The Swedish Wikipedia is the edition of Wikipedia written in Swedish and hosted by the Wikimedia movement. Known in Swedish as Svenskspråkiga Wikipedia, it functions as a free, collaboratively edited encyclopedia for speakers of Swedish worldwide. Articles cover general knowledge, local Swedish topics, biographies, species, places and technical subjects, and are created and maintained by volunteers.

Characteristics

From early volunteer contributions to later automated expansions, the project combines traditional editorial work with large-scale article creation. It has roughly 2,556,000 articles, a figure that reflects both human-authored entries and many short, bot-generated pages. The community maintains Swedish-language policies, style guidelines and project-specific pages to support consistent spelling, grammar and terminology.

History and development

Established in May 2001, the Swedish Wikipedia grew steadily through the 2000s. In the 2010s its article count rose rapidly after the use of automated tools that produced large numbers of stubs on organisms, geographical locations and other structured topics. This phase prompted discussion in the community about balance between quantity and depth, and led to policy adjustments governing bot activity and article quality.

Uses and importance

Swedish Wikipedia serves as a primary online reference for Swedish speakers, used in schools, by journalists, researchers and the general public. Its local focus makes it a valuable source for Swedish biographies, municipalities, culture and regional history. The site also plays a role in language preservation by documenting terminology and modern usage in Swedish.

Notable facts and distinctions

  • Its rapid growth included substantial automated article creation, a distinguishing feature compared with many other language editions.
  • The presence of many concise, data-driven articles affects metrics such as "article depth", often prompting efforts to expand and improve content quality.
  • Community governance follows Wikimedia principles while adapting rules to Swedish-language needs, and editors coordinate through local discussion pages and project groups.

As with other language editions, the Swedish Wikipedia continues to evolve: volunteers and automated tools coexist, and ongoing editorial work seeks to improve reliability, readability and relevance for Swedish readers.