Wikipedia Passes 300,000 Articles making it the worlds largest encyclopedia
After only 3 years of existence Wikipedia has become the worlds largest encyclopedia with 300,000 articles. It is made completely by volunteering user and it is free of charge.
Wikipedia passed the 100,000 articles mark 21st January 2003 and the 200,000 articles mark 2nd February 2004. This increase is astonishing and points towards Wikipedia soon becoming "Encyclopedia Galactic", the world book of wisdom. Even the impressive collection present in the glory days of the great library in Alexandria (Egypt) fades compared to what Wikipedia now offers. The secret behind the success is simple: every visitor is allowed to register and instantly add and improve articles.
To put things in perspective: The biggest commercial book of knowledge, Encyclopędia Britannica, has a total of 85,000 articles.
The site has grown much quicker than anticipated and has been slow or completely unavailable during the last year. This issue is constantly worked on and availability has improved the last few months.
The best thing about this open development model is probably that bizarre topics like Leet and Internet slang receive coverage.
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