Wikimedia Foundation

The votes are in 🎉 Every year, the Wikimedia community comes together to select the "Picture of the Year" from hundreds of community-submitted photos. These images, called featured pictures, are recognized as the highest quality images on the site. The community waits until the year is over to go through the many amazing pictures uploaded. Voting takes place in two rounds: first, all featured pictures are eligible. In round two, voters must choose from a shortlist of finalists. The Picture of the Year for 2024 is "Cattle camp of the Mundari tribe, Terekeka, South Sudan", by Diego Delso. It depicts a Mundari man polishing the horns of one of his Watusi cows as a ritualistic and protective practice. The picture was taken just after sunset, and the smoke in the background is the result of cow dung bonfires. Explore past Picture of the Year winners ➡️ https://w.wiki/BqHa

Every minute of every day, volunteers around the world edit Wikimedia projects. More than 265,000 people contribute to Wikimedia projects monthly. Together, they have created 65+ million Wikipedia articles in 300+ languages and added 128+ million media files to Wikimedia Commons. All Wikimedia projects are viewed 18+ billion times per month. Thank you. Thank you to the editors who spend their evenings fixing citations. Thank you to the donors who contribute to keeping the servers running. Thank you to the 185 movement affiliates who spread free knowledge around the world. Thank you to the readers who use Wikipedia for homework, research, and curiosity.

Known offline as Mateusz Kopeć, User:AramilFeraxa is based in Poland. He began editing Polish Wikipedia in 2020 by fixing punctuation, and quickly grew into a trusted leader. On Polish Wikipedia, he mentors newcomers, serves as an administrator and checkuser, and previously sat on the Arbitration Committee. Beyond fighting vandalism, he curates the "Did You Know" column on the Polish main page. Because the process is manual, he selects and arranges questions, images, and text every day, ensuring fresh, well‑sourced content. AramilFeraxa’s editorial achievements are equally impressive. He has brought 16 movie articles to featured status, including all of the James Bond films starring Daniel Craig, and numerous others to "good article" standing. He says the satisfaction of seeing a complex article evolve into a featured piece – sometimes over months of work – remains one of his happiest wiki memories. His motivation comes from a desire to make knowledge accessible and reliable for everyone. In addition to his editing and steward duties, AramilFeraxa enjoys music, theater, and film – interests that have influenced his choice of article topics. He also loves to travel and plays chess. When asked about challenges facing the movement, he acknowledges that access to reliable sources can be limited in less digitized regions, which makes it harder to cover topics important to local communities. AramilFeraxa's journey shows that dedication, curiosity, and a willingness to learn can lead from a single punctuation fix to a role safeguarding Wikipedia. His tireless work got him recognized as the 2025 Functionary of the Year, an award that honors those who ensure the safety, smooth operation, and sustainability of Wikimedia projects.

What happens when a global community of volunteers comes together to make a free library? You get Wikisource, a digital library of public domain and freely licensed texts, films, and similar material. Like Wikipedia, it is a project supported by the Wikimedia Foundation, but its mission is different: it preserves primary sources and makes them accessible for anyone to read and reuse. Wikisource provides the full text of documents, including letters, speeches, and historical records, and offers documents related to encyclopedia articles for further reading. It also hosts reliable sources that can be cited in Wikipedia articles. Volunteers transcribe manuscripts and verify the accuracy of scanned texts. The result is an invaluable collection of human knowledge, from constitutions and classic novels to poetry and court rulings. On its anniversary, we celebrate the role that Wikisource plays in the free knowledge ecosystem. It complements Wikipedia by providing the original texts behind the summaries. Need the full Declaration of Independence? Wikisource has it. Looking for a 19th‑century encyclopedia entry? You can read it in its entirety. The project also helps preserve cultural heritage by digitizing works that might otherwise be lost. Because all material is free to reuse, educators and researchers can incorporate these texts into lesson plans and studies without worrying about copyright barriers. Volunteers from around the world contribute by scanning books, proofreading pages, and building indexes. You do not need to be a historian to help; anyone with attention to detail can improve a text or upload a document under a free license. Every corrected word brings us closer to a complete, accessible digital library. Join the celebration by exploring Wikisource – and maybe transcribing a page yourself ➡️ https://w.wiki/XWE

A major milestone for open knowledge in South America: a local Wikimedia initiative has been selected as one of the top 10 projects supported by UNESCO’s Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change. Led by Wikimedia Brasil and the Working Group on Climate Justice and Wikimedia Projects (featuring Wikimedia affiliates from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Uruguay), the project focuses on strengthening reliable information about climate change and the environment across Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Wikimedia Commons. The team will work on research, data modeling, and public-outreach workshops throughout the region, improving content on extreme weather and climate-related events while building tools to detect and reduce climate misinformation. An international volunteer advisory group from Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia will provide advice and potentially replicate successful approaches worldwide. This recognition underscores the impact of our movement's values — neutrality, verifiability, open collaboration — in a world facing complex climate challenges. With a representative present at COP30, the project highlights how the Wikimedia movement can support global understanding of climate science and improve information integrity when it’s needed most. Read more ➡️ https://w.wiki/GC4c

How does a website with no corporate advertising and no paywall stay online? Wikipedia is supported by a nonprofit organization, the Wikimedia Foundation, which is largely funded by readers – most giving an average of $11. Only 2% of readers give, but this small group makes all the difference. This grassroots support keeps Wikipedia independent and free. Every donation, whether $1 or $100, directly funds the technology that keeps the sites safe and reliable, maintains tools for editors, supports volunteers in emerging communities, and helps create new ways for people to access and contribute to free knowledge. By giving to Wikipedia, you are standing up for something simple but profound: that knowledge should belong to everyone. The Wikimedia Foundation handles every gift with care. We publish detailed fundraising reports and audited financial statements so donors can see exactly how their support is used. That kind of accountability matters because every gift goes directly toward building a truly public good, sustained by the people it serves. If you can, donate today ➡️ https://lnkd.in/dEgx2Vq4

Every factual claim on Wikipedia must be verifiable. The Wikipedia policy on verifiability states that all material must be backed by reliable sources. The burden of providing an inline citation lies with the editor who adds the information. If a statement lacks a source, it may be removed, especially if it concerns a living person. Reliable sources are independent, published works with a reputation for fact‑checking and accuracy. They may include scholarly journals, reputable news outlets, and books from established publishers. Self‑published material, personal blogs, or unvetted websites do not meet this community-determined standard. Context matters: A source may be reliable for one type of information but not for another. Editors are encouraged to use common sense and editorial judgment when choosing sources. Citing sources is not meant to get in the way. It is Wikipedia’s first line of defense against misinformation. Using citations properly helps maintain neutrality. Editors should summarize what reliable sources say rather than their personal views. You do not need to be an expert to improve references: fixing a broken link, adding a missing citation, or replacing a questionable source with a better one contributes to the reliability of the encyclopedia. In a world flooded with misinformation, citing and checking sources are acts of care. Help keep Wikipedia trustworthy by verifying the facts you add and including reliable references where needed. Learn more about Wikipedia's policies to protect against misinformation ➡️ https://w.wiki/FVY

Congratulations to this year’s MacArthur Foundation 100&Change winner, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard for the Sentinel project! It’s been an honor to stand alongside so many organizations working to make the world more equitable. We’re proud to have shared how Abstract Wikipedia can accelerate knowledge creation and sharing globally. We appreciate the MacArthur Foundation's support of free, trustworthy knowledge. We thank Google.org, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Wikimedia Endowment for their support. #100andChange

Robert Sim’s story shows that you can start with a small correction – a broken URL, in his case – and eventually help coordinate a global conference. Registered on Wikipedia in 2006 but most active since 2019 as User:Robertsky, Robert has made more than 79,000 edits. He became an administrator of English Wikipedia in 2024. His contributions are focused on Singapore‑related content. Together with like‑minded editors, he has updated and expanded articles about Singapore’s history, culture, and infrastructure to meet current editing standards. Offline, Robert was one of the organizers of Wikimania 2023, when the conference was held in Singapore. With no local user group at the time, he helped bring together volunteers from the East, Southeast Asia and Pacific region and introduced an open‑source event platform that the movement continues to use. He also helped establish the Wikimedia Singapore User Group in 2023 and serves on the ESEAP Hub Preparatory Council, working with others to secure funding for regional projects, develop governance structures, and support cross‑affiliate collaborations. Robert’s technical contributions are equally notable. Finding the Index of Singapore‑related articles badly out of date, he wrote a script to semi‑automate updates, preserving the list and making it easier for others to maintain. His motivation extends beyond personal editing; he seeks to nurture local and regional communities so that more people can share knowledge. Robert balances his volunteer work with a career in digital consultancy and enjoys cycling, singing in a choir, and taking photographs. His advice to newcomers in the Wikimedia movement is simple: ask questions, learn from mistakes, and trust that the community is welcoming. Passion for your local culture, combined with a willingness to lead and innovate, can transform the way the world learns about your corner of the globe. For his tireless efforts helping our movement thrive, Robert was awarded the 2025 Wikimedian of the Year award 🎊

How do you preserve Indigenous languages at risk of disappearance? In Nigeria, Wiki for Minorities helps contributors use Wikipedia and its sister projects to document, bring awareness, and digitally preserve languages considered minor or small in terms of speaker populations, documentation, and institutional support. Through training sessions, edit-a-thons, and digital literacy workshops, volunteers learn the skills needed to contribute to Wikimedia projects – and in turn, they share their stories, culture, and knowledge. These activities celebrating Nigeria’s diverse culture and languages have led to the creation of more than 450 new Wikipedia articles and the addition of over 600 culturally-relevant photos to Wikimedia Commons. Learn more about the efforts to preserve Nigeria’s indigenous languages ➡️ https://w.wiki/FwP9