May 21, 2026

Twenty-Five Years of Wikipedia: Knowledge Built by Humans and Trusted by the World

As Wikipedia marks its 25th anniversary, and Wikimedia CH its 20th, we reflect on what makes this movement extraordinary.

On 15 January 2001, a website launched with a simple and radical idea: what if anyone could contribute to an encyclopaedia that captures the whole of human knowledge and is free to read?

Most people thought it would fail. Instead, it became one of the world’s most visited websites. Today, Wikipedia is a trusted reference point for students, journalists, researchers, doctors, and curious minds on every continent. And that success wouldn’t be possible without the volunteer editors who have built it.

The exception to the rule

The early internet promised something different from traditional media at the time: open, democratic, built by everyone. Most of that promise was swallowed by huge platforms optimised for the attention economy. Today’s internet is very different from what it was 25 years ago— and Wikipedia is one of the few places where the original promise has held.

Today, Wikipedia contains more than 62 million articles across 300 languages. It is read by roughly 1.5 billion unique devices every month. It has no CEO making editorial decisions, no shareholders to satisfy, no advertisers shaping what you see. It is governed by the people who build it and guided by principles that have not changed in 25 years: verifiability, neutrality, transparency, and free access for all.

The people behind the encyclopaedia

Behind every article is a person: a retired teacher updating a medical entry, a student adding a citation, an expert correcting a factual error. There are more than 280,000 active volunteer editors worldwide, working without pay, recognition, or expectation of reward.

What drives them is a collective belief that the world is a better place when more people have free access to accurate information. In a digital landscape increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, this human element — the scepticism, the contextual judgement, the care — is what makes Wikipedia irreplaceable.

Twenty years of Wikimedia CH

This year, Wikimedia CH also reaches a milestone of its own: 20 years as the Swiss chapter of the global Wikimedia Movement.

Since 2006, our team and community have worked to protect and promote free knowledge in Switzerland and beyond. Our work supports volunteer editors, helps run educational programmes, preserves Swiss cultural heritage on Wikimedia platforms, and advocates for open knowledge in Swiss and European policy debates.

Why it still matters

Twenty-five years in, Wikipedia has become so embedded in how the world accesses knowledge that it’s easy to take for granted. It underpins search results, helps train AI models, and sits behind countless facts people encounter every day.

But this ubiquity doesn’t mean it is future proof. Wikipedia has no advertising revenue or a paid version. It exists because people choose to support it through donations. And as the platforms that once sent readers to Wikipedia increasingly absorb its content rather than link to it, that choice matters more than ever.

Support the next 25 years

At Wikimedia CH, we are proud of what this community has built, and we know what it takes to sustain it. As a non-profit organisation that accepts no advertising or government funding, we rely entirely on donations from people who share our belief in free, trustworthy knowledge.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us continue this work. Your support helps ensure that Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects remain free, accurate and independent for the next 25 years and beyond.

I SUPPORT FREE KNOWLEDGE

Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0