Join us as we celebrate our 20th birthday with a look back to some of the highlights from our history.
Join us as we celebrate our 20th birthday with a look back to some of the highlights from our history.The nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation provides the essential infrastructure for free knowledge. We host Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, created, edited, and verified by volunteers around the world, as well as many other vital community projects. All of which is made possible thanks to donations from individuals like you. We welcome anyone who shares our vision to join us in collecting and sharing knowledge that fully represents human diversity.
Protect and sustain Wikipedia
Donations are secure
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Wikimedia projects belong to everyone
You made it. It is yours to use. For free. That means you can use it, adapt it, or share what you find on Wikimedia sites. Just do not write your own bio, or copy/paste it into your homework.
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We respect your data and privacy
We do not sell your email address or any of your personal information to third parties. More information about our privacy practices are available at the Wikimedia Foundation privacy policy, donor privacy policy, and data retention guidelines.
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People like you keep Wikipedia accurate
Readers verify the facts. Articles are collaboratively created and edited by a community of volunteers using reliable sources, so no single person or company owns a Wikipedia article. The Wikimedia Foundation does not write or edit, but you and everyone you know can help.
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Not all wikis are Wikimedia
The word “wiki” refers to a website built using collaborative editing software. Projects with no past or existing affiliation with Wikipedia or the Wikimedia Foundation, such as Wikileaks and wikiHow, also use the term. Although these sites also use “wiki” in their name, they have nothing to do with Wikimedia.
Research
We conduct our own research and partner with researchers worldwide to address change in society and technology.
More about research![](https://web.archive.org./web/20230620222142im_/https://wikimediafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Wikimedia_Conference_2017_–_228-e1533253661801.jpg?w=600&h=338&crop=1)
Technology
From site reliability to machine learning, our open-source technology makes Wikipedia faster, more reliable, and more accessible worldwide.
More about technology![](https://web.archive.org./web/20230620222142im_/https://wikimediafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Screen-Shot-2018-07-30-at-1.24.58-PM-e1533254033550.png?w=600&h=338&crop=1)
![](https://web.archive.org./web/20230620222142im_/https://wikimediafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/SOPA_protest_in_Midtown_NYC-e1533254825755.jpg?w=600&h=338&crop=1)
Collaborative projects are the core of the Wikimedia movement
Our volunteers build tools, share photos, write articles, and are working to connect all the knowledge that exists.
![Wikipedia puzzle globe](https://web.archive.org./web/20230620222142im_/https://wikimediafoundation-org-preprod.go-vip.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Wikipedia-logo-e1534036958292.png?w=1024)
Wikipedia
Free encyclopedia written in over 300 languages by volunteers around the world.
![Wikimedia Commons logo](https://web.archive.org./web/20230620222142im_/https://wikimediafoundation-org-preprod.go-vip.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/446px-commons-logo-svg.png?w=446)
Wikimedia Commons
The world’s largest free-to-use-library of illustrations, photos, drawings, videos and music.
See what we have been up to
![Stylized film strip featuring people from the Wikimedia Foundation's history](https://web.archive.org./web/20230620222142im_/https://wikimediafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Wikimedia-2023-4001-HeroBlog-R1.jpg?w=800&h=430&crop=1)
20 years of the nonprofit behind Wikipedia
Wikipedia is an indispensable part of the internet — no matter if you’re searching for a fact to win a round of trivia or doing a deep dive on what’s happening in the world around you. And today, the nonprofit organization that supports Wikipedia turns 20 years old. We are the Wikimedia Foundation. In our….
Wikimedia Foundation launches Open the Knowledge Journalism Awards on World Press Freedom Day
The Wikimedia Foundation is launching the inaugural Open the Knowledge Journalism Awards. Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day, this year’s awards celebrate the contributions of journalists in Africa who prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion in their reporting.
Wikimedians are heroes of free knowledge
![Vitor Mazuco](https://web.archive.org./web/20230620222142im_/https://wikimediafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Vitor_Mazuco-15-e1531350595274.jpg?w=400&h=300&crop=1)
Vitor Mazuco
Editor since 2009, Wikimedia community![Sam Oye - Wiki Indaba 2017](https://web.archive.org./web/20230620222142im_/https://wikimediafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/sam_oye_wiki_indaba_2017_portraits1-e1534046032973.jpg?w=400&h=300&crop=1)
Sam Oyeyele
Editor since 2011, Wikimedia community![Photo of Armine Aghayan](https://web.archive.org./web/20230620222142im_/https://wikimediafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Armine_Aghayan-1-e1531344565295.jpg?w=400&h=300&crop=1)
Arminé Aghayan
Editor since 2013, Wikimedia communityThroughout history, knowledge has been controlled by a powerful few. Wikipedia needs knowledge from all languages and cultures. The internet has become the default for accessing information—women, people of color, and the global south remain underrepresented. We invite you to help correct history.
Help us unlock the world’s knowledge.
As a nonprofit, Wikipedia and our related free knowledge projects are powered primarily through donations.
Donate now![](https://web.archive.org./web/20230620222142im_/https://wikimediafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/ArtAndFeminism_2017_Livrustkammaren_06-e1533254907593.jpg?w=1024)
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Photo credits
![Vitor Mazuco](https://web.archive.org./web/20230620222142im_/https://wikimediafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Vitor_Mazuco-15-e1531350595274.jpg?w=63)
![Sam Oye - Wiki Indaba 2017](https://web.archive.org./web/20230620222142im_/https://wikimediafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/sam_oye_wiki_indaba_2017_portraits1-e1534046032973.jpg?w=63)
Zachary McCune/Wikimedia Foundation
![Photo of Armine Aghayan](https://web.archive.org./web/20230620222142im_/https://wikimediafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Armine_Aghayan-1-e1531344565295.jpg?w=63)
Wikimedia Foundation/BerlinRosen
![Wikimedia Conference 2017](https://web.archive.org./web/20230620222142im_/https://wikimediafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Wikimedia_Conference_2017_–_228-e1533253661801.jpg?w=63)
Jason Krüger/Wikimedia Deutschland e.V.
![Man in front of computer servers](https://web.archive.org./web/20230620222142im_/https://wikimediafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Screen-Shot-2018-07-30-at-1.24.58-PM-e1533254033550.png?w=63)