File:Size of English Wikipedia (Printable-version tool method).jpg

Original file (13,622 × 2,337 pixels, file size: 7.55 MB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

Summary

Description
English: This bookshelf comparison is drawn to scale, based on the following estimation:
  • Using the 9th edition of Encyclopedia Britannica, the book format is 6.7cm wide and 28cm tall ([1] for reference)
  • Each volume is approximatively 900-page long ([2])
  • 20 volumes per shelf
  • 8 shelves per bookcase
  • 160 volumes ber bookcase
  • 50 bookcases per floor

Based on a sample comprised of 500-randomly-picked articles ([3]), using the Printable version tool on each article, I found that English Wikipedia articles were on average 3.424 pages long using US Letter (12.4mm top and bottom margins, 11.6mm left and right margins). Knowing that on December 1st, 2025, there were 7,098,431 articles ([4]), you would find that there are 27,008 books in total, or 169 bookcases.

PROS of this method compared to the GB-method (see details on the GB-method here: File:Size_of_English_Wikipedia_(22.14_GB).svg):

  • Includes pictures, line breaks, infoboxes and tables somewhat properly rendered (whereas with the GB-method they were simulated as plain text)
  • Starts every new article on a blank page (whereas with the GB-method every new article started on the same page as the previous one)

CONS:

  • You have to use a sample to determine the average page per article (whereas with the GB-method the information are exhaustive)
  • Some pages may have huge chunks of blank space because of improperly-rendered tables, or because the last page of an article consists of a few lines.
Date
Source Own work
Author Médicis

Licensing

I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license:
w:en:Creative Commons
attribution
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You are free:
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Captions

Estimation of size of English Wikipedia with somewhat properly rendered format

Items portrayed in this file

depicts

11 December 2025

image/jpeg

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current14:04, 12 December 2025Thumbnail for version as of 14:04, 12 December 202513,622 × 2,337 (7.55 MB)Médicis120 -> 160 volumes per bookcase
23:01, 11 December 2025Thumbnail for version as of 23:01, 11 December 202513,622 × 2,905 (10.15 MB)MédicisUploaded own work with UploadWizard

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