User:Emijrp/All Human Knowledge
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The Great Library of Alexandria in Egypt
Denis Diderot contributor to Encyclopédie
Advertisement for the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
Internet Archive petabox, designed to store one petabyte (a million gigabytes) of information[1]



The idea of compiling all human knowledge in a single work, although not in a single place,[3] is highly seductive. In this project, we attempt to study how many articles are needed to cover the sum of all human knowledge. As of 8 March 2021, English Wikipedia has 6,266,942 articles and Wikidata includes 27,721,774 items.[4] This page, still in expansion, estimates that the total notable articles figure is over 104,701,020. At current creation rate, 8,000 new items per day,[5] Wikidata singularity will occur in the 2040s, in the same date range of technological singularity.[6] It will be the first time in history that all human knowledge is stored in a machine-readable format and ready to be consumed, understood and used by computers or any device.
“ | This is a work that cannot be completed except by a society of men of letters and skilled workmen, each working separately on his own part, but all bound together solely by their zeal for the best interests of the human race and a feeling of mutual good will. | ” |
— Denis Diderot, L'Encyclopédie (1751–1766) |
Many individuals devoted their lives to different efforts of knowledge compilation and preservation. Some inspiring cases are Vivian Maier, a nanny that took 150,000 photographs during her lifetime primarily of people and architecture;[7] Paul Mawhinney, who archived a copy of every sold album growing a 3 million vinyl collection;[8] Henry Spencer, a computer scientist that preserved over 2 million Usenet messages onto magnetic tapes[9] or Marion Stokes, who recorded hundreds of thousands of hours of television news footage spanning 35 years.[10]
“ | Like all persons of the Library, I have traveled in my youth; I have wandered in search of a book, perhaps the catalogue of catalogues... | ” |
— Jorge Luis Borges, The Library of Babel (1941) |
Before Wikipedia, there were many attempts to compile all human knowledge in a single work. Some examples sorted by date include:
- Library of Alexandria (3rd century BC) in Egypt
- Naturalis Historia (AD 77–79) by Pliny the Elder
- Etymologiae (7th century) by Isidore of Seville
- De universo (9th century) by Rabanus Maurus
- Speculum Maius (13th century) by Vincent of Beauvais
- Yongle Encyclopedia (1403–1408) by Ming dynasty
- Bibliotheca universalis (1545–1549) by Conrad Gessner
- The abstracting and indexing project (17th century) by Gottfried Leibniz
- L'Encyclopédie (1751–1772) by Diderot and d'Alembert
- Mundaneum (1910) by Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine
- Encyclopædia Britannica (1911)
- And more recently Interpedia (1993) by Rick Gates, Internet Archive (1996) by Brewster Kahle and Wikidata (2012)
Also, hypothetical cases exist:
- Encyclopædia Galactica (1980) by Carl Sagan in Cosmos
- Permanent World Encyclopaedia (1936–1938) by H. G. Wells
- Memex (1945) by Vannevar Bush.
There are imaginary examples:
- "The Universal Library" (1901) by Kurd Lasswitz
- "The Total Library" essay and The Library of Babel (1941) by Jorge Luis Borges
- Encyclopædia Galactica (1942) in "Foundation" by Isaac Asimov
- The Akashic records.
Furthermore, there are thousands of archives, libraries and museums all over the world preserving human knowledge in several formats: books, manuscripts, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, videos, play-scripts, patents, databases, maps, stamps, prints, drawings and more. Some of the largest ones are: the British Library in the United Kingdom (170 million items[11]), the Library of Congress in the United States (155 million items[12]), the Russian State Library in Russia (43 million items[13]), the National Diet Library in Japan (35 million items[14]), the National Library of China (31 million items[15]) and the Bibliothèque nationale de France (31 million items[16]).
“ | There is no practical obstacle whatever now to the creation of an efficient index to all human knowledge, ideas and achievements, to the creation, that is, of a complete planetary memory for all mankind. | ” |
— H. G. Wells, World Brain: The Idea of a Permanent World Encyclopaedia (1937) |
This project is focused in those entities which are notable and deserve an article in Wikipedia. For completeness of sister projects, see § Sister projects. For an estimate about lost knowledge, see § Destroyed knowledge and Wikipedia:There is a deadline. There is available a userbox {{User preserve all human knowledge}} and a shortcut WP:AHK.
You are welcome to improve this page; be bold!
Summary[edit]
Arts[edit]
The arts are composed of many endeavors (or artforms) united by their employment of the human creative impulse.
Architecture[edit]
Architecture (Latin architectura, from the Greek ἀρχιτέκτων – arkhitekton, from ἀρχι- "chief" and τέκτων "builder, carpenter, mason") is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art. Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements.
Topic | Related pages | Wikidata | Estimate | References |
---|---|---|---|---|
Aquaria | 257 | 200 >100%
|
According to Vancouver Aquarium there are 200+ aquaria worldwide.[17] | |
Aqueducts | 332 | 332 | Total number of aqueducts is unknown. | |
Bridges | 21,835 | 21,835 | Total number of bridges is unknown. A quick estimate is one bridge per river.[18][19] | |
Bullrings | 148 | 148 | Total number of bullrings is unknown. | |
Castles | 17,614 | 17,614 | Total number of castles is unknown. | |
Cemeteries | 101,173 | 101,173 | Total number of cemeteries is unknown. | |
Fountains | 1,925 | 1,925 | Total number of fountains is unknown. | |
Gates | 1,446 | 1,446 | Total number of gates is unknown. | |
Horse racing venues | 336 | 336 | Total number of horse racing venues is unknown. | |
Hospitals | 9,610 | 16,500 58%
|
According to Cybermetrics Lab there are 16,500 hospitals worldwide.[20] | |
Hotels | 11,606 | 180,000 6%
|
According to sources there are 180,000-400,000+ hotels worldwide.[21] | |
Houses | 174,252 | 174,252 | Total number of notable houses is unknown. | |
Lighthouses | 4,822 | 16,300 29%
|
According to Lighthouse Directory there are 16,300+ lighthouses worldwide.[22] | |
Military bases | 2,747 | 2,747 | Total number of military bases is unknown. | |
Movie theaters | 1,277 | 1,277 | Total number of movie theaters is unknown. | |
Mines | 6,628 | 6,628 | Total number of mines is unknown. | |
Observatories | 1,302 | 1,302 | Total number of observatories is unknown. | |
Palaces | 8,109 | 8,109 | Total number of palaces is unknown. | |
Places of worship | 160,250 | 160,250 | Total number of places of worship is unknown. A quick estimate is one place of worship per settlement.
As of 2011, the Catholic Church had 3,068 churches of cathedral and co-cathedral status around the world.[23] Estimations of churches worldwide range from 250,000[24] to 3,700,000,[25] with 450,000 only in USA.[26] There are 2.5 million mosques in the world.[27][28] | |
Power stations | 6,486 | 6,486 | Total number of power stations is unknown. | |
Prisons | 2,099 | 10,000 20%
|
Total number of prisons is unknown. According to sources, there are 4,575 prisons in the United States and 1,029 in Russia.[29] A rough estimate is 10,000 prisons worldwide. | |
Research stations | 183 | 183 | Total number of research stations is unknown. (See Research stations in Antarctica) | |
Reservoirs and dams | 4,903 | 40,000 12%
|
According to International Rivers, by 1997 there were 800,000 dams worldwide, 40,000 over 15 m (49 ft) high.[30] (See also GeoNames database) | |
Schools | 110,453 | 110,453 | Total number of schools is unknown. | |
Shopping malls | 4,276 | 4,276 | Total number of shopping malls is unknown. | |
Skyscrapers | 4,054 | 94,000 4%
|
According to SkyscraperPage there are 94,000+ skyscrapers worldwide.[31] | |
Stadiums | 8,430 | 11,500 73%
|
According to World Stadiums there are 11,500+ stadiums worldwide. 689 in Africa, 1,200 in Asia, 286 in Central America, 4,268 in Europe, 527 in Middle East, 2,869 in North America, 284 in Oceania and 1,417 in South America.[32] | |
Towers | 12,353 | 12,353 | Total number of towers is unknown. | |
Urbanism | 273,260 | 273,260 | Total number of streets, squares and parks is unknown. | |
6,653 | 6,653 | |||
14,835 | 14,835 | |||
Theatres | 5,159 | 5,159 | Total number of theatres is unknown. | |
Tunnels | 3,470 | 3,470 | Total number of tunnels is unknown. According to es:Anexo:Túneles de España, in Spain there are 400 road tunnels and 1700 railway tunnels. | |
Universities | 15,054 | 20,000 75%
|
According to Webometrics there are 20,000+ universities worldwide.[33] | |
Watermills | 1,325 | 1,325 | Total number of watermills is unknown. | |
Weather stations | 100 | 100 | Total number of weather stations is unknown. | |
Windmills | 2,346 | 2,346 | Total number of windmills is unknown. | |
Zoos | 1,342 | 1,500 89%
|
According to sources there are 1,500+ zoos worldwide.[34] | |
Building types | - | - | Total number of building types is unknown. | |
Styles | - | - | Total number of architectural styles is unknown. | |
Awards | - | - | Total number of architecture awards is unknown. | |
Total | 1,002,450 | 1,330,273 |
Note: some of these items may overlap
Monuments[edit]
A monument is a type of structure either explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, or simply as an example of historic architecture.
Country | Related pages | Wikidata | Estimate | References |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
1,672 | 1,052 >100%
|
As of July 2016, 1052 sites are listed: 814 cultural, 203 natural, and 35 mixed properties, in 165 states parties.[35][36] According to the sites ranked by country, Italy is home to the greatest number of World Heritage Sites with 51 sites, followed by China (50), Spain (45), France (42), Germany (41), India (35) and Mexico (34). UNESCO references each World Heritage Site with an identification number; however, new inscriptions often include previous sites now listed as part of larger descriptions. Consequently, the identification numbers exceed 1,200, even though there are fewer on the list. | |
![]() |
- | 200 0%
|
According to sources there are 200 monuments.[37] | |
![]() |
- | 382 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 382 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 126 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 126 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 166 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 166 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
83 | 400 20%
|
According to WLM database there are 2,217 monuments.[38] 400 are NHM. | |
![]() |
- | 24,254 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 24,254 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | - | Total number of monuments is unknown. | |
![]() |
- | 13,000 0%
|
Total number of monuments is unknown. According to sources there are 6,000 war memorials.[39] | |
- | 6,000 0%
| |||
![]() |
5,661 | 37,589 15%
|
According to WLM database there are 37,589 monuments.[38][40] | |
![]() |
- | 5,472 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 5,472 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
1,062 | 4,811 22%
|
According to sources there are 4,811 monuments.[41] | |
![]() |
- | 77,000 0%
|
According to unknown sources there are 77,000 monuments. | |
![]() |
- | 970 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 970 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 1,047 0%
|
According to unknown sources there are 1,047 monuments. | |
![]() |
- | 200 0%
|
According to sources there are 200 monuments. | |
![]() |
- | 100 0%
|
Total number of monuments is unknown. | |
![]() |
- | 17,000 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 12,487 monuments.[38] | |
984 | 958 >100%
| |||
![]() |
- | 837 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 837 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
1,983 | 2,351 84%
|
According to unknown sources there are 350,000+ immovable cultural properties and 10,000,000 movable. According to WLM database there are 2,283 monuments.[38] | |
- | - | |||
- | - | |||
- | - | |||
![]() |
- | 1,024 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 1,024 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | - | Total number of monuments is unknown. | |
![]() |
- | 180 0%
|
According to sources there are 200 national monuments.[42] | |
- | 200 0%
| |||
![]() |
12,595 | 40,762 30%
|
According to WLM database there are 40,762 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
583 | 165,000 0%
|
7,000 are shipwrecks and submarine Stone Age settlements. According to WLM database there are 31,320 monuments.[38] | |
- | 7,000 0%
| |||
![]() |
- | - | Total number of monuments is unknown. | |
![]() |
- | 641 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 641 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 24,552 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 24,552 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
73,991 | 44,453 >100%
|
More than 200,000 on the fr:Base Mérimée and much more on other regional databases of the fr:Inventaire général du patrimoine culturel.[43] According to WLM database there are 44,453 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 112,005 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 112,005 monuments.[38] According to unknown sources there are 700,000+ monuments. | |
15,362 | 15,362 | |||
![]() |
- | 52 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 52 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 108 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 108 monuments.[38] | |
- | - | |||
- | - | |||
- | - | |||
![]() |
- | 1,174 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 1,174 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
412 | 7,459 5%
|
According to WLM database there are 7,459 monuments.[38] Wikipedia:WikiProject India/Wiki Loves Monuments | |
![]() |
- | 8,232 0%
|
According to sources there are 8,232 monuments.[44] | |
![]() |
21,455 | 26,643 80%
|
According to WLM database there are 26,643 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 622 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 622 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 1,126 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 1,126 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
4,739 | 5,143 92%
|
According to WLM database there are 5,143 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | - | Total number of monuments is unknown. | |
![]() |
162 | 1,079 15%
|
According to WLM database there are 988 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 85 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 85 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 208 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 208 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 7,131 0%
|
According to sources there are 7,131 monuments.[45] | |
![]() |
- | 808 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 808 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 12,556 0%
|
According to unknown sources there are 12,556 monuments. | |
![]() |
169 | 169 | According to WLM database there are 115 monuments.[38] | |
17 | 17 | |||
2 | 2 | |||
6 | 6 | |||
1 | 1 | |||
0 | 0 | |||
![]() |
- | 9,952 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 9,952 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | - | Total number of monuments is unknown. | |
![]() |
- | - | Total number of monuments is unknown. | |
![]() |
- | - | Total number of monuments is unknown. | |
![]() |
- | 2,362 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 2,362 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
66,917 | 63,052 >100%
|
According to WLM database there are 63,052 monuments.[38][46] | |
1,268 | 1,268 | |||
![]() |
- | - | Total number of monuments is unknown. | |
![]() |
- | 200 0%
|
According to wiki pages there are 200 national treasures and about 2,000 cultural assets. | |
- | 2,000 0%
| |||
![]() |
- | 115,000 0%
|
According to unknown sources there are 115,000 monuments. According to WLM database there are 16,585 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 1,112 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 1,112 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 220 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 220 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | - | Total number of monuments is unknown. | |
![]() |
- | 516 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 516 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
54,835 | 77,162 71%
|
According to WLM database there are 77,162 monuments.[38][47] | |
![]() |
346 | 346 | According to WLM database there are 4,493 monuments.[38] | |
695 | 4,493 15%
| |||
![]() |
2,744 | 29,717 9%
|
According to WLM database there are 29,717 monuments.[38][48] | |
![]() |
- | 116,884 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 116,884 monuments.[38] Of these 42,000 are rated as national landmarks, while the rest are of regional or local significance. | |
![]() |
- | - | Total number of monuments is unknown. | |
![]() |
264 | 2,442 10%
|
According to WLM database there are 2,442 monuments.[38] | |
1,251 | 1,251 | |||
![]() |
- | - | Total number of monuments is unknown. | |
![]() |
- | 69 0%
|
According to National Heritage Board there are 69 national monuments. | |
![]() |
- | 14,622 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 14,622 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
1,061 | 21,643 4%
|
According to sources there are 30,022 registered sites of cultural heritage, of which 8379 are protected monuments.[49] | |
116 | 319 36%
| |||
605 | 8,006 7%
| |||
![]() |
8,007 | 50,000 16%
|
According to WLM database there are 50,000+ monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 3,936 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 3,936 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 307 0%
|
According to Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea there are 307 national treasures and 526 historic sites. | |
- | 526 0%
| |||
![]() |
- | - | Total number of monuments is unknown. | |
![]() |
- | 2,000 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 145,232 monuments.[38] | |
137 | 130 >100%
| |||
145,514 | 145,232 >100%
| |||
![]() |
3,232 | 20,120 16%
|
According to WLM database there are 20,120 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
270 | 8,578 3%
|
According to WLM database there are 8,578 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 926 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 926 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 75,503 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 75,503 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
9,951 | 9,951 | According to WLM database there are 31,651 monuments.[38] According to Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest there are 376,099 listed buildings.[50] | |
23,604 | 23,604 | |||
371,096 | 371,096 | |||
- | - | |||
- | - | |||
- | - | |||
6,626 | 6,626 | |||
34,849 | 34,849 | |||
31 | 31 | |||
20,016 | 20,000 >100%
| |||
1,932 | 1,932 | |||
![]() |
58,593 | 90,111 65%
|
According to WLM database there are 90,111 monuments.[38] | |
4,144 | 4,144 | |||
2,355 | 2,450 96%
| |||
![]() |
- | 1,333 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 1,333 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 7,149 0%
|
According to WLM database there are 7,149 monuments.[38] | |
![]() |
- | 3,000 0%
|
According to National Heritage Conservation Commission there are 3,000 monuments and historic sites. | |
![]() |
- | 169 0%
|
According to National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe there are 14,000 historic sites. | |
- | 14,000 0%
| |||
Total | 961,398 | 2,048,568 |
For more monuments figures, see Commons:Monuments database/Statistics. For a map, see Wiki Loves Monuments map.
Cinema and television[edit]
A film is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects. The process of filmmaking has developed into an art form and industry. See also Category:Film-related lists.
Topic | Related pages | Wikidata | Estimate | References |
---|---|---|---|---|
Films | 249,142 | 366,000 68%
|
According to IMDb there are 366,000+ feature films.[51] | |
Documentaries | 125 | 162,000 0%
|
According to IMDb there are 77,000+ documentary films and 85,000+ short.[51] | |
TV channels | 4,129 | 4,129 | Total number of TV channels is unknown. According to sources there are 700+ in India,[52] 7,200 in Europe as of 2009 (UE 27 + Croatia and Turkey).[53] Total number of defunct channels is unknown. | |
TV programs | 134,286 | 134,286 | Total number of TV programs is unknown. Example: List of Spanish television series contains 800+ series and miniseries. | |
TV stations | 7,039 | 7,039 | According to Federal Communications Commission there are 1,700+ television stations (and 2,100+ low power) in USA.[54] | |
TV episodes | 19,856 | 2,115,000 0%
|
According to IMDb there are 2,115,000 TV episodes.[51] | |
Radio stations | 22,356 | 44,000 50%
|
According to CIA Factbook there are 44,000 radio stations worldwide[55] and according to Federal Communications Commission 14,000+ are in USA.[54] | |
Awards | 200 | 200 | Total number of televison awards is unknown. | |
Total | 437,133 | 2,832,654 |
This section excludes biographies.
Crafts[edit]
A craft is a branch of a profession that requires some particular kind of skilled work. In historical sense, particularly as pertinent to the Medieval history and earlier, the term is usually applied towards people occupied in small-scale production of goods. See also Outline of crafts and Category:Glossaries of crafts.
Topic | Related pages | Wikidata | Estimate | References |
---|---|---|---|---|
Crafts | - | 1,000 0%
|
According to unknown sources there are over 1,000 crafts. | |
Gardening | - | - | Total number of gardening articles is unknown. | |
Gemology and Jewelry | 702 | 702 | Total number of jewelry articles is unknown. | |
Home improvement | - | - | Total number of home improvement articles is unknown. | |
Origami | - | - | Total number of origami articles is unknown. | |
Toys | 436 | 436 | Total number of toys is unknown. | |
Total | 1,138 | 2,138 |
Literature[edit]
Literature (from Latin litterae (plural); letter) is the art of written works. The word literature literally means: "things made from letters". Literature is commonly classified as having two major forms—fiction and non-fiction—and two major techniques—poetry and prose.
- An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Estimates suggest that around 50 million journal articles[56] have been published since the first appearance of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1665.
- An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge.
- A novel is a long prose narrative that describes fictional characters and events in the form of a sequential story.
- Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning. See also Outline of poetry.
- Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. See also Outline of theatre.
Old book bindings at the Merton College, Oxford library
Advertisement for the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica ("The Sum of Human Knowledge"), from the May 1913 issue of National Geographic Magazine
Sarah Bernhardt as Hamlet, in 1899
The Deluge tablet, carved in stone, of the Gilgamesh epic in Akkadian, circa 2nd millennium BC
Topic | Related pages | Wikidata | Estimate | References |
---|---|---|---|---|
By country and period | - | 4,000 0%
|
Assuming 200 countries and 20 centuries, there could be 4,000 articles. See also List of literary movements and Category:Literature lists. | |
By medium | 175,044 | 20,000,000 0%
|
According to Google there are 129,864,880 books (considering all editions separately).[57] Excluding non-notable books and editions of the same books it could be over 20,000,000. | |
94 | 94 | Total number of codices is unknown. | ||
36 | 350,000 0%
|
According to sources there are 350,000 editions, around 1.5 million surviving copies, located in over 5,000 libraries worldwide.[58][59] See also Incunabula Short Title Catalogue (29,777) and Universal Short Title Catalogue (350,000). | ||
5,170 | 5,170 | Total number of manuscripts is unknown. | ||
648 | 648 | Total number of speeches is unknown. See also Oral literature. | ||
Academic literature | 3,393 | 3,393 | Total number of academic journals is unknown. See also Journals cited by Wikipedia. | |
4,278 | 4,278 | Total number of conference papers is unknown. | ||
1,131,312 | 5,000,000 22%
|
According to sources, over 50 million journal articles have been published since 1665.[56] Assuming only 10% are notable, it could be 5,000,000.
Number of records in different academic databases:
| ||
3,517 | 3,517 | Total number of theses is unknown. | ||
Bibliographies | 8,068 | 8,068 | Total number of bibliographies is unknown. | |
Comics | 25,766 | 25,766 | Total number of comics is unknown. | |
Dictionaries | 880 | 38,000 2%
|
According to sources, there are 38,000 dictionaries.[61] | |
Encyclopedias | 860 | 13,000 6%
|
According to sources, there are 13,000 encyclopedias.[62]
Some of the most complete enciclopedias are Enciclopedia universal ilustrada europeo-americana (800,000 articles), Encyclopædia Britannica (100,000 articles), L'Encyclopédie (72,000 articles[63]) and Oxford Reference Online (1,400,000 articles).
See more encyclopedias in Google Books and Internet Archive. See also List of encyclopedias by language, List of encyclopedias by branch of knowledge and List of online encyclopedias. | |
Fictional entities | 41,604 | 41,604 | Total number of fictional entities is unknown. | |
2,749 | 2,749 | |||
169 | 169 | |||
Magazines | 21,799 | 21,799 | Total number of magazines is unknown. According to sources by country: | |
Newspapers | 16,824 | 16,824 | Total number of newspapers is unknown. According to sources by country: | |
Novel | 3,743 | 3,743 | Total number of novels is unknown. | |
Poetry | 44,747 | 44,747 | Total number of poems is unknown. | |
- | - | Total number of poetic forms is unknown. | ||
- | - | Total number of poetry groups and movements is unknown. | ||
Theatre | 16,932 | 16,932 | Total number of plays is unknown. | |
Awards | 1,918 | 1,918 | Total number of literature awards is unknown. | |
Total | 1,509,551 | 25,606,419 |
Database | Estimate | References | |
---|---|---|---|
Articles | Progress | ||
WorldCat | ?/264000000 | Bibliographic records about books, journals and more | |
Open Library | 164/20000000 | Open Library goal is to provide a page on the web for every book ever published. They have 20 million edition records and provide access to 1.7 million scanned versions of books. AutoList: 164 (Q648) | |
Harvard Bibliographic Dataset | ?/12000000 | Bibliographic records for materials held by the Harvard Library, including books, journals, manuscripts, archival materials, electronic resources, scores, audio, video and other materials[65] | |
Internet Archive | ?/3000000 | E-books and texts[66] | |
Project Gutenberg | ?/42000 | E-books and documents |
Theatres are counted in #Architecture.
This section excludes biographies and libraries.
Performing arts[edit]
Performing arts are a form of art in which artists use their voices and/or their bodies, often in relation to other objects, to convey artistic expression. It is different from visual arts, which is when artists use paint/canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Performing arts include several disciplines, each performed in front of a live audience.
- Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting. See also Index of dance articles and Outline of dance.
- Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture. See also Index of music articles, Outline of music and Category:Music-related lists.
Topic | Related pages | Wikidata | Estimate | References |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dance | 988 | 988 | Total number of dances is unknown. | |
- | - | Total number of dance styles is unknown. | ||
- | 200 0%
|
A quick and low estimate is one dance style per country. | ||
- | - | Total number of dance awards is unknown. | ||
Music | 8,037 | 500 >100%
|
According to unknown sources there are 500 instruments. | |
240,928 | 1,000,000 24%
|
Total number of albums is over 1,000,000.
The freeDB database holds information for around 1.5 million compact discs (many are duplicates), All Music Guide database contains entries for 800,000 unique albums, Discogs database contains over 890,000 master releases (several versions of releases) and nearly 6.5 million unique individual versions of releases,[67] Jamendo project contains over 50,000 free and open albums. Record-Rama collection holds 3 million albums and singles. New albums in USA: 75,000 (2010), 96,100 (2009), 106,000 (2008), 76,000 (2006)[68] See also List of online music databases. | ||
46,670 | 1,000,000 4%
|
According to sources there are 97 million songs.[69] Estimate of notable songs is 1,000,000. | ||
1,940 | 1,940 | Total number of musicals is unknown. | ||
446 | 446 | Total number of concertos is unknown. | ||
4,509 | 4,000 >100%
|
Total number of operas is unknown. According to sources 3,603 operas performed between 1597 and 1940.[70][71] | ||
986 | 986 | Total number of symphonies is unknown. | ||
- | - | Total number of canons is unknown. | ||
1,312 | 1,312 | Total number of music styles is unknown. | ||
- | - | Total number of awards is unknown. | ||
Total | 305,816 | 2,010,372 |
Visual arts[edit]
Visual arts are a form of art in which artists use paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects.
- Calligraphy is the design and execution of lettering with a broad tip instrument, brush, among other writing instruments.
- Drawing makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. See also Outline of drawing and drawings.
- Fashion is a general term for a popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person.
- Textile arts are those arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects. See also Index of fashion articles.
- Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface (support base). The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. See also Index of painting-related articles and Outline of painting.
- Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. See also Outline of photography.
- Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints with an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting.
- Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. See also Outline of sculpture.
Girl with a Pearl Earring (1665) by Johannes Vermeer
Mount Fuji, from the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, color woodcut by Katsushika Hokusai
A latticed window in Lacock Abbey, England, photographed by William Fox Talbot in 1835
The Dying Gaul, a Roman marble copy of a Hellenistic work of the late 3rd century BCE Capitoline Museums, Rome
Topic | Related pages | Wikidata | Estimate | References |
---|---|---|---|---|
Calligraphy | - | - | Total number of calligraphy articles is unknown. | |
584 | 584 | Total number of typefaces is unknown. | ||
- | - | Total number of typographic features is unknown. | ||
Drawing | 38,854 | 38,854 | Total number of drawings is unknown. | |
- | - | Total number of drawing genres is unknown. | ||
- | - | Total number of drawing techniques is unknown. | ||
- | - | Total number of drawing awards is unknown. | ||
Fashion | - | - | Total number of fashion styles is unknown. | |
- | - | Total number of fashion awards is unknown. | ||
Painting | 263,418 | 263,418 | Total number of paintings is unknown.
According to BBC Your Paintings database there are 213,000 artworks contained within the UK's national collection.[72] | |
44 | 44 | Total number of painting genres is unknown. | ||
495 | 495 | Total number of movements and styles is unknown. | ||
32 | 32 | Total number of painting techniques is unknown. | ||
94 | 94 | Total number of materials and tools is unknown. | ||
- | - | Total number of awards is unknown. | ||
Photography | 4,124 | 4,124 | Total number of photographs is unknown. See also Largest photographs in the world. | |
- | - | Total number of photograph styles is unknown. | ||
20 | 20 | Total number of photograph techniques is unknown. | ||
- | - | Total number of photograph awards is unknown. | ||
Printmaking | - | - | Total number of printmaking techniques is unknown. | |
- | - | Total number of printmaking awards is unknown. | ||
Sculpture | 59,115 | 59,115 | Total number of sculptures is unknown. | |
23 | 23 | Total number of sculpture styles is unknown. | ||
- | - | Total number of sculpture awards is unknown. | ||
Textile arts | - | - | Total number of textile arts articles is unknown. | |
Total | 366,803 | 366,803 |
Geography[edit]
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. This section covers every human geography settlement and every physical geography location in the world.
See also Category:Geography-related lists, Category:Lists of places, GEOnet Names Server[73] and Geonames.[74]
Human geography[edit]

Human geography is the branch of the social sciences that deals with the study of people and their communities, cultures, economies and interaction with the environment by noticing their relations with and across space and place.[75] As an intellectual discipline, geography is divided into the sub-fields of physical geography and human geography, the latter concentrating upon the study of human activities, by the application of qualitative and quantitative research methods.
Topic | Related pages | Wikidata | Estimate | References |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
654 | 206 >100%
|
Membership within the United Nations system divides 206 listed sovereign states into three categories: 193 member states, two observer states, and 11 other states.[76] If we count former states (Roman Empire, etc) we get up to 400. | |
123 | 100 >100%
|
Notable micronations are probably over 100. |
Africa[edit]
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most-populous continent. At about 30.3 million km² (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers six per cent of Earth's total surface area and 20.4 per cent of its total land area. With 1.1 billion people as of 2013, it accounts for about 15% of the world's human population. The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, both the Suez Canal and the Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos. It contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states (countries), nine territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition.
Africa hosts a large diversity of ethnicities, cultures and languages. In the late 19th century European countries colonized most of Africa. Africa also varies greatly with regard to environments, economics, historical ties and government systems. However, most present states in Africa originate from a process of decolonization in the 20th century.
Asia[edit]
Asia is Earth's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres and sharing the continental landmass of Eurasia with the continent of Europe. Asia covers an area of 44,579,000 square kilometres (17,212,000 sq mi), about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the human population,[77] was the site of many of the first civilizations. Asia is notable for not only its overall large size and population, but also dense and large settlements as well as vast barely populated regions within the continent of 4.4 billion people. Asia has 49 recognized states, 5 partially recognized and unrecognized states and 6 dependent territories and other territories.
Given its size and diversity, the concept of Asia—a name dating back to classical antiquity—may actually have more to do with human geography than physical geography.[78] Asia varies greatly across and within its regions with regard to ethnic groups, cultures, environments, economics, historical ties and government systems. It also has a mix of many different climates ranging from the equatorial south via the hot desert in the Middle East, temperate areas in the east and the extremely continental centre to vast subarctic and polar areas in Siberia.
Europe[edit]
Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The eastern boundary with Asia is a historical and cultural construct, as there is no clear physical and geographical separation between them; Europe is generally considered as separated from Asia by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways of the Turkish Straits.
Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the migration period, marked the end of ancient history and the beginning of an era known as the Middle Ages. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era. From the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at various times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania, and the majority of Asia.
Europe has 50 recognised states, 6 partially recognised states, 6 dependent territories and 2 special areas of internal sovereignty.
North America[edit]
North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea.
North America has 23 sovereign states, 11 dependent territories and 16 other areas.
South America[edit]
South America is a continent located in the western hemisphere, mostly in the southern hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the northern hemisphere. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean; North America and the Caribbean Sea lie to the northwest.
Most of the population lives near the continent's western or eastern coasts while the interior and the far south are sparsely populated. The geography of western South America is dominated by the Andes mountains; in contrast, the eastern part contains both highland regions and large lowlands where rivers such as the Amazon, Orinoco, and Paraná flow. Most of the continent lies in the tropics.
The continent's cultural and ethnic outlook has its origin with the interaction of indigenous peoples with European conquerors and immigrants and, more locally, with African slaves. Given a long history of colonialism, the overwhelming majority of South Americans speak Portuguese or Spanish, and societies and states commonly reflect Western traditions.
South America has 13 sovereign states, 2 dependent territories and 1 integral territories of states outside of South America.
Oceania[edit]
Oceania is a region centred on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. The term was coined as Océanie circa 1812 by geographer Conrad Malte-Brun. The history of Oceania in the medieval period was synonymous with the history of the indigenous peoples of Australasia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia. The arrival of European settlers in subsequent centuries resulted in a significant alteration in the social and political landscape of Oceania.
Opinions of what constitutes Oceania range from its three subregions of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia to, more broadly, the entire insular region between Southeast Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago.
Oceania has 14 sovereign states, 2 states not members of the United Nations and 26 other territories.
Antarctica[edit]
Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent. It contains the geographic South Pole and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean.
Country | Related pages | Wikidata | Estimate | References |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
- | 100 0%
|
[82] | |
- | 200 0%
|
[83] | ||
- | 100 0%
|
[84] | ||
- | 20,000 0%
|
[85] | ||
Total | 0 | 20,400 |
Physical geography[edit]
Physical geography is that branch of natural science which deals with the study of processes and patterns in the natural environment like the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere, as opposed to the cultural or built environment, the domain of human geography.
- Canals and navigations are human-made channels for water conveyance (supply), or to service water transport vehicles.
- A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter.
- A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants.
- A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees.
- A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation (melting and sublimation) over many years, often centuries.
- An island is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water.
- A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land.
- A mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak.
- A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. There are 17 countries without rivers.
- A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water.
The Alter Strom, in the sea resort of Warnemünde, Germany
Sand dunes in the Rub' al Khali ("Empty quarter") of Saudi Arabia
A conifer forest in the Swiss Alps (National Park)
The Baltoro Glacier in the Karakoram, Kashmir, Northern Pakistan
A small Fijian island
Oeschinen Lake in the Swiss Alps
Dhows on the Nile
The sea at La Jolla, California
Topic | Related pages | Wikidata | Estimate | References |
---|---|---|---|---|
Continents | 38 | 7 >100%
|
||
- | 10 0%
| |||
Canals | 23,635 | 23,635 | Total number of canals is unknown. | |
Caves | 3,754 | 2,400 >100%
|
World Caves Database includes 2,424 caves deeper than 300m (total height) or longer than 3km.[86]
| |
Deserts | 2,266 | 2,266 | Total number of deserts is unknown. | |
59 | 59 | Total number of oases is unknown. | ||
Forests | 4,257 | 4,257 | Total number of forests is unknown. | |
Glaciers | 5,090 | 100,000 5%
|
Total number of glaciers is unknown. According to sources by country:
| |
Islands | 97,832 | 100,000 97%
|
Total number of islands is unknown. According to sources are approximately 45,000 tropical islands.[90] | |
846 | 846 | Total number of islands in rivers is unknown. | ||
24 | 24 | Total number of islands in lakes is unknown. | ||
Lakes | 207,659 | 1,000,000 20%
|
Total number of lakes is unknown.[91] According to sources by country: | |
Mountains | 649,285 | 1,000,000 64%
|
Total number of mountains is unknown. Mountains Mount includes info over 100,000 mountains.[101] According to sources by elevation:
| |
19,993 | 19,993 | |||
1,406 | 1,500 93%
|
According to sources there are over 1,500 volcanoes worldwide.[102] | ||
Rivers | 231,380 | 1,000,000 23%
|
Total number of rivers is unknown. According to sources, there are 146,000+ in Africa[103] and 104,000+ in Europe.[104] According to sources by country:
| |
Seas | 227 | 150 >100%
|
||
32 | 5 >100%
| |||
25 | 14 >100%
| |||
Total | 1,247,808 | 3,255,166 |
History[edit]
History (from Greek ίστορία - historia, meaning "inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation") is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. See also Outline of history.
- A coup d'état, also known as a coup, a putsch, or an overthrow, is the sudden deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to depose the extant government and replace it with another body, civil or military.
- A disaster is a natural or man-made (or technological) hazard resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment. See also Lists of disasters and List of disasters by cost.
- An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government.
- Military history is a humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, their cultures, economies and changing intra and international relationships. WP:MHA#Statistics has over 127,000 articles as of this listing.
- A revolution (from the Latin revolutio, "a turn around") is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.
Historia (Allegory of History) by Nikolaos Gysis (1892)
Taken at Ao Nang, Krabi Province, Thailand, during the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
Liberty Leading the People in French Revolution, painting by Eugène Delacroix
Topic | Related pages | Wikidata | Estimate | References |
---|---|---|---|---|
Universe | - | - | See also Lunar geologic timescale. | |
Earth | - | - | See also Geologic time scale | |
By country and period | 33,034 | 200,000 16%
|
Assuming 200 countries and 1,000 years, there could be 200,000 articles. See also List of time periods, History by period, Category:Year lists and List of calendars. | |
9,642 | 10,000 96%
| |||
470 | 1,000 47%
| |||
153 | 100 >100%
| |||
75 | 50 >100%
| |||
By format | 34,970 | 34,970 | Total number of timelines is unknown. See also Timelines of world history. | |
By topic | 36,746 | 36,746 | Total number of topics is unknown. | |
Coups d'état | 245 | 245 | Total number of coups d'état is unknown. | |
Disasters (natural) | 1,569 | 1,569 | Total number of earthquakes is unknown. | |
86 | 86 | Total number of epidemics is unknown. | ||
329 | 329 | Total number of fires is unknown. | ||
210 | 210 | Total number of floods is unknown. | ||
34 | 34 | Total number of landslides is unknown. | ||
103 | 103 | Total number of tornadoes is unknown. | ||
173 | 173 | Total number of tornado outbreaks is unknown. | ||
8 | 8 | Total number of tsunamis is unknown. | ||
57 | 57 | Total number of volcanic eruptions is unknown. | ||
Disasters (man-made) | - | - | Total number of airship accidents is unknown. | |
159 | 159 | Total number of accidents involving commercial aircraft is unknown. | ||
32 | 32 | Total number of famines is unknown. | ||
- | - | Total number of industrial disasters is unknown. | ||
56 | 56 | Total number of maritime disasters is unknown. | ||
15 | 15 | Total number of nuclear accidents is unknown. | ||
27 | 27 | Total number of oil spills is unknown. | ||
114 | 114 | Total number of road accidents is unknown. | ||
913 | 913 | Total number of rail accidents is unknown. | ||
- | - | Total number of spaceflight-related accidents is unknown. | ||
44 | 44 | Total number of structural failures is unknown. | ||
Election | 21,256 | 21,256 | Total number of elections is unknown. | |
Military history | 11,420 | 11,420 | Total number of battles is unknown. | |
991 | 991 | Total number of wars is unknown. | ||
2,230 | 2,230 | Total number of treaties is unknown. | ||
9,338 | 9,338 | Total number of warships is unknown. | ||
Revolutions and rebellions | 57 | 57 | Total number of revolutions and rebellions is unknown. See also List of uprisings led by women. | |
158 | 158 | Total number of strikes is unknown. | ||
Sites | 34,911 | 34,911 | Total number of archaeological sites. | |
4,487 | 4,487 | Total number of ruins is unknown. | ||
Total | 204,112 | 371,888 |
GLAM[edit]
GLAM is an acronym for "galleries, libraries, archives, and museums", although other versions of the acronym exist, such as LAM, which incorporates only libraries, archives, and museums. More generally, GLAMs are publicly funded, publicly accountable institutions collecting cultural heritage materials.
- An archive is an accumulation of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of that person or organization.
- A library is an organized collection of information resources made accessible to a defined community for reference or borrowing. It provides physical or digital access to material, and may be a physical building or room, or a virtual space, or both.
- A museum is an institution that cares for (conserves) a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary.
Main reading room at the Library of Congress
Museo del Prado in Spain
Library at Melk Abbey in Austria
The Louvre Museum in Paris, one of the largest and most famous museums in the world