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About Wikipedia

This is the front page of the Simple English Wikipedia. Wikipedias are places where people work together to write encyclopedias in different languages. We use Simple English words and grammar here. The Simple English Wikipedia is for everyone, such as children and adults who are learning English. There are 285,670 articles on the Simple English Wikipedia. All of the pages are free to use. They have all been published under both the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 4.0 International License and the GNU Free Documentation License. You can help here! You may change these pages and make new pages. Read the help pages and other good pages to learn how to write pages here. If you need help, you may ask questions at Simple talk.

When writing articles here:

Use Basic English words and shorter sentences. This allows people to understand complex terms or phrases.
Write good pages. The best encyclopedia pages have useful, well-written information.
Use the pages to learn and teach. These pages can help people learn English. You can also use them to make a new Wikipedia to help other people.
Simple does not mean short. Writing in Simple English means that simple words are used. It does not mean readers want basic information. Articles do not have to be short to be simple; expand articles, add details, but use basic vocabulary.
Be bold! Your article does not have to be perfect because other editors will fix it and make it better. And most importantly, do not be afraid to start and make articles better yourself.

Selected Very Good Article

Hurricane Vince was an unusual hurricane that began in the northeast Atlantic Ocean. It was part of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. The waters where it formed were thought to be too cold for tropical cyclones to exist. Vince was the 20th named storm and 12th hurricane of the season.

The storm that became Vince started out as an extratropical cyclone. It became a subtropical storm on October 8 to the southeast of the Azores. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) did not officially give the storm a name until the next day. Vince grew into a hurricane before beginning to weaken at sea. On October 11, it made landfall on the Iberian Peninsula in Spain. At that time, it was a tropical depression. It may have been the first storm to hit the area since a hurricane in 1842. Vince died out over Spain. However, it dropped rain in the country. What was left of the storm passed into the Mediterranean Sea.

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Selected Good Article

John McDouall Stuart (7 September 1815 – 5 June 1866) is regarded as one of Australia's greatest explorers. He went on seven major exploring trips into the centre and north of Australia. He was leader of six of these expeditions. He spent more time out in the Australian bush exploring the land than any other explorer. In 1862, he crossed Australia from Adelaide, South Australia, to Van Diemen Gulf in the Northern Territory. He was the first European to cross the continent from north to south and then return again.

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Did you know...

From a collection of Wikipedia's articles:

... that hummingbirds (pictured) are the only birds that can fly backwards?

... that in 2009, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu became the first Nobel Prize winner to be a member of the U.S. Cabinet?

... that Magnifica humanitas is the first papal encyclical to be published without an official Latin version?

... that in 2024, Rachel Reeves became the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer?

... that one of the most read articles of The Seattle Times in 2005 was about a man who died after having sex with a horse?

... that because of SAG rules, Michael John Douglas had to change his name by searching a phone book under "K," saw "Keaton" and decided to pick it as his surname?

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Sister projects

Wikipedia is hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization that also hosts a range of other projects:

In Simple English:
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In Regular English:
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	Wikivoyage Free travel guide	MediaWiki Wiki software development	Abstract Wikipedia Language-independent articles