Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and millions already have.
Wikipedia's purpose is to benefit readers by presenting information on all branches of knowledge. It consists of freely editable content, with articles that usually contain numerous links guiding readers to more information. Wikipedia is one of many Wikimedia projects hosted by the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation.
Written collaboratively by volunteers known as Wikipedians, Wikipedia articles can be edited by anyone with Internet access, except in limited cases in which editing is restricted to prevent disruption or vandalism. Since its creation on January 15, 2001, it has grown into the world's largest reference website, attracting over a billion visitors each month. Wikipedia is a multilingual project, with more than sixty-six million articles in more than 300 separate wikis for almost as many languages. This includes 7,135,844 articles in English, with 295,091 active contributors in the past month.
Wikipedia's fundamental principles are summarized in its five pillars. While the Wikipedia community has developed many policies and guidelines, new editors do not need to be familiar with them before they start contributing.