Wikipedia:Popular pages

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The popular 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 (until the age of advanced electronic archeology) 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. For consolation, with this data we are very close to the all time ranking and will ever be closer. Wikipedia logged significantly less views before the count started in December 2007. Wikipedia reached the top 10 of Alexa.com in March 2007,[2] only half a year earlier, and before May 2003, Wikipedia had not even been on this list of 3,000 websites.[3] Moreover, as views accumulate over time, the pre-2007 views become ever less significant. Even if known, they would not alter either the ranking, or views counted in hundreds of millions.

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. One scholar in 2007 was puzzled why Wikipedia does not offer a "most viewed" or "most popular" feature on its site that can be easily found, as is the case on some contemporary highly visited sites, such as YouTube, Digg or Del.icio.us.[4]

The University of Milan created an engine of the complete yearly ranking of all Wikipedia articles for 2014–2021.[5] In 2013, the BBC published an article discussing most searched Wikipedia articles in 2012 in different languages.[6] Other versions of top-lists for shorter periods are regularly published and discussed by external popular media.[7][8][9][10][11][12]

Sources

Most-viewed pages were detected from earlier lists for shorter periods (named in Wikipedia:Statistics#Page views). The number of views for the detected pages were found by such engines as Wikitally (existed until 2017), Multiyear ranking of Wikipedia pages views[13] and Massview.[14] The latter counts views by category since July 1, 2015.

The leading page

The undisputed leader is Wikipedia's Main page, with over 46.8 billion views as of January 2022—more than the rest of the Top-100 list combined, including non-ranked pages. For comparison, "Baby Shark", which leads YouTube for the most views on that site,[15] had 15.7 billion views at that time. 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.[16]

Among the conventional pages with mostly human intentional views (ranked pages below), the United States probably took the lead in the pre-view-count period (2001–2007), as it can be seen in the October 2001 list and featured strongly in all available monthly reports for 2003 and 2004. Having held the first place until January 20, 2021, the U.S. was surpassed by its 45th and 47th president, Donald Trump. The US regained the leadership in August the same year.

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.

In total, humans represent over a quarter of all Wikipedia articles. As of November 2023, 1,915,609 people out of 6,748,287 articles, 28%.[17] As of January 2023, 66 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 – January 1, 2023).

COVID-19 appeared on the all-time list in June 2020; the page did not exist in the beginning of the year. In this respect, COVID-19 is the biggest phenomenon Wikipedia has ever known.

Donald Trump became the first person to reach 200 million views and overall second only after the United States. On January 20, 2021, the day he left office and refused to attend Biden's inauguration, 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 2021 storming of the United States Capitol gave him the decisive push. By notable contrast, his predecessor Barack Obama did not reach the U.S. during his two terms. Joe Biden debuted on the list on November 12, 2020.

In 2021, Manchester United became the first sports team to enter the list.

In the first trimester of 2022, Vladimir Putin debuted on the list. Among the non-English-speaking politicians, he became the first active state leader, the first living political leader, and overall second only to Adolf Hitler. Synchronously, Russia progressed 14 places and Will Smith 12 places.

More information Rank, Page ...
RankPageViews in millions
[a] Main Page 46,800
[a] Special:Search 15,000
[a] Special:Random 7,900
[b] - 2,900
[a] Undefined 1,800
[c] United States Senate[18] 350
[a] Special:Watchlist 344
[a] Special:Randompage 314
[d] YouTube 296
[d] Wiki 277
[d] Facebook 277
1 United States 254
2 Donald Trump 243
[c] Wikipedia 228
[b] 404.php 225
[c] xHamster 212
[a] Portal:Current events 208
3 Elizabeth II 198
[d] Google 193
[a] Special:Book 185
[a] Special:CreateAccount 172
4 India 165
5 Barack Obama 161
[a] Search 153
[c] Bible 153
6 Cristiano Ronaldo 151
7 World War II 145
8 United Kingdom 144
9 Michael Jackson 142
[a] Wikipedia:Your first article 137
10 Elon Musk 135
[a] Special:RecentChanges 135
11 Sex 132
[e] Cleopatra 132
12 Lady Gaga 129
13 Adolf Hitler 129
14 Eminem 127
15 Lionel Messi 125
16 Game of Thrones 122
17 World War I 121
18 The Beatles 116
19 Justin Bieber 114
20 Canada 113
20 Freddie Mercury 113
22 Kim Kardashian 111
23 Johnny Depp 109
[a] Creative Commons Attribution 109
24 Steve Jobs 108
24 Dwayne Johnson 108
26 Michael Jordan 107
26 Australia 107
28 List of presidents of the United States 104
29 The Big Bang Theory 103
30 Taylor Swift 102
[a] Search engine[22] 102
31 Stephen Hawking 101
31 List of highest-grossing films 101
33 China 100
[a] Portal:Contents 100
[a] XXXX 96
[c] Malware 96
34 Russia 96
34 New York City 96
34 Japan 96
34 Kanye West 96
38 List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films 95
38 Abraham Lincoln 95
40 LeBron James 94
40 Charles III[23] 94
40 Darth Vader 94
40 Star Wars 94
40 Miley Cyrus 94
40 Germany 94
40 September 11 attacks[24] 94
47 Leonardo DiCaprio 93
48 Kobe Bryant 92
48 Selena Gomez 92
50 Joe Biden 91
50 Tom Cruise 91
50 Rihanna 91
50 Albert Einstein 91
50 Academy Awards 91
55 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh 90
55 Harry Potter 90
55 Elvis Presley 90
55 The Walking Dead (TV series) 90
59 Scarlett Johansson 89
59 Lil Wayne 89
59 Tupac Shakur 89
59 Angelina Jolie 89
63 Queen Victoria 88
63 Jeffrey Dahmer 88
65 John F. Kennedy 87
65 COVID-19 pandemic[25] 87
67 Diana, Princess of Wales 86
67 Marilyn Monroe 86
69 Keanu Reeves 85
69 Arnold Schwarzenegger 85
69 How I Met Your Mother 85
69 Chernobyl disaster 85
69 France 85
69 Ariana Grande 85
75 Jennifer Aniston 84
75 Breaking Bad 84
77 Meghan, Duchess of Sussex 83
77 Muhammad Ali 83
77 Will Smith 83
80 Ted Bundy 82
80 Pablo Escobar 82
80 Mila Kunis 82
80 Vietnam War 82
80 Mark Zuckerberg 82
85 Manchester United F.C. 81
85 William Shakespeare 81
87 Titanic[26] 80
87 Tom Brady 80
87 Jay-Z[27] 80
87 Singapore 80
87 Earth 80
87 Bill Gates 80
[a] Wikipedia:Contact us 80
93 Winston Churchill 78
93 Bruce Lee 78
93 Nicki Minaj 78
93 Israel 78
97 Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon 77
97 John Cena 77
97 Charles Manson 77
97 Ryan Reynolds 77
97 Brad Pitt 77
97 Vladimir Putin 77
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Notes
  1. Wikipedia special and disambiguation pages and pages with a large percentage of unintentional views are omitted from the ranking.
  2. An artifact that somehow gets logged, sometimes after the data source changed.
  3. A page that logged a large number of automated views.
  4. The consistent popularity of pages like Wiki, Google, YouTube, and Facebook is likely due in part to people accidentally typing these site names into the Wikipedia search bar (or accidentally clicking the article in Google search results) when intending to actually visit the sites themselves.[19]
  5. Samsung Android smartphone voice command suggests to open up the Wikipedia article on Cleopatra. Since this is a popular device, many views are unintentional.[20][21]

Universe

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023)

More information Rank, Page ...
RankPageViews in millions
1 Earth 80
2 Sun 40
3 Moon 39
[a] Skathi (moon) 38
4 Black hole 37
4 Mars 37
6 Solar System 36
7 Pluto 31
8 Big Bang 30
9 Milky Way 26
10 Saturn 23
11 Kepler's Supernova 20
12 Universe 19
13 Dark matter 18
14 Galaxy 16
15 Jupiter 15
16 Venus 14
17 Supernovae 13
18 Andromeda Galaxy 12
19 Mercury (planet) 10
20 Neptune 9.5
21 Uranus 9.2
22 Solar eclipse 7.6
23 Lunar eclipse 7.2
24 Dark energy 7.0
24 Halley's Comet 7.0
26 Event horizon 6.5
27 Titan (moon) 6.2
28 Eclipse 5.7
28 Sirius 5.7
30 Winter solstice 5.4
30 Ceres (dwarf planet) 5.4
30 Alpha Centauri 5.4
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Note
  1. The high popularity of this moon in 2021–22 remains a mystery. Skathi is 8 km in diameter orbiting Saturn along dozens of other moons.

Earth

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023)

Ranked here are Earth's non-organic phenomena.

More information Rank, Page ...
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Life

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2022)

While the interest to Universe is strongly geocentric, the interest to living being is less anthropocentric. Three species are more popular than human, two more share the fifth place with us and animal does better too.

More information Rank, Page ...
RankPageViews in millions
1 Cat 61
2 Dog 50
3 Animal 38
3 Lion 38
5 Coronavirus 37
5 Tiger 37
5 Human 37
8 Dinosaur 29
9 Elephant 27
10 Virus 26
11 Horse 25
12 Photosynthesis 23
13 Evolution 22
13 Apple 22
13 Bird 22
16 Mammal 21
16 Potato 21
16 Polar bear 21
19 Shark 20
19 Snake 20
19 Spider 20
19 Rabbit 20
19 Platypus 20
19 Dolphin 20
25 Tyrannosaurus 19
25 Cougar 19
25 Jaguar 19
25 Chicken 19
25 Maize 19
30 Cattle 18
30 Dodo 18
30 Turmeric 18
30 Tomato 18
30 Cheetah 18
30 Giraffe 18
30 Bear 18
30 Raccoon 18
30 Octopus 18
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Civilization

Wars

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023)

Notes
  1. Part of World War II.
  2. Part of Russo-Ukrainian War (ranked 6)
  3. Not war in main definitions.
  4. Part of Napoleonic Wars (ranked 18th).
  5. This potential war has not happened.
  6. Part of Iraq War (ranked 10)
  7. Historicity is doubtful.

Empires and hegemonies

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023)

Ancient Egypt and History of Japan are on the list because originally Egypt and Japan were empires established by King Narmer[28] and the Yamato Dynasty[29] respectively. Sumer[30] and Sparta[31] are on the list as hegemonies. Sparta was the hegemon of the Peloponnesian League: see Spartan hegemony.

Notes
  1. Views before July 2015 lost.

Present countries

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023)

The list includes current member states of the United Nations.

In 2022, Ukraine debuted on the list, due to that year's invasion, while Russia surpassed Germany and Japan.

More information Rank, Page ...
RankPageViews in millions
1 United States 254
2 India 165
3 United Kingdom 144
4 Canada 113
5 Australia 107
6 China 100
7 Russia 98
8 Japan 96
9 Germany 94
10 France 85
11 Singapore 80
12 Israel 78
13 Pakistan 68
13 Philippines 68
15 Brazil 67
16 Italy 66
16 Netherlands[a] 66
16 New Zealand[a] 66
19 Ukraine 64
19 Spain 64
19 Turkey 64
22 South Africa 62
23 Mexico 61
24 Indonesia 60
25 Switzerland 58
26 North Korea 56
27 Sweden 55
28 Iran 54
29 United Arab Emirates 52
30 Egypt 51
31 Poland 51
32-189 158 countries 50–6.6
190 Federated States of Micronesia 6.5
191 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6.3
192 Eswatini 6.1
193 São Tomé and Príncipe 5.9
194 Republic of the Congo 4.9
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Note
  1. Netherlands and New Zealand are here because few people search instead for UN member states of the Realm of New Zealand and Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Cities

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023)

More information Rank, Page ...
RankPageContinentViews in millions
1 New York City North America 96
2 Singapore Asia 80
3 London Europe 76
4 Hong Kong Asia 62
5 Los Angeles North America 53
6 Dubai Asia 51
7 Washington, D.C. North America 47
8 Paris Europe 44
8 Chicago North America 44
[a] Angelsberg Europe 44
10 Mumbai Asia 38
11 San Francisco North America 37
12 Rome Europe 33
12 Monaco Europe 33
12 Toronto North America 33
15 Tokyo Asia 32
16 Philadelphia North America 31
17 Machu Picchu South America 30
18 Jerusalem Asia 28
18 Amsterdam Europe 28
18 Boston North America 28
21 Barcelona Europe 27
21 Seattle North America 27
21 Istanbul Europe/Asia 27
21 Berlin Europe 27
25 Vatican Europe 26
25 Vancouver North America 26
27 Shanghai Asia 25
27 Pompeii Europe 25
29 Venice Europe 24
29 Atlanta North America 24
29 Montreal North America 24
29 Moscow Europe 24
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Note
  1. 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.[32]

Buildings and structures

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023)

On July 6, 2022, the Georgia Guidestones rose 23 places in the list (rank 33) after its enigmatic explosion.[33] Dismantled the same day, the Guidestones remain here.

On September 8, the same year, Balmoral Castle debuted on the list (rank 81). The Queen's death in the Castle almost doubled its all time views.

More information Rank*, Page ...
Rank*PageDate of completion[a]Views in millions
1 Taj Mahal 1653 53
2 Burj Khalifa 2009 44
3 Statue of Liberty 1886 40
4 Great Wall of China c. 212 BC 39
5 Eiffel Tower 1889 37
6 Berlin Wall 1960s 33
7 Machu Picchu 15th century 30
8 Stonehenge 3rd millennium BC 29
9 Mount Rushmore National Memorial 1939 28
9 Colosseum 80 28
9 Auschwitz concentration camp 1942 28
12 Great Pyramid of Giza c. 2560 BC 26
13 One World Trade Center 2014 24
14 Empire State Building 1931 23
15 White House 1800 22
15 Petra[b] 5th century BC 22
17 Large Hadron Collider 2008 21
17 Hagia Sophia 537 21
19 Golden Gate Bridge 1937 18
19 Panama Canal 1914 18
21 Angkor Wat 12th century 17
21 Big Ben 1859 17
21 Guantanamo Bay detention camp 2002 17
21 Buckingham Palace 1850 17
25 Christ the Redeemer (statue) 1931 16
25 Kaaba Before 610 16
27 New York Stock Exchange 1903 15
27 Parthenon 5th century BC 15
29 Pantheon, Rome c. 126 14
29 Disneyland 1955 14
29 Colossus of Rhodes 280 BC 14
29 ADX Florence 1994 14
33 Notre-Dame de Paris 1345 13
33 Wembley Stadium 2007 13
33 World Trade Center (1973–2001) 1973 13
33 Westminster Abbey 960 13
33 Windsor Castle 11th century 13
33 Georgia Guidestones 1980 13
39 Statue of Unity 2018 12
39 Suez Canal 1869 12
39 Walt Disney World 1971 12
39 Channel Tunnel 1994 12
39 Forbidden City 1420 12
39 Willis Tower 1973 12
45 Timbuktu[b] 5th century BC 11
45 Taipei 101 2004 11
45 Arc de Triomphe 1836 11
45 Lighthouse of Alexandria c. 246 BC 11
49 Mohenjo-daro[b] 3rd millennium BC 10
49 John F. Kennedy International Airport 1948 10
49 Temple of Artemis c. 540 BC 10
49 Library of Alexandria 3rd century BC 10
49 Brooklyn Bridge 1883 10
49 Code of Hammurabi c. 1754 BC 10
55 Leaning Tower of Pisa 1372 9.6
56 Statue of Zeus at Olympia 5th century BC 9.2
56 Acropolis of Athens 5th century BC 9.2
58 New York City Subway 1904 9.0
59 Dome of the Rock 692 8.9
60 Great Sphinx of Giza 2532 BC 8.8
61 Palace of Versailles 1678 8.7
62 Wall Street 19th century 8.4
63 Antilia (building) 2010 8.3
64 David (Michelangelo) 1504 8.2
64 Church of the Holy Sepulchre 335 8.2
66 7 World Trade Center 2006 8.1
66 Al-Aqsa Mosque 705 8.1
68 Göbekli Tepe[b] 10th millennium BC 7.9
69 Moai 14th century 7.8
70 Chichen Itza[b] 7th century 7.5
71 Epcot 1982 7.4
71 Petronas Towers 1996 7.4
73 Hoover Dam 1936 7.2
74 Terracotta Army 3rd century BC 7.0
74 Tower of London 1078 7.0
76 Red Fort 1648 6.9
76 Delhi Metro 2002 6.9
78 Jeddah Tower On hold 6.8
78 Louvre 1793 6.8
78 St. Peter's Basilica 1626 6.8
81 Balmoral Castle 1856 6.7
81 British Museum 1753 6.7
81 Brandenburg Gate 1791 6.7
84 Neuschwanstein Castle 1886 6.6
85 Indira Gandhi International Airport 1940s 6.5
86 Hadrian's Wall 128 6.4
87 Erie Canal 1825 6.3
87 Persepolis[b] 6th century BC 6.3
87 United States Capitol 1800 6.3
90 Washington Monument 1888 6.2
90 Gateway of India 1924 6.2
92 Qutb Minar ~ 1220 5.9
92 Alhambra 13th century 5.9
92 India Gate 1921 5.9
92 London Underground 1863 5.9
96 Three Gorges Dam 2003 5.8
96 Heathrow Airport 1946 5.8
96 United States Military Academy 1802 5.8
96 MetLife Stadium 2010 5.8
100 Rikers Island prison 1932 5.7
100 Mausoleum at Halicarnassus 351 BC 5.7
100 Führerbunker 1944 5.7
100 Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary 1934 5.7
100 Borobudur 9th century 5.7
100 Hampi 1500 5.7
100 Konark Sun Temple 13th century 5.7
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Notes
  1. All BC dates are marked. The rest of dates are AD.
  2. A city or former city known mostly for its architecture.

People

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023)

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 second impeachment), his page became the most popular overall.

More information Rank, Page ...
RankPageViews in millions
1 Donald Trump 243
2 Elizabeth II 198
3 Barack Obama 163
4 Cristiano Ronaldo 151
5 Michael Jackson 141
6 Elon Musk 135
7 Lady Gaga 129
7 Adolf Hitler 129
9 Eminem 127
10 Lionel Messi 125
11 Justin Bieber 114
12 Freddie Mercury 113
13 Kim Kardashian 111
14 Johnny Depp 109
15 Steve Jobs 108
15 Dwayne Johnson 108
17 Michael Jordan 107
18 Taylor Swift 102
19 Stephen Hawking 101
20 Kanye West 96
21 Abraham Lincoln 95
22 LeBron James 94
22 Charles III[23] 88
22 Miley Cyrus 94
25 Leonardo DiCaprio 93
26 Selena Gomez 92
26 Kobe Bryant 92
28 Joe Biden 91
28 Tom Cruise 91
28 Albert Einstein 91
28 Rihanna 91
32 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh 90
32 Elvis Presley 90
34 Lil Wayne 89
34 Scarlett Johansson 89
34 Tupac Shakur 89
34 Angelina Jolie 89
38 Queen Victoria 88
38 Jeffrey Dahmer 88
40 John F. Kennedy 87
41 Diana, Princess of Wales 86
41 Marilyn Monroe 86
43 Keanu Reeves 85
43 Ariana Grande 85
43 Arnold Schwarzenegger 85
46 Jennifer Aniston 84
47 Meghan, Duchess of Sussex 83
47 Muhammad Ali 83
47 Will Smith 83
50 Mark Zuckerberg 82
50 Ted Bundy 82
50 Pablo Escobar 82
50 Mila Kunis 82
54 William Shakespeare 81
55 Tom Brady 80
55 Jay-Z[34] 80
55 Bill Gates 80
58 Winston Churchill 78
58 Nicki Minaj 78
58 Bruce Lee 78
61 Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon 77
61 Ryan Reynolds 77
61 Brad Pitt 77
61 John Cena 77
61 Charles Manson 77
61 Vladimir Putin 77
67 Clint Eastwood 76
67 Madonna 76
69 Jennifer Lopez 75
69 Katy Perry 75
71 George VI 74
71 Heath Ledger 74
71 Britney Spears 74
74 Sylvester Stallone 73
74 Adele[35] 73
74 Prince (musician) 73
74 David Bowie 73
78 Ronald Reagan 72
79 Kamala Harris 71
79 George W. Bush 71
79 Jennifer Lawrence 71
79 Mahatma Gandhi 71
83 Emma Watson 69
84 Robin Williams 68
84 Mark Wahlberg 68
86 Henry VIII 67
86 Beyoncé 67
86 John Lennon 67
86 Nelson Mandela 67
90 Demi Lovato 66
90 Megan Fox 66
90 Roger Federer 66
93 Tom Hardy 65
93 Leonardo da Vinci 65
95 Tom Hanks 64
95 George Washington 64
95 Franklin D. Roosevelt 64
95 Mike Tyson 64
95 Lali Espósito 64
100 Bob Marley 63
100 Bill Clinton 63
100 The Undertaker 63
100 Mariah Carey 63
100 Kristen Stewart 63
100 Natalie Portman 63
100 Snoop Dogg 63
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Singers

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023)

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.

More information Rank, Page ...
RankPageViews in millions
1 Michael Jackson 141
2 Lady Gaga 129
3 Eminem 127
4 Justin Bieber 114
5 Freddie Mercury 113
6 Taylor Swift 102
7 Kanye West 96
8 Miley Cyrus 94
9 Selena Gomez 92
10 Rihanna 91
11 Elvis Presley 90
12 Lil Wayne 89
12 Tupac Shakur 89
14 Ariana Grande 85
15 Jay-Z[27] 80
16 Nicki Minaj 78
17 Madonna 76
18 Katy Perry 75
18 Jennifer Lopez 75
20 Britney Spears 74
21 Adele[35] 73
21 David Bowie 73
23 Prince 72
24 Beyoncé 67
24 John Lennon 67
26 Demi Lovato 66
27 Lali Espósito 64
28 Bob Marley 63
28 Mariah Carey 63
28 Snoop Dogg 63
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Actors

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2025)

This list omits actors who are singers in order not to repeat half of the previous table.

More information Rank, Page ...
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Athletes

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023)

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.

The popularity of Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi is more impressive considering the English bias. Both are from non English-speaking countries and Messi never played in the Premier League.

Note
  1. Non-competitive sport.

Political leaders

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023)

Along the rise of Donald Trump, credit for the 2017 performance must be given to Vladimir Putin--he overtook Sarah Palin for 23rd place. Palin then dropped from the list the following year, attributed to the mighty advance of the British royal family.

Putin approached relegation by the fall of 2021. With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, his page logged about 16 million views in the first month of the war, securing his place on this list.

Trump's successor, Joe Biden, debuted on the list in October 2020. By the end of the month, he shared 22nd place with Stalin. In three more days he reached Margaret Thatcher. The next day, the day of election, Biden added 1.8 million views and tied Elizabeth I, in the top-20. The next day, November 5, he joined FDR for 19th place. On November 8th - The day after Biden was confirmed President-elect - he logged 7 million cumulative views, rising to 9th place.

Kamala Harris logged 3.5 million views on November 7 and 6.5 million the next day, entering the list to become the second American (after Alexander Hamilton) on the list who had not served as President. The third became Martin Luther King in March 2022, appearing on the list intermittently until the end of the year.

The largest gains in 2021 were seen surrounding the British royal family, peaking around the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Even larger gains were seen the next year, peaking around the death of Elizabeth II on September 8th. The Queen saw over 20 million pageviews in the seven days following her death. Earlier in 2022, she had passed Barack Obama for second place. The September-2022 surge of the royal family caused relegation of Osama bin Laden.

As seen in the two-decade list of Wikipedia (2001–2021), this subsequent list has been exclusive to US Presidents, the British royal family, and Adolf Hitler.

More information Rank, Page ...
RankPageCountryViews in millions
1 Donald Trump United States 282
2 Elizabeth II United Kingdom 218
3 Barack Obama United States 179
4 Adolf Hitler Nazi Germany 147
5 Joe Biden United States 117
6 Charles III[23] United Kingdom 115
7 Abraham Lincoln United States 105
8 Kamala Harris United States 103
9 Queen Victoria United Kingdom 101
9 John F. Kennedy United States 101
11 Diana, Princess of Wales United Kingdom 98
12 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh United Kingdom 96
13 Meghan, Duchess of Sussex United Kingdom 92
14 Vladimir Putin Russia 89
15 Winston Churchill United Kingdom 86
16 Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon United Kingdom 85
17 George VI United Kingdom 84
18 Ronald Reagan United States 83
19 Mahatma Gandhi India 82
20 George W. Bush United States 81
21 Franklin D. Roosevelt United States 74
22 Nelson Mandela South Africa 73
22 Bill Clinton United States 73
23 George Washington United States 72
24 Henry VIII of England United Kingdom 68
25 Joseph Stalin Soviet Union 69
26 Elisabeth I United Kingdom 66
27 Edward VIII United Kingdom 65
27 George H. W. Bush United States 65
29 Alexander Hamilton United States 62
30 Margaret Thatcher United Kingdom 61
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Pre-modern people

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023)

This category includes people born before AD 1400 (with the exception of Joan of Arc, born in 1412) who cannot compete with contemporaries figures, like Barack Obama and Michael Jackson.

Originally, the chapter "Political leaders" (above) was titled "Modern political leaders." By 2022, the top-30 modern leaders opened gap over their predecessors and "Modern" was dropped from the title.

The general top-30 list of people (above, now extended to top-100) included 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 who have died,[citation needed] for view-count continues posthumously.

As of November 2023 Wikipedia counts 1,915,609 people.[17] Of them, 1,075,990 are living,[36] or 56% i.e. the living outnumber the dead. 213,943 more were living in the Wikipedia period,[37] raising the percentage of this period's people to 67 (two-thirds). 341,079 more were living in the century preceding Wikipedia (1901–2000),[38] raising the percentage of the contemporaries to 85. That is, people who lived at some time from the beginning of history until 1900 – 98% of history - constitute only 15%.

As of 2021, people born since 1960 AD log as many views as people born before, and the year of parity rises every year.[39]

More information Rank, Page ...
RankPageTimeViews in millions
1 Jesus 4 BC − 30/33 AD 59
2 Alexander the Great 356 – 323 BC 55
3 Muhammad 570 – 623 AD 51
4 Julius Caesar 100 – 44 BC 49
5 Genghis Khan 1162 – 1227 AD 44
6 Gautama Buddha 6th – 4th centuries BC 37
7 Aristotle 384 – 322 BC 34
8 Plato 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC 30
8 King Arthur[a] 5th – 6th centuries AD 30
10 Joan of Arc 1412 – 1431 AD 29
11 Socrates 470/469 – 399 BC 28
12 Spartacus 111 – 71 BC 27
13 Charlemagne 742/748 – 814 AD 26
13 Tutankhamun c. 1341 – c. 1323 BC 26
13 Ragnar Lodbrok[a] 9th century AD 26
13 Augustus 63 BC – AD 14 26
17 William Wallace 1270 – 1305 AD 24
17 Moses[b] 14th – 13th centuries BC 24
19 Nero 37 AD – 68 AD 23
19 Marco Polo 1254 – 1324 AD 23
21 Alfred the Great c. 848-899 AD 22
21 Caligula 12 AD – 41 AD 22
23 Robin Hood[a] 12th – 14th centuries AD 21
24 Cleopatra[c] 69 – 30 BC 20
25 Henry V of England 1386 – 1422 AD 19
25 Hannibal 247 – 183/181 BC 19
25 Abraham[b] 19th – 17th centuries BC 19
28 David 1010 - 970 BC 18
28 Confucius 551 – 479 BC 18
28 Marcus Aurelius 121 - 180 AD 18
28 William the Conqueror 11th century AD 18
28 Ashoka 304 – 222 BC 18
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Notes
  1. Historicity is dubious.
  2. Historicity is unconfirmed by extra-Biblical sources.
  3. The number of intentional mobile views for 2020-2022 is unknown (see "Top-100," note f above). Basing on the previous years, probably 9 million and all time total 29 million.

3rd-millennium people

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023)

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.[13] 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.[40][41]

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.[42]

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. Williamson peaked at the 14th rank in March 2021, then the highest for a millennial athlete. The forth athlete and the first footballer on the list became Erling Haaland in 2020, followed by his teammate Jadon Sancho the same year. By the end of 2021, Haaland surpassed Williamson for the most viewed millennial athlete and by the fall of 2022 reached rank 4, the highest ever for the millennial athlete. In September 2021 Emma Raducanu became the first tennis player on the list.

In November 2022, Jenna Ortega debuted on the list and already by the fall of the year reached rank 8.

Note
  1. 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 (*)
More information Person, Views ...
Progression of the most-viewed millennial persons on Wikipedia
Person Views [a] Page creation date Month achieved Months held
Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant1Aug 4, 2003August 4, 20034–16 [b]
Lady Louise Windsor100,000–200,000 [b]Nov 26, 20032004 [b]70–84 [b]
Willow Smith4,000,000–5,000,000 [b]Apr 23, 2005October – December 2010 [b]103–105 [b]
Millie Bobby Brown17,300,000Jul 22, 2016July 20191 [c]
Billie Eilish17,300,000Apr 15, 2017July 201942
As of 12 March 2026
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Notes
  1. The approximate number of views each person had when she became Wikipedia’s most-viewed millennial.
  2. Probable estimation.
  3. Millie Bobby Brown held the leadership for 4 days in July 2019.[40][41]

Entertainment

Sport teams

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023).

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 to 2019.

Films and TV series

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023).

TV series clearly has the upper hand to film, for the most part.

More information Rank, Page ...
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Music bands

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023).

More information Rank, Page ...
RankPageViews in millions
1 The Beatles 116
2 One Direction 63
2 BTS 63
4 Queen 56
5 Pink Floyd 51
6 Metallica 50
7 Linkin Park 47
8 Exo 45
8 Led Zeppelin 45
10 Red Hot Chili Peppers 44
11 AC/DC 42
12 The Rolling Stones 39
13 Coldplay 37
14 Fleetwood Mac 35
14 Daft Punk 35
14 Slipknot 35
17 Nirvana 34
18 ABBA 33
18 Spice Girls 33
18 Jonas Brothers 33
18 Green Day 33
18 Guns N' Roses 33
23 Bee Gees 32
24 Foo Fighters 31
24 Iron Maiden 31
24 Gorillaz 31
24 Backstreet Boys 31
28 Kiss 30
29 Girls' Generation 29
29 N.W.A 29
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Albums

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023).

Singles

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023).

Video games

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023)

Books and book series

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023).

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.

Science books

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023)

Included in this category is any book basing on observation and presenting thesis.

The five leading books are all about warfare, struggle and power. The next is a relatively benign work telling how to influence people short of killing them. Then is the struggle for survival in which only the fittest survives. And the following is the world where life is nasty, brutish and short.

Pre-modern books and texts

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023).

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.[50] The perspective below however reveals an ancient text more popular among wikipedia readers.

More information Rank, Page ...
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New World

The New World used to have its representative, the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar (2.6 million views). But the world did not end on December 20, 2012, and within several years the disappointing calendar dropped from the list.

Notes
  1. Since 2019, Bible has logged a large number of automated desktop views. The over 95% disparity between desktop and mobile views is, in the opinion of experts,[51] 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 2019–2021. 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 22 million.
  2. Part or version of Bible
  3. Views before 2015 lost.

Legendary creatures

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023)

Ranked here is any creature, either non-human or possessing super-human powers, included in Category:Legendary creatures.

More information Rank, Page ...
RankPageViews in millions
1 Darth Vader 93
2 Batman 58
3 Spider-Man 44
4 Deadpool 40
5 Iron Man 35
6 Captain America 34
7 Harley Quinn 28
8 Santa Claus 27
9 God 25
10 Vampire 24
10 Cthulhu 24
10 Prometheus 24
10 Apollo 24
10 Thanos 24
10 Krishna 24
10 Mickey Mouse 24
17 Jessica Jones 22
17 Frankenstein 22
17 Doctor Strange 22
17 Satan 22
21 Mario 21
22 Thor 20
22 Dragon 20
22 Flying Spaghetti Monster 20
22 Godzilla 20
26 Lord Voldemort 19
26 Chupacabra 19
26 Albus Dumbledore 19
29 Luke Cage 18
30 Isis 17
30 Doppelgänger 17
30 Carol Danvers 17
30 Wonder Woman 17
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Events

(December 1, 2007 – January 1, 2023)

Ranked here is any event on any scale from the Big Bang until the ultimate fate of the Universe. The list exceeds the standard of 30 pages to include all events more popular than the world creation.

As time passes, memories of... historical events tend to fade. New experiences take center stage, pushing the old into oblivion. And even when we do not forget, the significance of past events diminishes as new experiences overlay them.[52]

Lists

Categories

(July 1, 2015 – January 1, 2023)

Counting views by category is a mission impossible with the present tools. The TreeViews  tool (which previously did not work) works as of 2024. The account Wikitop  for top 30 most popular articles by categories is suspended. Multiyear ranking of Wikipedia pages views[13] counts only few selected categories of small number of pages. Practically the only helpful tool for categories is Massview[14] and it also has many limitations. It lacks data before July 2015 and does not work for any category exceeding 20,000 pages, or for any period exceeding a year for categories of over 5000 pages.

With unarmed eye we can see that the largest category is Content, followed by Articles, followed by Main topic classifications. And this is how far we can see. Calculating a top-30 list with the available tools would require a collective effort of several generations of Wikipedians.

Excluding subcategories and counting pages only, the top-30 list gives Living people and 29 maintenance categories beginning with Articles with short description (4,624,447 pages, most of the Wikipedia). Excluding maintenance categories, the top-30 list presents films, shows, entertainers, American people of various descents and one oddity: Spoken articles.

More information Rank, Page ...
RankPageNumber of pagesViews in millions
[a] Living people[b] 1,047,291 125,964
[c] Main Page 19 36,828
1 American male film actors 11,768 21,252
2 American male television actors 9752 19,488
3 American film actresses 8854 17,610
4 American television actresses 7504 17,192
5 21st-century American male actors 5341 17,158
6 21st-century American actresses 5435 16,263
7 20th-century American male actors 9042 16,233
8 2010s English-language films 12,085 12,856
9 English-language television shows 17,251  12,938
10 20th-century American actresses 7145 12,407
11 American people of Irish descent 3276 11,121
12 American people of English descent 3004 10,811
13 American male voice actors 3108 10,616
14 2010s American films 8089 9829
15 American people of German descent 3122 9010
16 21st-century American singers 5612 8658
17 Grammy Award winners 2834 8661
18 American voice actresses 1643 7256
19 20th-century American singers 5089 5842
20 Spoken articles[d] 1664 5681
21 American people of Scottish descent 1315 5489
22 2000s English-language films 10,003 5382
23 21st-century American Jews 7623 5425
24 American child actresses 1584 5271
25 21st-century African-American men 9251 5241
26 American people of Italian descent 3033 4920
27 21st-century American comedians 2041 4875
28 American stage actresses 3528 4849
29 2000s American films 7181 4635
30 American male stage actors 3413 4631
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Notes
  1. Category intentionally kept non-diffusing
  2. Estimation. The Massview tool[14] counts only 20,000 first pages. 20,000 pages are used here to establish the average and the average is multiplied by the total number of pages.
  3. Maintenance category
  4. Deduction of 332 million views illegally logged by the United States Senate in February - March 2020.

See also

References

Related Articles

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