The Multiyear ranking of most viewed Wikipedia pages from December 1, 2007 to the present demonstrates human interests during that period. The views data for Wikipedia's first years (2001–2007) is fragmentary and complete data on mobile views is available only since July 1, 2015. This presently precludes the possibility of all-time ranking with the multiyear perspective being the closest we can get to.
The lists below include desktop views since December 1, 2007 and mobile views since July 1, 2015.
Being one of the best indicators of "what the collective world is thinking about," the list of most viewed Wikipedia pages receives wide attention in unassociated institutions and external popular media sources. University Degli Studi di Milano created an engine of the complete ranking of all Wikipedia articles for 2014–2019.[2] In 2013, an external media source attempted to determine the 10 most popular Wikipedia pages of all time.[3] The same year the BBC news website published an article discussing most searched Wikipedia articles in 2012 in different languages.[4] Other versions of top-lists for shorter periods are regularly published and discussed by external popular media.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
Sources
Most-viewed pages were detected from earlier lists for shorter periods (named in "See also" and "External links" below) and such engines as Wikitally (existed until 2017) and Massview.[12] Massview counts views by category since July 1, 2015. The number of views for the detected pages were found in Multiyear ranking of Wikipedia pages views.[13] This site gives the approximate number of desktop views since December 1, 2007 and mobile views since July 1, 2015. The site stopped counting by the end of 2019. Views on this site until June 2015 for desktop include bot pageviews, while those July 2015 for both desktop and mobile exclude identifiable bots and spiders (but may still end up counting many views by bots and spiders as legitimate human views). This might explain differences in view numbers between this site and the lists of Andrew West for 2015–2018.[14][15][16][17]
The leading page
The undisputed leader is Wikipedia's Main page, with over 43 billion views as of October 2020 — more than the rest of the Top-100 list combined including non-ranked pages. For comparison, Baby Shark which leads YouTube[18] has 7.6 billion views. According to its information page, the Main page was created as Wikipedia marked its first year, on January 26, 2002. Wikipedia:Most popular pages October 2001, however, states that the Main page had existed and led by wide margin already in October 2001. It is not known which pages had led the ranking during Wikipedia's first months, although by the end of the first month (January 31, 2001) the most viewed page was Usenet cabal.[19]
Among the conventional pages with mostly human intentional views (ranked pages below), the United States probably took the lead in the pre-viewcount period (2001-2007), as we see it in the October 2001 list and strongly in all available monthly reports for 2003 and 2004. Having held the first place until January 20, 2021, the US was surpassed by its President, Donald Trump.
Early years
In the years 2001–2007, for which only fragmentary data is available (the rank's "prehistory"), three successive waves seem visible. The first dominant group to take interest in Wikipedia seem to be students. The list for October 2001 contains mostly school subjects like mathematics, history, geography, etc. Of these, as of 2021, there is one remnant: the periodic table.
The second wave probably were pages related to the September 11 attacks. They were numerous already in October 2001. The event happened when Wikipedia was only eight months old and these pages probably fast permeated the “all time” list. Of these, as of 2021, there is also one remnant: September 11 attack.
The third wave was sex. Sex-related articles are common in the monthly lists of 2003–2004. In 2019, there were still 5 such articles in the top-100 list, down to 3 in 2020 and down to 2 in 2021.
Two decades after the launch of Wikipedia however appeared the main human interest. Certainly it is not studies; nor is it terror and even sex.
First two decades
By Wikipedia’s 20th anniversary (in 2021), it had become clear that the most interesting phenomena for humans are… humans, especially contemporaries and especially when they die. As of January 2021, 63 pages of the top-100 list belong to humans. It was not the case from the beginning. In the October 2001 list, for example, we see one human—the co-founder of Wikipedia Larry Sanger. Within two decades however a huge human invasion occurred. Humans came seriously and for long.
Correspondingly, the most interesting object in the Universe for humans is the planet of the humans, provided we disregard Star Wars, Darth Vader and the situation comedy called The Big Bang Theory. Half a millennium after Copernicus and a century after Edwin Hubble, the collective interest remains geocentric.
Top-100 list
(December 1, 2007 – April 1, 2021).
Covid-19 appeared on the all-time list in June 2020; the page did not exist in the beginning of the year. In this aspect, Covid-19 is the biggest phenomenon Wikipedia has ever known.
Another big success of 2020, Joe Biden, debuted on the list on November 12. It currently looks as though he is about to bring with him his Vice-President Kamala Harris (1 million views short of the list as of April 1, 2021).
Consolation for Donald Trump, he became the first human to reach 200 million views and overall second only after his country. More consolation for him, on January 20, 2021, he surpassed the United States for the all time lead among the ranked pages in what we know as the first change of the leading page. The riot he incited gave him the decisive push. By notable contrast, his predecessor Barak Obama could not reach the US in two terms.
- Notes
-*The rank omits Wikipedia special and disambiguation pages and pages with a large part of unintentional views.
-**An artifact that somehow gets logged, sometimes after the data source changed.
-***Probably the consistent popularity of such pages as Google, Wiki, YouTube, Facebook is due in part to people accidentally typing these site names/URLs into a search engine or address bar when intending to actually visit the sites themselves.[21]
-****A page that logged a large amount of automated views.
2020: Event of the year
In 2020 AD, Paraphrasing the Book of Samuel,[22] weep ye, daughters of the world, the mighty one has fallen. After nearly two decades, one of the founding members of the top-100 list is no longer with us. A minute of silence.
The fall is part of a broader trend. Yet, it remains dubious whether the trend means improvement of human nature. Among the recent newcomers on the list are Pablo Escobar, Ted Bundy and Charles Manson. Chronologically, the decline of sex coincides with the count of mobile views.
Countries
(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2021)
The list includes current member states of the United Nations.
Cities
(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2021)
-*Angelsberg is a Luxembourg town of some 300 people. Somehow, it logged 37.0 million views in two months in 2015. That year it was second only to the Main page in the number of views.[23]
Buildings & Structures & Statues
(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2021).
-* All BC dates are marked. The rest of dates are AD.
-** A city or former city known mostly for its architecture.
People
(December 1, 2007 – April 1, 2021)
Donald Trump was not in this list in January 2016; however, a year later (upon his inauguration as president), he became the most popular among people. Four years later (upon his impeachment), his page became the most popular overall.
Singers
(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2021)
The list is primarily made of modern day pop and rap stars with several legends mixed in. Among the names here are Prince and David Bowie who saw many of their page views in 2016 after their deaths.
Actors
(December 1, 2007 – April 1, 2021)
This list omits actors who are singers in order not to repeat half of the previous table.
Pornographic actors
(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2021)
Among musicians and actors there is gender equality in popularity. Sport, politics, crime and history are dominated by males. With the millennial males gradually equaling their female contemporaries, this table remains the only one on this page in which women represent a convincing majority. At least here we see the dream of the Women in Red come true.
Athletes
(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2021)
Some professional athletes—Bruce Lee, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dwayne Johnson—are classified among actors (above), since their popularity is mostly due to their filmographic performance.
- Note
-*Non competitive sport
Modern political leaders
(December 1, 2007 – April 1, 2021)
The list includes political leaders born after AD 1400.
Along the rise of Donald Trump, credit for the 2017 performance must be given to Vladimir Putin--he overtook Sarah Palin for the 23rd place. Palin dropped from the list the following year, mainly due to the mighty advance of the British royal family.
Trump's successor, Joe Biden, debuted on the list in October 2020. By the end of the month, he shared the 22nd place with Stalin. In three more days he reached Margaret on the 21st rank. The next day, the day of election, Biden added 1.8 million views and equaled another British lady, Elizabeth I, in the top-20. The next day, November 5, he joined his predecessor, FDR, on the 19th place. The day Biden was confirmed President, November 7, he logged 3 million views and the next day 4 million and rose to the 9th place.
Nevertheless, those days Biden was not the most popular. He was outviewed by Kamala Harris. Having logged 3.5 million views on November 7 and 6.5 million the next day, she decisively entered the list (at the expense of Che Guevara) to become the only American on the list who is not President.
Projecting the trend of the first two decades of Wikipedia (2001-2021) for two more decades, this list would be limited to US Presidents, the British royal family and Hitler.
Criminals
(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2021).
This is a list of minor criminals. For major criminals see the list above.
Pre-modern people
(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2021)
This category includes personalities born before AD 1400 (exception is made for Joan of Arc born in 1412) who cannot compete with our contemporaries, like Barack Obama and Michael Jackson. The general top-30 list of people includes 23 living people as of January 2020. This is a feature of the "nascent" Wikipedia. In the course of generations, such top-lists will contain only people passed away, for view-count continues posthumously.
In total, as of October 12, 2019, Wikipedia counts 1,609,522 people.[24] Of them, 929,502 are living,[25] or 57.75% (more than a half). 143,573 more were living in the Wikipedia period,[26] raising the percentage of this period’s people to 66.67 (precisely two-thirds). 341,079 more were living in the century preceeding Wikipedia (1901-2000),[27] raising the percentage of the contemporaries to 87.86. That is, people who lived from the beginning of history until 1900 – 98% of history - constitute only 12.14%.
As of 2021, people born since 1960 AD log as many views as people born before, and the year of parity rises.[28] We are highly tempocentric. Ancestor worship is not our favorite tradition.
-*Historicity is unconfirmed by extra-Biblical sources.
-**Historicity is dubious.
3rd-millennium people
(December 1, 2007 – March 1, 2021)
Of people born in the 3rd millennium (which is defined here as starting in 2000), the first to receive a personal page in Wikipedia was Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant (born October 25, 2001). Her page was created on August 4, 2003. She was followed by two other princesses later that year: Lady Louise Windsor of Wessex obtained her page on November 26, 2003, at the age of 18 days; the page of Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, was created on December 9, 2003.
Lady Louise Windsor, probably, gained the all-time leadership the following year (2004), as her page was much more viewed during the years we have data (December 2007–present). By the end of 2016, she was 4th in the multiyear list. Lady Louise Windsor was, probably, overcome in 2010 by Willow Smith—the undisputed leader of the 2010s. The page of Willow Smith was created on April 23, 2005 (year and a half after Lady Louise Windsor's). During 2008–2009 the two had similar number of views, while in 2010 Willow Smith counted an extraordinary number of 3,100,000 views.[29] By August 31, 2016, she had total 12 million views, nearly three times more than the closest contender, Jackie Evancho.
In July 2019, Willow Smith was synchronously surpassed by two people, Billie Eilish and Millie Bobby Brown, after leading over 100 months. Billie Eilish was the first to surpass Smith. On 7/24/2019 Millie Bobby Brown passed Billie Eilish in page views, and held the lead until 7/26/2019. She regained the title on 7/29/2019 and held it until 7/31/2019, and Billie EIlish has held it ever since.[30][31]
The undisputed leader of the year 2019 was Billie Eilish. She began the year on the 22nd place and gained the all time lead in July. For 2019, she was the most viewed among living people of all ages and her page was 10th in the general ranking.[32]
In the 2010s, the hereditary princes were gradually overtaken by the "princes" of music and movies.
The first sportsperson to make this list was artistic gymnast Laurie Hernandez. She entered the list in August 2016, peaked at the 19th rank by the end of the year and dropped from the list in June 2018. She was followed and surpassed by LaMelo Ball in December 2017. LaMelo was joined and surpassed by his colleague, Zion Williamson, in 2019 (14th rank as of March 2021, the highest a millennial athlete ever rose).
The forth athlete and the first footballer on the list became Erling Haaland in 2020, followed by his teammate Jadon Sancho the same year.
-* Not personal page.
Historical most-viewed 3rd-millennium persons
The following table lists the five persons to become Wikipedia’s most-viewed millennial person, from August 4, 2003 to the present.
Current record (⁂)
Former record (*)
Progression of the most-viewed millennial persons on Wikipedia|
| Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant | 1 | Aug 4, 2003 | August 4, 2003 | 4–16** |
| Lady Louise Windsor | 100,000–200,000** | Nov 26, 2003 | 2004** | 70–84** |
| Willow Smith | 4,000,000–5,000,000** | Apr 23, 2005 | October – December 2010** | 103–105** |
| Millie Bobby Brown | 17,300,000 | Jul 22, 2016 | July 2019 | 1*** |
| Billie Eilish | 17,300,000 | Apr 15, 2017 | July 2019 | 20 |
| As of 23 April 2021 |
|---|
-*The approximate number of views each person had when she became Wikipedia’s most-viewed millennial.
-** Probable estimation.
-***Millie Bobby Brown held the leadership for 4 days in July 2019.[33]
Music bands
(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2021).
Sport teams
(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2021).
The list is overwhelmingly dominated by association football teams. Notable among American sports teams is the Golden State Warriors, whose page views came heavily from 2016-2019.
Films and TV series
(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2021).
TV series clearly has the upper hand to film, for the most part.
Albums
(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2021).
Singles
(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2021).
Books and book series
(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2021).
Naruto is classified as a TV series (above) as it is more popular as an anime, and there is no separate page for the manga. Books with film/TV adaptations are listed below, as many of the links below are franchise pages. Note that A Song of Ice and Fire's popularity is considerably outstripped by that of its TV adaptation Game of Thrones.
Pre-modern books and texts
(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2021).
This list includes books and texts composed before 1500 AD.
It has been widely argued that Bible is the all time best seller, followed by Quran.[34] The perspective below however reveals a more popular ancient text.
-*In 2019-20, Bible logged large number of automated desktop views. The over 95% disparity between desktop and mobile views is, in the opinion of experts,[35] a clear indication of “non-human views” (divine views in the case?). For this reason, the number of views here excludes the desktop views for 2019 and 2020. Basing on the Bible traffic before the “divine intervention,” (7 to 10 correlation between desktop and mobile respectively views) the correct number of views for Bible is probably 20.
See also
External links
Related searches for most viewed pages on wikipedia