Polish Wikipedia
The Polish Wikipedia (Polish: Wikipedia Polskojęzyczna) is the Polish-language edition of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. It is part of the broader Wikipedia project which includes over 300 language editions. The Polish Wikipedia is notable for being one of the largest and most comprehensive editions of Wikipedia in a Slavic language.
History
The Polish Wikipedia was established on 26 September 2001. Its creation was spearheaded by Paweł Jochym and Krzysztof P. Wojciechowski, with its initial hosting provided by a server placed quite interestingly in a shoebox inside a wardrobe. This unique start-up history reflects the grassroots nature of Wikipedia projects worldwide.
In 2001, the Polish Wikipedia began under the domain wiki.rozeta.com.pl. By July 2005, a bot program known as tsca.bot was developed. This bot was designed to upload statistical data from official government pages about French, Polish, and Italian municipalities to the Polish Wikipedia. Within just a few months, the bot contributed over 40,000 articles, significantly boosting the content available on the platform.
The Polish Wikipedia reached a remarkable milestone when it was awarded a "special recognition for social innovation" at the 2009 Jan Łukasiewicz Award ceremony. This award was a significant acknowledgment of the innovative and collaborative efforts made by the Polish Wikipedia community.
Content and Contribution
As of recent data, the Polish Wikipedia boasts over 2,067,320 articles, making it the second-largest Wikipedia edition in a Slavic language, surpassed only by the Russian Wikipedia.
The Polish Wikipedia is maintained by a community of volunteer editors who strive to create content on a wide range of topics. It includes articles on historical events, cultural phenomena, scientific concepts, and much more. The platform's growth and sustainability are driven by the collaborative contributions and editorial oversight provided by its users.
Monument to Wikipedia
An interesting cultural artifact associated with the Polish Wikipedia is the Wikipedia Monument, known in Polish as Pomnik Wikipedii. The monument is located in Słubice, Poland, and was designed by Armenian sculptor Mihran Hakobyan. It stands as a testament to the collaborative spirit and the global impact of Wikipedia as a knowledge-sharing platform.