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How It Works • Online Encyclopedia

French Wikipedia

French Wikipedia is the French-language edition of Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia that can be read and edited by volunteers.

Updated September 11, 20261 min readCited sources

French Wikipedia is the French-language edition of the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia. It was launched on 23 March 2001 and, as of 24 June 2026, contains 2,766,062 articles.

What it is

French Wikipedia (Wikipédia en français) is part of the multilingual Wikipedia project, hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. It is available at fr.wikipedia.org and can be read and edited by volunteers, like all Wikipedia editions.

History and scale

The French edition began on 23 March 2001, shortly after Wikipedia itself was founded by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. It is one of the earliest non-English editions and, with over 2.7 million articles, is among the largest language versions.

How to edit

Anyone can edit most French Wikipedia articles by opening the page and selecting the edit option. Edits must follow community rules on sourcing, copyright, and neutrality. Users can also suggest changes through article talk pages.

In short

  • French-language edition of Wikipedia
  • Launched 23 March 2001
  • 2,766,062 articles as of 24 June 2026
  • Publicly viewable and editable by volunteers

Quick questions

What is Wikipedia français?
Wikipedia français, or French Wikipedia, is the French-language edition of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia.
How many articles does French Wikipedia have?
It had 2,766,062 articles on 24 June 2026.
When was French Wikipedia launched?
French Wikipedia was launched on 23 March 2001.

Sources

  1. French Wikipediahttps://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia_en_fran%C3%A7ais
    Supports: French-language edition name, language, launch timeline, public editing model, and article count as of 24 June 2026
  2. English Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Wikipedia
    Supports: Launch date, founders of Wikipedia, and article-count context
  3. French Wikipediahttps://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia
    Supports: Wikipedia as a collaborative multilingual encyclopedia created by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger
  4. Vikidiahttps://fr.vikidia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia
    Supports: Public editing model and the French version opening date