(pronunciation 
) is a free,[4] multilingual, open content encyclopedia project operated by the United States-based non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its name is a portmanteau of the words wiki (a technology for creating collaborative websites) and encyclopedia. Launched in 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger,[5] it is currently the largest, fastest-growing, and most popular general reference work on the Internet.[6][7] Wikipedia is a project that attempts to summarize all human knowledge.[1]
As of April 2008, Wikipedia attracts 683 million visitors annually[8] reading over 10 million articles in 253 languages, comprising a combined total of over 1.74 billion words for all Wikipedias.[citation needed] The English Wikipedia edition passed the 2,000,000-article mark on September 9, 2007, and as of July 2, 2008 it had 2,437,290 articles consisting of over 1,048,000,000 words.[2] Wikipedia's articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world, and nearly all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the Internet. Having steadily risen in popularity since its inception,[1] it currently ranks among the top ten most-visited web sites worldwide.[9]
Critics of Wikipedia target its systemic bias and inconsistencies[10] and its policy of favoring consensus over credentials in its editorial process.[11] Wikipedia's reliability and accuracy are also an issue.[12] Other criticisms are centered on its susceptibility to vandalism and the addition of spurious or unverified information.[13] Scholarly work suggests that vandalism is generally short-lived.[14][15]
In addition to being an encyclopedic reference, Wikipedia has received major media attention as an online source of breaking news as it is constantly updated.[16][17] When Time Magazine recognized "You" as its Person of the Year 2006, praising the accelerating success of on-line collaboration and interaction by millions of users around the world, Wikipedia was the first particular "Web 2.0" service mentioned, followed by YouTube and MySpace.[18]
