Today, the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia, released its annual list of the most viewed articles on English Wikipedia for 2024. Articles related to Indian topics featured in the 2024 global list, with three appearing in the top 25.
The article on the Indian Premier League ranked sixth in the top 25 list while the other two – 2024 Indian General Election, and Kalki 2898 AD – ranked 10th and 18th, respectively.
The list highlights the popularity of the world’s largest encyclopedia in India, as it remains one of the top ten countries where Wikipedia is read most. The rise in election-related page views corresponds with recent political events, reflecting readers’ keen interest in staying informed about India’s new government.
According to data released by the Wikimedia Foundation, English Wikipedia raked in over 76 billion views globally in the first ten months of 2024*. The top six articles of the year were: ‘Deaths in 2024’ with 44,440,344 pageviews, followed in second place by ‘Kamala Harris’ (28,960,278), ‘2024 United States presidential election’ was third (27,910,346), the ‘Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’ took the fourth spot (26,126,811), the US President-elect ‘Donald Trump’ (25,293,855) was fifth, and Indian Premier League was sixth (24,560,689). The full list is below, including Telegu science fiction film Kalki 2898 AD, which was in spot 18 for worldwide readership.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT, whose popularity skyrocketed into the public’s consciousness in 2023, and was Wikipedia’s most read article last year (with 52,565,681 pageviews), dropped to 12th position on the 2024 list (with 16,595,350 pageviews).
India has one of the highest number of views on Wikipedia globally, with an average of over 900 million page views per month. India also has the third-largest number of contributors to English Wikipedia after the U.S. and the U.K., and it leads in content creation within the South Asia region, representing over 70% of the region’s information on Wikimedia projects.
As per the Wikimedia Foundation’s most recent brand health survey (July 2024), Wikipedia’s usage is deeply embedded in Indians’ lives. The survey shows that 91% of Indians like Wikipedia while 88% trust it for multiple reasons, including work, school and staying informed.
“The most popular Wikipedia articles are a reflection of our world, highlighting our collective interests at a unique moment in time,” said a Wikimedia Foundation spokesperson. “From learning about elections to keeping up with pop culture, each year we see people turning to Wikipedia as a trusted place to expand their knowledge on topics that capture their curiosity.”
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