Tomorrow marks 25 years of Wikipedia — a quarter-century of collective knowledge built by millions of volunteers across the globe. Looking at the data tells two very different stories:
- The most viewed pages reflect what the world is curious about: countries, wars, pop culture, and major public figures.
- The most-edited pages reflect where editors spend their time: complex, constantly changing topics, sports rosters, politics, and living biographies that require continuous updates.
Together, these lists highlight Wikipedia’s unique dual role: a global reference for readers, and a living, evolving project for editors.
Below are the Top 50 Most Viewed Articles and the Top 50 Most Edited Articles, all time (2001–2025).
Bold entries mark the 16 articles that show up on both charts: they’re among Wikipedia’s biggest magnets for readers and also among its busiest pages for editors.
| Most Viewed (million views) | Most Edited (thousand edits) |
|---|---|
| 1. United States (322.8M) | 1. List of WWE personnel (59.2K) |
| 2. Donald Trump (243.0M) | 2. United States (52.8K) |
| 3. India (236.6M) | 3. Donald Trump (50.7K) |
| 4. Elizabeth II (228.5M) | 4. George W. Bush (48.6K) |
| 5. World War II (220.9M) | 5. List of current UFC fighters (41.9K) |
| 6. United Kingdom (219.4M) | 6. Legalism (Chinese philosophy) (39.5K) |
| 7. Michael Jackson (213.7M) | 7. Wikipedia (37.9K) |
| 8. Adolf Hitler (210.6M) | 8. List of Netflix original programming (37.1K) |
| 9. Sex (207.3M) | 9. ATP Tour records (33.7K) |
| 10. Barack Obama (205.5M) | 10. Michael Jackson (33.4K) |
| 11. Cristiano Ronaldo (199.8M) | 11. Jesus (32.8K) |
| 12. Canada (193.4M) | 12. Deaths in 2021 (32.2K) |
| 13. Elon Musk (189.6M) | 13. Barack Obama (30.1K) |
| 14. Australia (186.1M) | 14. List of programs broadcast by ABS-CBN (29.9K) |
| 15. Lady Gaga (181.9M) | 15. Deaths in 2020 (29.7K) |
| 16. Eminem (179.3M) | 16. Catholic Church (29.2K) |
| 17. World War I (176.4M) | 17. The Undertaker (28.8K) |
| 18. Lionel Messi (175.9M) | 18. India (28.6K) |
| 19. Game of Thrones (173.8M) | 19. United Kingdom (28.5K) |
| 20. The Beatles (171.5M) | 20. Adolf Hitler (28.2K) |
| 21. Justin Bieber (169.9M) | 21. World War II (27.9K) |
| 22. Kim Kardashian (168.2M) | 22. Britney Spears (27.6K) |
| 23. China (166.8M) | 23. Climate change (27.2K) |
| 24. Russia (165.4M) | 24. Roger Federer (27.0K) |
| 25. Japan (163.9M) | 25. COVID-19 pandemic (26.8K) |
| 26. New York City (162.8M) | 26. Deaths in December 2022 (26.8K) |
| 27. Taylor Swift (160.7M) | 27. List of countries and dependencies by population (26.7K) |
| 28. Steve Jobs (158.4M) | 28. George Washington (26.0K) |
| 29. Dwayne Johnson (157.9M) | 29. Beyoncé (26.0K) |
| 30. Michael Jordan (156.8M) | 30. List of highest-grossing films (25.9K) |
| 31. Star Wars (155.9M) | 31. Deaths in December 2024 (25.8K) |
| 32. LeBron James (154.2M) | 32. New York City (25.8K) |
| 33. Germany (152.8M) | 33. Turkey (25.8K) |
| 34. September 11 attacks (151.4M) | 34. List of GMA Network original programming (25.7K) |
| 35. Leonardo DiCaprio (149.6M) | 35. The Beatles (25.4K) |
| 36. Kobe Bryant (148.1M) | 36. List of best-selling music artists (25.1K) |
| 37. Selena Gomez (147.5M) | 37. European Union (24.9K) |
| 38. Joe Biden (146.9M) | 38. List of Impact Wrestling personnel (24.8K) |
| 39. Tom Cruise (146.2M) | 39. Philippines (24.6K) |
| 40. Rihanna (145.8M) | 40. Real Madrid CF (24.6K) |
| 41. Albert Einstein (145.5M) | 41. Canada (24.5K) |
| 42. Academy Awards (145.3M) | 42. FC Barcelona (24.5K) |
| 43. Prince Philip (144.7M) | 43. Deaths in 2023 (24.5K) |
| 44. Harry Potter (143.9M) | 44. Deaths in 2018 (24.2K) |
| 45. Elvis Presley (142.8M) | 45. Kane (wrestler) (23.9K) |
| 46. The Walking Dead (142.7M) | 46. Newcastle United F.C. (23.9K) |
| 47. Scarlett Johansson (141.3M) | 47. Jehovah’s Witnesses (23.7K) |
| 48. Lil Wayne (141.1M) | 48. Israel (23.6K) |
| 49. Tupac Shakur (141.1M) | 49. Islam (23.6K) |
| 50. Angelina Jolie (140.9M) | 50. England national football team (23.6K) |
Some articles don’t just attract readers — they also attract constant attention from editors. In fact, 16 pages appear on both the “Most Viewed” and “Most Edited” lists, including countries like the United States, India, China, and the United Kingdom, major historical events such as World War I and World War II, and global figures like Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Adolf Hitler, Michael Jackson, and The Beatles. These are topics that are both widely searched and frequently updated, debated, and expanded.
But most pages only show up on one of the two lists, and that difference is revealing.
The Most Viewed list is dominated by what people are curious about: countries, famous people, wars, pop culture, science icons, and major news events. These pages serve as Wikipedia’s front door, where millions of readers come to quickly learn about the world.
The Most Edited list, on the other hand, reflects where editors spend their time. It features many lists, yearly death pages, sports rosters, and politically sensitive, controversial, or fast-changing topics. These aren’t always the most popular with readers, but they require constant maintenance, updates, and moderation to stay accurate.
Happy 25th birthday to Wikipedia and to its readers and editors, who together make it a living part of the modern information landscape.
Notes: For some early periods, complete monthly pageview records are not available. In those cases, annual totals were estimated using the available data for those months and years, and projected for the missing months. These estimates are intended to reflect overall scale and relative ranking rather than exact historical counts. The edit count data are accurate by the end of 2025.
Taha Yasseri 