Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/5
Curated list of the 50,000 most vital articles on the English Wikipedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The five nested vital article Levels are meant to give direction to the prioritization of improvements of English Wikipedia articles (e.g. which articles to bring to WP:GA and WP:FA status), to provide a measurement of quality of overall English Wikipedia (e.g. what proportion of the most important articles are at GA and FA status), and to serve as a centralized watchlist of English Wikipedia's most important articles. Unlike the list of articles every Wikipedia should have, they are tailored to the English Wikipedia and are actively maintained by the dedicated WikiProject Vital Articles. All users are welcome to particpate in the process of addition to or removal from these lists. This page contains links to the 50,000 articles of the Level 5 list. This Level 5 list is discussed at the relevant Level 5 sub talk pages.
 | A request that this page title be changed to Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level 5 is under discussion. Please do not move this page until the discussion is closed. |
Level 1 (10 articles) < Level 2 (100 articles) < Level 3 (1,000 articles) < Level 4 (10,000 articles) < Level 5 (50,000 articles)
Level 5 sub-lists
Because of its size, Vital articles Level 5 has been split into several sub-lists. If you spot a duplicate listing, please remove one of them; if you aren't sure in which section a topic belongs, please initiate a discussion on the talk page. Please do not duplicate items on the same level of the list.
Current total
As of March 2026, the level 5 Vital Articles list includes 49,962 individual articles. All changes to this list should be proposed on the talk page or the relevant subpage for the proposal. Cewbot provides a more updated count of articles in its edit summaries on subpages.
Counts updated from subpages at 20:21, 11 March 2026 (UTC)
| Sublist | Current | Target | At quota? | Change in effect? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| People | 14,584 | 14,600 | Yes | N/a |
| Writers and journalists | 1,893 | 1,900 | Yes | N/a |
| Artists, musicians, and composers | 2,192 | 2,100 | Too many | Trim |
| Entertainers, directors, producers, and screenwriters | 2,101 | 2,100 | Yes | N/a |
| Philosophers, historians, and social scientists | 1,360 | 1,400 | Slightly under | Brainstorm |
| Religious figures | 500 | 500 | Yes | N/a |
| Politicians and leaders | 2,377 | 2,400 | Slightly under | N/a |
| Military personnel, revolutionaries, and activists | 869 | 900 | Slightly under | N/a |
| Scientists, inventors, and mathematicians | 1,279 | 1,300 | Slightly under | Brainstorm |
| Sports figures | 1,006 | 1,000 | Yes | N/a |
| Miscellaneous | 1,007 | 1,000 | Yes | N/a |
| History | 3,301 | 3,300 | Yes | N/a |
| Geography | 5,175 | 5,200 | Yes | N/a |
| Basics and technical geography | 137 | 100 | Slightly over | N/a |
| Physical geography | 1,780 | 1,800 | Slightly under | N/a |
| Regions and countries | 1,265 | 1,300 | Slightly under | N/a |
| Cities | 1,993 | 2,000 | Yes | N/a |
| Arts | 3,815 | 3,800 | Yes | N/a |
| Audiovisual arts | 1,948 | 1,900 | Slightly over | N/a |
| Narrative arts | 1,867 | 1,900 | Slightly under | N/a |
| Everyday life | 2,457 | 2,500 | Slightly under | ? |
| Everyday life | 1,312 | 1,300 | Yes | N/a |
| Sports, games and recreation | 1,145 | 1,200 | Not enough | ? |
| Philosophy and religion | 1,502 | 1,500 | Yes | N/a |
| Society and social sciences | 4,257 | 4,200 | Slightly over | ? |
| Social studies | 547 | 500 | Slightly over | ? |
| Politics and economics | 2,034 | 2,000 | Slightly over | ? |
| Culture | 1,676 | 1,700 | Slightly under | ? |
| Biology and health sciences | 5,670 | 5,600 | Slightly over | N/a |
| Biology, biochemistry, anatomy, and physiology | 1,146 | 1,100 | Slightly over | N/a |
| Animals | 2,403 | 2,400 | Yes | N/a |
| Plants, fungi, and other organisms | 1,005 | 1,000 | Yes | N/a |
| Health, medicine, and disease | 1,116 | 1,100 | Yes | Brainstorm |
| Physical sciences | 4,749 | 4,800 | Slightly under | N/a |
| Basics and measurement | 299 | 300 | Yes | N/a |
| Astronomy | 900 | 900 | Yes | N/a |
| Chemistry | 1,183 | 1,200 | Yes | N/a |
| Earth science | 1,193 | 1,200 | Yes | N/a |
| Physics | 1,174 | 1,200 | Slightly under | N/a |
| Technology | 3,242 | 3,200 | Slightly over | ? |
| Mathematics | 1,210 | 1,200 | Yes | N/a |
| Unallocated quota slots | N/a | 100 | N/a | N/a |
| Total | 49,962 | 50,000 | Yes | N/a |