Uzbek Wikipedia

The Uzbek Wikipedia was launched on 21 December 2003, and the first edit was made on the main page of the encyclopedia on 21 December 2003.{{cite web|title=Main page|url=https://uz.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bosh_Sahifa&oldid=1|work=Uzbek Wikipedia|access-date=19 April 2014|date=21 December 2003}} It remained largely inactive in 2004, but started to grow in 2005.

The Uzbek Wikipedia was blocked around the beginning of October 2011 in Uzbekistan. However, the encyclopedia continued to grow exponentially in 2012. During that same year, a bot was used to create a large number of articles. In 2013, another bot added all of the articles of the National Encyclopedia of Uzbekistan to the Uzbek Wikipedia.

A mirror of the Uzbek Wikipedia was set up at {{URL|http://wiki.zn.uz/}} in 2008, with the purpose of reducing international traffic for internet users in Uzbekistan. However, the mirror has been down since June 2012.

In 2007, the first Wikiconference ({{langx|uz|Vikimajlis}}) of Uzbek Wikipedia editors was held at the Tashkent University of Information Technologies. Participants included those who had never edited Wikipedia before.

In 2008, a WikiSummer ({{langx|uz|VikiYoz}}; "yoz" means both "summer" and "to write" in Uzbek) contest was organized with the goal of contributing to the expansion and development of the Uzbek Wikipedia. However, there was little interest shown and the contest was considered unsuccessful. The contest was financially supported by Uzinfocom, an agency of the State Committee of Communication, Informatization, and Telecommunication Technology of Uzbekistan.

File:OzodWiki banner.jpg

In February 2014, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service, known locally as Ozodlik radiosi, launched the OzodWiki project to contribute to the development of the Uzbek Wikipedia.{{cite news|last=Omuemu|first=Sophia|title=Fighting censorship in Uzbekistan, one entry at a time|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/fighting-censorship-in-uzbekistan-one-entry-at-a-time/25425174.html|access-date=19 June 2014|newspaper=RFE/RL|date=17 June 2014|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305000159/http://www.rferl.org/content/fighting-censorship-in-uzbekistan-one-entry-at-a-time/25425174.html/|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|title=The Uzbek Wikipedia is about to become more active|url=http://www.ozodlik.org/content/article/25255356.html|access-date=20 April 2014|newspaper=RFE/RL|date=6 February 2014|language=uz}} A wide range of articles, including interviews with active editors,{{cite news|title=Misha Ge of Uzbekistan will take part in the Sochi Winter Olympics on February 13|url=http://www.ozodlik.org/content/article/25262914.html|access-date=20 April 2014|newspaper=RFE/RL|date=13 February 2014|language=uz}}{{cite news|title=The Uzbek Wikipedia is not keeping up with Euromaidan|url=http://www.ozodlik.org/content/article/25269595.html|access-date=20 April 2014|newspaper=RFE/RL|date=19 February 2014|language=uz}}{{cite news|title=Uzbekistan has many educated young people who can contribute to Wikipedia, but...|url=http://www.ozodlik.org/content/article/25287814.html|access-date=20 April 2014|newspaper=RFE/RL|date=6 March 2014|language=uz}}{{cite news|title=21 year old Doniyor has added an article about NATO to the Uzbek Wikipedia|url=http://www.ozodlik.org/content/article/25304191.html|access-date=20 April 2014|newspaper=RFE/RL|date=20 March 2014|language=uz}}{{cite news|title=The bell has rung and the wiki lesson has started|url=http://www.ozodlik.org/content/article/25304191.html|access-date=20 April 2014|newspaper=RFE/RL|date=27 March 2014|language=uz}} reviews of existing articles,{{cite news|title=The Uzbek Wikipedia is closely watching the crisis in Crimea|url=http://www.ozodlik.org/content/article/25287984.html|access-date=20 April 2014|newspaper=RFE/RL|date=7 March 2014|language=uz}} and lessons on editing Wikipedia were published as part of the project. In addition, selected words and phrases used in Ozodlik Radiosi's reports were hyperlinked to corresponding entries in the Uzbek Wikipedia to popularize the encyclopedia. The OzodWiki project was "mutually beneficial, enabling Ozodlik users to click through to expanded information resources while popularizing Wikipedia by driving new topics and audience their way." A total of 33 unique articles were published as part of the project. The final OzodWiki article was published in January 2016.

In a short time, the OzodWiki project had a positive impact on the Uzbek Wikipedia.{{cite news|title=OzodWiki has increased visits to the Uzbek Wikipedia by 300 percent|url=http://www.ozodlik.org/content/article/25328141.html|access-date=20 April 2014|newspaper=RFE/RL|date=10 April 2014|language=uz}} While it is unlikely that all of the changes that took place after the launch of OzodWiki were a direct result of the project, most of these changes occurred while the project was running. While the main page of the Uzbek Wikipedia was viewed 20,368 times in January 2014, it was viewed 56,274 times in March of the same year. In April 2013, the main page was visited only 12,134 times, but in April 2014, the main page was viewed a record 136,592 times.{{cite web|title=Wikipedia article traffic statistics|url=http://stats.grok.se/uz/201404/Bosh_Sahifa|access-date=22 May 2014}}

{{main|WikiStipendiya}}

{{copy edit section|date=August 2024}}

In May 2022, the Agency for Youth Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan launched the WikiStipendiya edit-a-thon. This was a collaboration with the Agency of Information and Mass Communications under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Council of Young Artists, and the Wikimedians of the Uzbek language User Group. The edit-a-thon was inspired by a decree of Shavkat Mirziyoyev on improving the presence of the Uzbek language in the digital world.{{cite news |title="Wiki-стипендия" марафони эълон қилинди |url=https://www.sof.uz/post/wiki-stipendiya-marafoni-elon-qilindi |access-date=20 May 2022 |work=Sof |date=16 May 2022 |archive-date=29 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629165035/https://sof.uz/post/wiki-stipendiya-marafoni-elon-qilindi |url-status=dead }}

The name of the project is a portmanteau of the words "wiki" and "stipendiya" (scholarship). It focuses on encouraging content creation on the Uzbek Wikipedia, particularly by students, but is not limited to any group.{{cite news |title=Активные редакторы узбекской Википедии смогут получить до 50 млн сумов |url=https://www.gazeta.uz/ru/2022/05/13/wikistipendiya/ |access-date=20 May 2022 |work=Gazeta |date=13 May 2022}} Another goal was to increase the number of editors on Uzbek-language wikis.

According to Nodir Atayev, a long-term Uzbek Wikipedian from Kyrgyzstan, before 2022, government agencies reviewed Uzbek Wikipedia and created various sample articles, recognizing that Uzbek Wikipedia was a part of the digital world. After the inspections, people from the Youth Affairs Agency contacted Uzbek admins and Wikipedians for the possibility of a collaboration that materialized in the WikiStipendiya contest in 2022.{{Cite web|url=https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/01/12/meet-nataev-long-term-wikimedian-from-central-asia/|title=Meet @Nataev – long term Wikimedian from Central Asia|last=WMF|first=AAkhmedova|date=2023-01-12|website=Diff|language=en-US|accessdate=2023-01-17}} Notably, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev congratulated the Uzbek community for the contest in a speech on 30 June 2022.{{Cite web|url=https://kun.uz/news/2022/06/30/vikipediyada-100-nafar-ozbek-alloma-va-mutafakkirlari-haqida-malumotlar-bazasi-yaratiladi-prezident|title="Википедияда 100 нафар ўзбек аллома ва мутафаккирлари ҳақида маълумотлар базаси яратилади" – президент|last=uz|first=Kun|website=Kun.uz|language=uz|accessdate=2023-01-17}}

Since the beginning of the contest, the number of new articles has soared to 200-400 articles per day, and many vital articles have been created. On 3 July 2022, Uzbek Wikipedia reached 150,000 articles.{{cite news |title=List of Wikipedias - Table |url=https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Wikipedias/Table&oldid=23478583|access-date=4 July 2022 |work=meta.wikimedia.org |date=3 July 2022}} On 2 August 2022, Uzbek reached 159,000 articles after a drive to create articles about archaeological sites in Uzbekistan resulted in nearly 3,000 articles that day. In the first week of August, Uzbek Wikipedia conducted the WikiOromgoh (WikiCamp) program, hosted by the Agency for Youth Affairs and the local Wikimedians catering to young Wikipedians.{{Cite web|url=https://www.yuz.uz/uz/news/wikioromgohda-bir-haftada-sakkiz-mingdan-ortiq-maqola-yaratildi|title=WikiOromgohda bir haftada sakkiz mingdan ortiq maqola yaratildi|date=8 August 2022|website=yuz.uz|accessdate=25 November 2022|archive-date=24 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124235753/https://www.yuz.uz/uz/news/wikioromgohda-bir-haftada-sakkiz-mingdan-ortiq-maqola-yaratildi|url-status=dead}} The project, a part of WikiStipendiya, added more than 8,000 articles on many topics in one week.

On 26 November 2022, Uzbek Wikipedia reached 200,000 articles,{{cite news |title=Vikipediya:OAV uchun/200K - Vikipediya |url=https://uz.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikipediya:OAV_uchun/200K|access-date=26 November 2022 |work=uz.wikipedia.org |date=26 November 2022}} after several thousands of articles, many of them about settlements in Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Tajikistan, as well as about many other topics, were added during the second WikiCamp, which took place from 23 to 29 November 2022.{{cite news |title=WikiOromgoh 2 uchun 150 nafar istirokchi safar olindi - nammqi.uz |url=https://nammqi.uz/en/wikioromgoh-2-uchun-150-nafar-ishtirokchi-saralab-olindi|access-date=25 November 2022 |work=uz.wikipedia.org |date=26 November 2022}}

File:UZwiki converter.png

While articles in the Uzbek Wikipedia are written using the Latin script, historically the Uzbek language has used many different alphabets. Before 1928, Uzbek was written in an Arabic-based alphabet by the literate population. Between 1928 and 1940, it was written in a Latin alphabet which was different from the Latin alphabet that is used today. Starting from 1940, Uzbek began to be written in the Cyrillic alphabet, which remained the predominant form of writing until 1993.

File:UZwiki vikificator.png

A new Latin alphabet was introduced to Uzbek after Uzbekistan gained independence from the Soviet Union. Currently, the Latin script is used in school and university textbooks, some newspapers, and some official papers. Since 2004 some official websites have switched over to using the Latin script when writing in Uzbek. However, the use of Cyrillic is still widespread, especially among older Uzbeks and among Uzbeks who live in other countries.

Currently, the Uzbek Wikipedia has a function ("vikifikator", literally "wikifier") that allows editors to easily convert Cyrillic text into Latin while editing. In August 2012, a Latin-to-Cyrillic converter was added to allow users to view Uzbek Wikipedia's pages in both the Latin and Cyrillic scripts.{{cite news|last=Ataev|first=Nodir|title=The Uzbek Wikipedia is growing|url=http://www.ozodlik.org/content/blog/24727577.html|access-date=20 April 2014|newspaper=RFE/RL|date=3 October 2012|language=uz}}

Whereas in the English Wikipedia autoconfirmed status is required to move pages, edit semi-protected pages, and upload files, in the Uzbek edition these actions are not restricted. At the moment there are {{NUMBEROF|ADMINS|uz|N}} administrators in the Uzbek Wikipedia.

The Uzbek Wikipedia lacks articles on contemporary political life in Uzbekistan. However, in 2012 the Uzbek Wikipedia started to grow fast despite being blocked in Uzbekistan and since that time the number of well-written articles on important subjects has increased significantly. In 2013, the coverage of the Uzbek Wikipedia expanded noticeably after all of the articles of the National Encyclopedia of Uzbekistan were added to it using a bot. Currently, most articles on the Uzbek Wikipedia are about populated places, astronomical objects, people, music, and football.Maxsus:MostLinkedCategories Many articles about Uzbekistan have been written since the WikiStipendiya article contest, including articles about recent political events and social issues.

Like in many other Wikipedias, Uzbek Wikipedia editors jointly determine featured and good articles. Currently, there are 11 featured and 22 good articles on the Uzbek Wikipedia. The most comprehensive articles are entries about stars, philosophy, the Republic of Korea, Tehran, Aleppo, Karabulak, Texas, Encyclopædia Britannica, Ali-Shir Nava'i, Cristiano Ronaldo, and the British Empire.

In Uzbekistan, despite that the Cyrillic alphabet was replaced with a Latin one in 1992, Cyrillic continues to be used very widely in the country. Due to this, Cyrillic enjoys some use in Uzbek Wikipedia; there are pages written in the Cyrillic alphabet instead of Latin or exhibit a mixed use of both. For example, the page about the Chinese leader Mao Zedong is written mostly in Cyrillic except for a few captions.

Since the beginning of the WikiStipendiya article contest, the situation in Uzbek has improved. Many significant articles have been added, more people have been inspired to contribute to the encyclopedia and more people feel confident to use the encyclopedia for information.{{Cite web |last1=NikosLikomitros |last2=History |date=2023-07-11 |title=The Generation of WikiStipendiya: An interview with Uzbek Wikipedians |url=https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/07/11/the-generation-of-wikistipendiya-an-interview-with-uzbek-wikipedians/ |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=Diff |language=en-US}}

The number of articles in the Uzbek Wikipedia reached 10,000 on 5 June 2012. {{cite news|title=The number of articles in the Uzbek Wikipedia reaches 10,000|url=http://kun.uz/2012/06/07/uzwiki/|access-date=8 June 2012|newspaper=Kun|date=7 June 2012|language=uz|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120610005502/http://kun.uz/2012/06/07/uzwiki/|archive-date=10 June 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}} The 10,000th article was on the compass. A month later, on 5 July 2012, the article count of the encyclopedia reached 20,000.{{cite news|title=The number of articles in the Uzbek Wikipedia gains another 10,000 in a month|url=http://kun.uz/2012/07/12/uzwiki-2/|access-date=12 July 2012|newspaper=Kun|date=12 July 2012|language=uz|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720044450/http://kun.uz/2012/07/12/uzwiki-2/|archive-date=20 July 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}} The 20,000th article was on the topic of meteorology. The Uzbek Wikipedia reached 50,000 articles on 8 November 2012.{{cite news|title=The Uzbek Wikipedia has more than 50,000 articles|url=http://www.gazeta.uz/2012/11/08/wiki/|access-date=19 April 2014|newspaper=Gazeta|date=8 November 2012|language=ru}}{{cite news|title=The number of articles in the Uzbek Wikipedia has exceeded 50,000|url=http://kun.uz/2012/11/08/uzwikifive/|access-date=19 April 2014|newspaper=Kun|date=8 November 2012|language=uz|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216101823/http://kun.uz/2012/11/08/uzwikifive/|archive-date=16 December 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}} The 50,000th article was on quadratic equations. The encyclopedia reached 100,000 articles on 20 March 2013.{{cite news|title=The number of articles in the Uzbek Wikipedia has exceeded 100,000|url=http://www.gazeta.uz/2013/03/20/wikipedia/|access-date=19 April 2014|newspaper=Gazeta|date=20 March 2013|language=ru}}{{cite news|title="Labor force" has become the 100,000th article on the Uzbek Wikipedia|url=http://kun.uz/2013/03/20/uzbekwikipedia/|access-date=19 April 2014|newspaper=Kun|date=20 March 2013|language=uz|archive-date=28 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328133522/http://kun.uz/2013/03/20/uzbekwikipedia/|url-status=dead}} The 100,000th article was on labor force. These increases in the number of articles were mostly achieved with the help of bots.

File:Pageviews of the Uzbek and Russian Wikipedia in Uzbekistan.svg

As of {{date}}, the Uzbek Wikipedia has {{NUMBEROF|ARTICLES|uz|N}} articles. There are {{NUMBEROF|USERS|uz|N}} users, {{NUMBEROF|ACTIVEUSERS|uz|N}} of whom have made at least one edit in the last 30 days. At the moment, only {{NUMBEROF|ADMINS|uz|N}} users have administrator rights. The total number of pages on the Uzbek Wikipedia (including talk pages, categories, etc.) is {{NUMBEROF|PAGES|uz|N}}. The total number of edits is {{NUMBEROF|EDITS|uz|N}}. The editing depth of the Uzbek Wikipedia, which is a rough indicator of the encyclopedia collaborative quality, is {{Uzwiki article depth}}. Based on the List of articles every Wikipedia should have, the Uzbek Wikipedia ranks 64th.{{cite web|title=List of Wikipedias by a sample of articles|url=https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias_by_sample_of_articles|work=Wikimedia Foundation|access-date=18 April 2014}} Since 2018 the number of active users has more than doubled, from 785 in 2018 to nearly 2,000 in 2021, and the number of page views has increased to even 9 million pageviews in 2022.{{Cite web |title=Wikistats - Statistics For Wikimedia Projects |url=https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/uz.wikipedia.org/reading/total-page-views/normal%7Cbar%7C2016-01-01~2022-10-24%7Cagent~user%7Cmonthly |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=stats.wikimedia.org}} In November 2022 the number of pageviews of the Uzbek Wikipedia in Uzbekistan surpassed those of Russian for the first time, with Uzbek garnering 11.4 million pageviews in Uzbekistan during this month.{{Cite web |last=oyina.uz |title=Oʻzbekcha Vikipediya qisqa fursatda dunyo Vikireytingida 49-oʻringa koʻtarildi |url=https://oyina.uz/uz/posts/12728 |access-date=2023-09-20 |website=Oyina.uz |language=uz}}

There are also approximately 60 thousand page views per month in Uzbek Wikipedia from Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan each, due to the great amount of Uzbeks living there. Some thousands of pageviews are also recorded in Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, where there are noteworthy Uzbek minorities.{{Cite web |title=Wikistats - Statistics For Wikimedia Projects |url=https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/uz.wikipedia.org/reading/page-views-by-country/normal%7Cmap%7Clast-month%7C(access)~desktop*mobile-app*mobile-web%7Cmonthly |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=stats.wikimedia.org}}

The entire Wikipedia was briefly blocked twice in Uzbekistan, in 2007 and 2008. The Uzbek Wikipedia was blocked in Uzbekistan around the end of September and beginning of October 2011, but caught the attention of the international press only in late February 2012 following RFE/RL's report about the blockage on 16 February 2012. Initially, Internet users in Uzbekistan trying to access Uzbek-language pages got redirected to msn.com of Microsoft. Later the pages of the encyclopedia simply failed to load. Users in Uzbekistan could easily open Wikipedia articles in other languages, only Uzbek-language articles were blocked.

The reason for the blockage of the Uzbek Wikipedia has not been disclosed. Some expressed the view that the encyclopedia had been blocked because the Uzbek government was concerned about the appearance of articles critical of its actions. Sarah Kendzior, an American anthropologist, speculated that the Uzbek Wikipedia had been blocked simply as an "act of showmanship" because the government of Uzbekistan sees Uzbek-language content as subject to its jurisdiction.

Despite the blockage, articles in the Uzbek-language Wikipedia could be accessed on an HTTPS connection. Therefore, in 2013 Google started indexing pages of the Uzbek Wikipedia with HTTPS by default, and visitors to the Uzbek Wikipedia started to be automatically connected through HTTPS. Between 2013 and 2019, users in Uzbekistan could generally access pages of the Uzbek Wikipedia without major problems. In May 2019, the government of Uzbekistan unblocked several news and rights websites, including Voice of America, BBC's Uzbek Service, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch.{{cite news |title=Uzbeks Open Web to BBC, VOA, Amnesty International |url=https://www.voanews.com/south-central-asia/uzbeks-open-web-bbc-voa-amnesty-international |access-date=1 October 2019 |work=VOA |date=14 May 2019}} Users in Uzbekistan have not faced any issues while accessing the Uzbek Wikipedia since then.

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{{InterWiki|code=uz}}

• [http://uz.wikipedia.org/ Uzbek Wikipedia] {{in lang|uz}}
• [http://uz.m.wikipedia.org/ Uzbek Wikipedia mobile version] {{in lang|uz}}

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