Latvian Wikipedia

The Latvian Wikipedia was created alongside the Serbian, Kannada, Walloon, Wolof, and Xhosa Wikipedias. The oldest article is "Psihologija", which was published on 6 June 2003 and redirected to "Psiholoģija" (psychology) on 7 December 2004.{{cite web|url=http://lv.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Psihologija&action=history|title=Raksta "Psiholoģija" vēsture|publisher=Vikipēdija|access-date=9 May 2014|language=lv}} The main page was added four months after the first article, on 6 October 2003.{{cite web|url=http://lv.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sākumlapa&action=history|title=Raksta "Sākumlapa" vēsture|publisher=Vikipēdija|access-date=9 May 2014|language=lv}}

The edition's initial growth was slow and some articles about important aspects of Latvian culture were missing at first. The article about Jāņi, for instance, was not written until March 2008.{{cite web|title=Links — Reference|url=http://latviansonline.com/links/topic/C649/|publisher=Latvians Online|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513072308/http://latviansonline.com/links/topic/C649/|archive-date=13 May 2014|access-date=12 May 2014|quote=Incidentally, seeing as Jāņi is fast approaching, we searched Vikipēdija but came up with nothing. The English version, though, does have quite a comprehensive section on the subject of "Midsummer," covering the whole region of Northern Europe and the way it celebrates this time of the year.}} The Latvian Wikipedia's growth rate has been very stable since 2006.{{cite web|last=Zachte|first=Erik|title=Wikipedia Statistics — Europe — Contributors|url=http://stats.wikimedia.org/EN_Europe/PlotsPngArticlesTotal.htm#p7|publisher=stats.wikimedia.org|access-date=12 May 2014}}

On 30 September 2013, the VisualEditor was made available to logged-in users, and by 7 October 2013, it was available to all users on the Latvian Wikipedia.{{cite web|title=VisualEditor|url=http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/VisualEditor#Timeline|work=MediaWiki|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|access-date=12 May 2014}}

The Latvian Wikipedia turned 10 years old on 6 June 2013. A commemorative logo was uploaded for the occasion, and small parties among the community's "Wikiholics" ensued, as it is customary whenever a new milestone is reached.{{cite web|last=Elīna|first=Zalāne|title=Latviešu Vikipēdija svin 10 gadu jubileju|url=http://www.diena.lv/dienas-zurnali/sestdiena/latviesu-vikipedija-svin-10-gadu-jubileju-14011382|publisher=Diena|access-date=12 May 2014|language=lv|date=7 June 2013}} The edition surpassed 50,000 articles on 17 August 2013.

On 22 September 2004, the first Latvian "Wikipēdija" logo was uploaded, and on 1 June 2005, the name was changed to "Vikipēdija".{{cite web|title=Aizvien par "Wikipēdija" / "Vikipēdija"|url=http://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikip%C4%93dija:Kopienas_port%C4%81ls/Arh%C4%ABvs1#Aizvien_par_.22Wikip.C4.93dija.22_.2F_.22Vikip.C4.93dija.22|publisher=Vikipēdija|access-date=12 May 2014|language=lv}} In Latvian media, the words "Wikipedia" and "Vikipēdija" are used interchangeably to refer to both Wikipedia in general and to the Latvian edition specifically, but "Vikipēdija" is more common.{{cite web|title=Vikipēdijas krievu valodas versija pārtrauc darbu, protestējot pret interneta cenzēšanu|url=http://www.kasnotiek.com/2012/07/vikipedijas-krievu-valodas-versija.html|publisher=Kasnotiek.com|access-date=13 May 2014|language=lv|date=10 July 2012}}{{cite web|title=Pirmā persona, kas iegūst savu "Wikipedia" lapu vēl pirms piedzimšanas|date = 15 July 2013|url=http://www.delfi.lv/sievietem/relationships/dzive/karalisko-dzemdibu-histerija-parnem-pasauli-top-4-izpausmes.d?id=43483107&page=2|publisher=DELFI.lv|access-date=12 May 2014|language=lv}}

In response to the Zolitūde shopping centre roof collapse disaster of 21 November 2013, the Latvian Wikipedia, just as several other Latvian websites, changed its logo for three days to include black and the image of a candle.

A separate Latgalian Wikipedia (ltg) was created on 18 March 2011.{{cite web|title="Wikipedia" jau turi versiją latgalių kalba|url=http://www.delfi.lt/mokslas/technologijos/wikipedia-jau-turi-versija-latgaliu-kalba.d?id=43971567|publisher=DELFI.lt|access-date=18 May 2014|language=lt|date=4 April 2011}} Latgalian is spoken in Latgale, the eastern part of Latvia, and its standardized form is recognized and protected as a variety of Latvian language by Latvian law,{{cite web|title=Valsts valodas likums|url=http://likumi.lv/doc.php?id=14740|publisher=Likumi.lv|access-date=18 May 2014|language=lv|date=1 September 2000}} although it is debated whether it is a dialect of Latvian or a separate language.{{cite web|title=Recenzija par pētījumu "Valodas loma reģiona attīstībā"|url=http://politika.lv/article/recenzija-par-petijumu-valodas-loma-regiona-attistiba|publisher=politika.lv|access-date=18 May 2014|author=Ina Druviete|language=lv|date=22 July 2001}}

Neciklopēdija, the Latvian edition of Uncyclopedia, is a satirical website created on 30 November 2005 to parody the Latvian Wikipedia. An article outlining the internal politics between the Latvian Wikipedia's administrators and its most active users was written on 10 March 2011.{{cite web|title="Latviešu Vikipēdija" versiju hronoloģija|url=http://lv.neciklopedija.org/index.php?title=Latviešu_Vikipēdija|publisher=Neciklopēdija|access-date=8 November 2019|language=lv}}

Since 11 June 2014, a "!Bang" command on DuckDuckGo gives users the ability to redirect search queries to the Latvian Wikipedia by typing {{kbd|!wlv}} in their browser's URL bar.{{cite web|url=https://duckduckgo.com/bang.html|title=!Bang|publisher=Duckduckgo.com|access-date=11 June 2014}}

File:Vikimaratona plakāts Ģertrūdes ielā.jpg ]]

The {{ill|Latvian Wikipedia Marathon|lv|Latvijas Vikipēdijas maratons}} ({{langx|lv|Latvijas Vikipēdijas maratons}}) was a project that brought together the Latvian Wikipedia community with several private partners in a joint effort with the aim of expanding the Latvian Wikipedia to activate the usability of the Latvian language in the learning process, cognition and research work.

Since 31 October 2012, the Latvian Wikipedia displays a notice encouraging users to sign a petition on the Latvian social initiative platform ManaBalss.lv in an effort to change the Latvian copyright law, which permits taking pictures of architectural works and monuments, but only for non-commercial purposes. According to the petition, "such restrictions are not reasonable for buildings, monuments, sculptures and other three-dimensional works that cannot be fully reproduced in two dimensions".{{cite web|title=MediaWiki:Sitenotice|url=http://lv.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MediaWiki:Sitenotice&oldid=1824281|publisher=Vikipēdija|access-date=12 May 2014|language=lv}} If the law changed, pictures of Latvian public buildings would become valid on Wikimedia Commons.

• As opposed to the English Wikipedia, it is not required to be logged-in to create a new article on the Latvian Wikipedia.
• Many users use personalized license templates on the images they upload locally to have them grouped.{{cite web|title=Kategorija:Individuālās attēlu autortiesību veidnes|url=http://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kategorija:Individuālās_attēlu_autortiesību_veidnes|publisher=Vikipēdija|access-date=13 May 2014|language=lv}}
• Unlike most major Wikipedias, the Latvian Wikipedia adopted gadgets very late, in May 2014.{{cite web | url=http://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikip%C4%93dija:Kopienas_port%C4%81ls/Arh%C4%ABvs28#Da.C5.BEas_f.C4.AB.C4.8Das | title=Dažas fīčas | publisher=Vikipēdija | date=9 May 2014 | access-date=21 July 2014}}

The Latvian Wikipedia has an Exemption Doctrine Policy (Godprātīga lietošana) that allows local uploads of non-free, fair use images and audio/video files (with copyright restrictions). However, users are encouraged to release their work under a Creative Commons license and upload it on Wikimedia Commons instead, thus making it accessible throughout all editions of Wikipedia. This stance is similar to the English Wikipedia's, and in contrast to some other editions, which rely strictly on Wikimedia Commons for images, sound, and other media files, including i.a. the Spanish, Swedish, Polish, Basque, Czech, Danish, Volapük and Latin Wikipedias.{{cite web|title=List of Wikipedias|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias#10_000.2B_articles|work=Meta-Wiki|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|access-date={{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}}}{{cite web|title=Non-free content|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Non-free_content|work=Meta-Wiki|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|access-date=12 May 2014}}{{cite web|title=Londona iet ar kājām|url=http://www.kasjauns.lv/lv/lielasbildes.html?bigimage_offset=5|publisher=Kasjauns.lv|access-date=12 May 2014|language=lv|date=5 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513112404/http://www.kasjauns.lv/lv/lielasbildes.html?bigimage_offset=5|archive-date=13 May 2014|url-status=dead}}

Content and images from the Latvian Wikipedia often appear on Latvian news websites.{{cite web|title=Kapteinis Herberts Cukurs|url=http://www.tvnet.lv/izklaide/skatuve/506227-manfelde_velas_atteikties_no_projekta_par_nacistu_cukuru|publisher=TVNET/LETA|access-date=12 May 2014|language=lv|date=17 April 2014}}{{cite web|title=Ainaram Bagatskim paskaidrojums no wikipedia.org|url=http://www.kasjauns.lv/lv/zinas/39095/ainars-bagatskis-nezina-kur-dzivo-pingvini|publisher=Kasjauns.lv|access-date=12 May 2014|language=lv|date=31 January 2011}}{{cite web|title=Halovīns ir klāt|url=http://www.kasjauns.lv/lv/lielasbildes/557/halovins-ir-klat|publisher=Kasjauns.lv|access-date=12 May 2014|language=lv|date=31 October 2013|quote=Halovīns Visu svēto dienas priekšvakars, 31. oktobra vakars. Šajā vakarā cilvēki pārģērbjas par spokiem, raganām, miroņiem un citiem mošķiem un staigā pa mājām, prasot saldumus. Tā ir ASV tradīcija, taču globalizācijas rezultātā šī tradīcija tiek pārnesta arī uz citām valstīm, arī Latviju. Info: Wikipedia [...] Tesmeņveidīgie mākoņi jeb maisveida mākoņi ir mākoņi ar nokareniem puslodes formas izspiedumiem to apakšdaļā. Šie izspiedumi tiecas uz leju līdzīgi tesmeņiem vai nokarenām kabatām. No tā radies mākoņu nosaukums. Šādi mākoņi retumis novērojami negaisa mākoņu aizmugurē vasaras periodā. Info: Wikipedia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513111333/http://www.kasjauns.lv/lv/lielasbildes/557/halovins-ir-klat|archive-date=13 May 2014|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Tesmeņveidīgo mākoņu neparastais skaistums|url=http://www.kasjauns.lv/lv/lielasbildes/591/tesmenveidigo-makonu-neparastais-skaistums|publisher=Kasjauns.lv|access-date=12 May 2014|language=lv|date=23 January 2014|quote=Tesmeņveidīgie mākoņi jeb maisveida mākoņi ir mākoņi ar nokareniem puslodes formas izspiedumiem to apakšdaļā. Šie izspiedumi tiecas uz leju līdzīgi tesmeņiem vai nokarenām kabatām. No tā radies mākoņu nosaukums. Šādi mākoņi retumis novērojami negaisa mākoņu aizmugurē vasaras periodā. Info: Wikipedia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513111150/http://www.kasjauns.lv/lv/lielasbildes/591/tesmenveidigo-makonu-neparastais-skaistums|archive-date=13 May 2014|url-status=dead}}

As of {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}, the Latvian Wikipedia's {{formatnum:{{#expr:{{NUMBEROF|ARTICLES|lv}} round -3}}}} articles account for approximately {{#expr:{{NUMBEROF|ARTICLES|lv}}/{{NUMBEROFGROUP|ARTICLES|bat}}*100 round 0}}% of all the articles written in a Baltic language, an increase from 24% in 2014. This makes it the second-largest edition in the family after Lithuanian, which accounts for {{#expr:{{NUMBEROF|ARTICLES|lt}}/{{NUMBEROFGROUP|ARTICLES|bat}}*100 round 0}}%. In 2018, the most popular articles were "Latvija" (Latvia), "2018. gada Pasaules čempionāts hokejā" (2018 IIHF World Championship), and "Rīga", the capital of Latvia.{{Cite web|url=https://tools.wmflabs.org/topviews/?project=lv.wikipedia.org&platform=all-access&date=last-year&excludes=|title=Topviews Analysis|website=tools.wmflabs.org|access-date=2019-11-10}}

{{As of|2019|11}}, the Latvian Wikipedia had 49 featured articles ({{lang|lv|vērtīgi raksti}}) and a moderate ratio of 0.5 featured articles per 1000 articles,{{cite web|title=Vikipēdija:Vērtīgi raksti|url=http://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikip%C4%93dija:V%C4%93rt%C4%ABgi_raksti|work=Vikipēdija|access-date=7 November 2019|language=lv}} 110 good articles ({{lang|lv|labi raksti}}),{{cite web|title=Vikipēdija:Labi raksti|url=http://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikip%C4%93dija:Labi_raksti|work=Vikipēdija|access-date=7 November 2019|language=lv}} 19 featured lists ({{lang|lv|vērtīgi saraksti}}),{{cite web|title=Vērtīgi saraksti|url=http://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikip%C4%93dija:V%C4%93rt%C4%ABgi_saraksti|work=Vikipēdija|access-date=19 July 2014|language=lv}} and 18 Wikiprojects (Vikiprojekts).{{cite web|url=http://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikip%C4%93dija:Vikiprojekts|title=Vikipēdija:Vikiprojekts|work=Vikipēdija|language=lv|access-date=19 July 2014}}

{{#switch: {{PAGESINCATEGORY:Articles needing translation from {{PAGENAME}}}}

| 0 = | {{#switch: {{PAGESINCATEGORY:Articles needing translation from {{PAGENAME}}}} | 0 = | 1 = As of {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}, one article on the English Wikipedia | As of {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}, {{PAGESINCATEGORY:Articles needing translation from {{PAGENAME}}}} articles on the English Wikipedia }} could be expanded by translating from the {{PAGENAME}}.{{cite web|title=Category:Articles needing translation from {{PAGENAME}}|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Articles_needing_translation_from_{{#invoke:String|replace|{{PAGENAME}}|_}}|work=Wikipedia|accessdate={{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}}}}}

It currently has a moderately high depth indicator of {{Depth|lv}},Depth is a rough indicator of a Wikipedia's collaborative quality showing how frequently its articles are updated. A higher depth usually indicates that articles are more often edited. which is greater than other than that of Wikipedias in other Baltic languagesThe Latgalian, Lithuanian, and Samogitian Wikipedias have a depth indicator of {{Depth|ltg}}, {{Depth|bat-smg}}, and {{Depth|lt}} respectively. and some of the largest editions including Polish ({{Depth|pl}}), Dutch ({{Depth|nl}}), and Swedish ({{Depth|sv}}).

{{As of|2019|11}}, according to the list of Wikipedias by sample of articles at Meta-Wiki, which is based on the list of articles every Wikipedia should have, the Latvian Wikipedia ranked 60th out of 295 editions, with a score of 23.18/100. It lacked no article from the list of vital articles, but contained three times more stubs than articles.

File:Vikialus 2013 01.jpg, ScAvenger, Feens, IndulisMX, Treisijs, GreenZeb, Papuass, and Dainis.]]

Although there is still no Wikimedia chapter in Latvia, the Wikimedia Foundation officially recognized the Wikimedians of Latvia User Group ({{langx|lv|Latvijas vikimedisti}}) on 5 March 2015.{{Cite web|url=https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedians_of_Latvia_User_Group|title=Wikimedians of Latvia User Group - Meta|website=meta.wikimedia.org|language=en|access-date=2019-11-10}} It is an active user group representing all Wikimedians in Latvia.

In 2014, the Latvian Wikipedia was the third most read edition in Latvia, after the English Wikipedia and the Russian Wikipedia.{{cite web|last=Zachte|first=Erik|title=Wikimedia Traffic Analysis Report — Wikipedia Page Views Per Country — Trends|url=http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikimedia/squids/SquidReportPageViewsPerCountryTrends.htm#Latvia|access-date=11 May 2014}} It is also the seventh most read edition on the island of Guernsey, where there is an emerging Latvian diaspora of approximately 1,500 to 2,000 migrant workers.{{cite journal|last=Lulle|first=Aija|title=Latvians in Guernsey an Emerging Translocal Labor Diaspora|journal=Baltic Worlds|date=22 January 2014|volume=VI:3-4|pages=10–16|url=http://balticworlds.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Aija-lulle.pdf|access-date=11 May 2014}} Despite Latvian having less than 2 million speakers, the edition enjoys a relatively high level of community participation, with 54 editors per million speakers.{{cite web|last=Zachte|first=Erik|title=Wikipedia Statistics — Sitemap|url=http://stats.wikimedia.org/EN/Sitemap.htm|publisher=stats.wikimedia.org|access-date=11 May 2014}}

At around {{#expr:{{NUMBEROF|ARTICLES|lv}}*1000/{{formatnum:2,000,000|R}} round 1}}{{Update inline|date=April 2020}} articles per thousand speakers, the Latvian Wikipedia has an above-average number of articles per speaker.{{cite web|title=List of Wikipedias by speakers per article|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias_by_speakers_per_article|work=Meta-Wiki|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|access-date=10 May 2014}} These figures were based on an estimate of 1.8 million speakers of Latvian.{{cite book|script-title=ru:Латышский язык, языки в Латвии|date=2003|publisher=Valsts valodas komisija|isbn=9984720365|url=http://www.vvk.lv/doc_upl/Valodas_Latvijaa_RUS.pdf|access-date=11 May 2014|language=ru}} Its editing community currently consists of {{NUMBEROF|ADMINS|lv}} administrators ({{#expr:{{NUMBEROF|ADMINS|lv}}/{{NUMBEROF|ACTIVEUSERS|lv}}*100 round 2}}% of all active users) and {{NUMBEROF|ACTIVEUSERS|lv}} active contributors, of which on average between 12 and 20 are very active every month,A very active user is one with 100+ edits in the main namespace of a given project over the last 30 days. and there are in total 62 users with over 1,000 edits (excluding bots), and 20 approved bots, assisting users in the editing process.{{cite web|url=https://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikipēdija:Boti|title=Vikipēdija:Boti|publisher=Vikipēdija|language=lv|access-date=13 July 2014}}{{cite web|last=Zachte|first=Erik|title=50 recently active wikipedians, excl. bots, ordered by number of contributions|url=http://stats.wikimedia.org/EN/TablesWikipediaLV.htm#wikipedians|work=stats.wikimedia.org|access-date=11 May 2014}}{{cite web|title=Analytics/Metric definitions|url=http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Analytics/Metric_definitions|work=MediaWiki, The Free Wiki Engine|access-date=11 April 2013}} Around 90% of both views and edits originate from Latvia, where Wikipedia is the 12th most visited website.{{Cite web|url=https://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/LV|title=Alexa - Top Sites in Latvia - Alexa|website=www.alexa.com|access-date=2019-11-10|archive-date=2009-04-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403030721/https://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/LV|url-status=dead}}

File:Wikipedia-logo-lv-040922.png|The Latvian Wikipedia's original logo. Note that "Wikipēdija" was spelled with a 'W' from 22 September 2004 to 1 June 2005

File:Wikipedia-logo-lv-50K.png|The Latvian Wikipedia's 50,000 articles commemorative logo (17 August 2013)

File:Wikipedia-logo-lv 100000.png|The Latvian Wikipedia's 100,000 articles commemorative logo (24 January 2020)

File:Wikipedia-logo-v2-lv-131123.png|The logo displayed in memory of the victims of the Zolitūde shopping centre roof collapse (23–26 November 2013)

• List of Wikipedias

{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

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{{InterWiki|code=lv}}

{{Meta|Tell us about Latvian Wikipedia}}

• {{Commons category-inline}}
• [http://lv.wikipedia.org Latvian Wikipedia] {{in lang|lv}}
• [https://twitter.com/wikipedia_lv Twitter page of the Latvian Wikipedia] {{in lang|lv}}
• Embassy of the Latvian Wikipedia (English, French, German, Polish, and Russian)

{{Wikipedias}}

Category:Latvian-language encyclopedias

Category:Internet properties established in 2003

Category:Latvian-language websites

Category:Wikipedias by language