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Summary: Pop quiz: Name the country with the highest number of English speakers. You said America. And you were right. Now name the country with the second-highest number of English speakers. No, don't look it up. You looked it up. Surprised? Well you shouldn't be. Even given its vast 1.2 billion population, India's status as a former British colony means that English has been slowly transfused into its bloodstream for hundreds of years. And with ever-larger numbers of them going online every day, it's not surprising that many in its 125 million-strong English-speaking population are choosing the English Wikipedia over those in their native languages. This week marked the first time three India-themed (or, more accurately, Bollywood-themed) entries appeared in the top 25 since we started the report; a number that is sure to increase.
For the week of May 26 to June 1, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the 5,000 most trafficked pages* were:
Rank | Last | Wks | Article | Views | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | - | - | Julius Richard Petri | 1,195,103 | ![]() |
2 | 23 | 2 | Liberace | 950,205 | ![]() |
3 | 2 | 13 | Game of Thrones | 736,309 | This epic fantasy TV series launched its third season on March 31, and has seen its ratings almost double on its premiere episode. |
4 | 10 | 7 | Game of Thrones (season 3) | 726,946 | see #3 above |
5 | 8 | 2 | Memorial Day | 707,512 | The last Sunday in May (that's May 27 this year), the day that the United States chose to honour its war dead, is perhaps better known as the traditional beginning of US summer vacation, and is thus eagerly anticipated by millions of people too young to serve but old enough to stand in line for action movies. |
6 | 6 | 2 | Fast & Furious 6 | 696,046 | In the 15 days since its first international release, this movie has grossed just under $400 million worldwide. So, that's a franchise in rude health then. How rude? Part 7 comes out next year. |
7 | - | - | Arrested Development (TV series) | 672,396 | The biggest cult sitcom in recent years is back on Netflix after a prolonged absence, to much joy among its grateful fans. |
8 | 13 | 7 | List of Game of Thrones episodes | 664,680 | see #3 above |
9 | 1 | 21 | 642,832 | A perennially popular article. | |
10 | - | - | Scott Thorson | 525,386 | Liberace's much put-upon lover got a shot of interest by being played by Matt Damon in Behind the Candelabra (see #2 above) |
11 | - | - | Amanda Bynes | 504,471 | ![]() |
12 | 17 | 2 | The Fast and the Furious (series) | 499,357 | see #6 above |
13 | 4 | 6 | The Great Gatsby | 440,257 | ![]() |
14 | - | - | Arrested Development (season 4) | 435,511 | See #7 above |
15 | 7 | 5 | Daft Punk | 417,679 | ![]() |
16 | 12 | 31 | Deaths in 2013 | 402,187 | The lists of deaths in the current year is always a quite popular article. |
17 | - | - | After Earth | 380,370 | Despite appearing on course to box-office bombhood, having opened in third place with lower grosses than the similarly fated John Carter last year, this was still the most-viewed new movie on Wikipedia; Now You See Me, which beat After Earth at the box office, didn't break the top 100. |
18 | 20 | 5 | Aashiqui 2 | 375,084 | The first of three Bollywood-related articles in the top 25, this film has grossed over Rs. 1 billion (~US$18 million) at the box office, and become a phenomenon on the sub-continent. |
19 | 19 | 32 | YouTube | 363,292 | Another perennially popular article |
20 | - | - | Rituparno Ghosh | 361,886 | The acclaimed Bollywood director of such films as the award-winning Unishe April died of a heart attack on May 30. |
21 | 16 | 21 | 358,888 | A perennially popular article | |
22 | 5 | 5 | Star Trek Into Darkness | 354,396 | As of Jun 1, this movie has grossed $328 million worldwide. Despite this, its distributors are debating whether to call it a disappointment. Such is the way of Hollywood these days. |
23 | - | 2 | List of Bollywood films of 2013 | 348,504 | The third and final Bollywood article on this list. |
24 | 22 | 32 | World War II | 338,562 | ![]() |
25 | - | 2 | Attack on Titan | 330,123 | Popular anime series nearing the end of its run. |
← Last week's report – Next week's Report →
Summary: Pop quiz: Name the country with the highest number of English speakers. You said America. And you were right. Now name the country with the second-highest number of English speakers. No, don't look it up. You looked it up. Surprised? Well you shouldn't be. Even given its vast 1.2 billion population, India's status as a former British colony means that English has been slowly transfused into its bloodstream for hundreds of years. And with ever-larger numbers of them going online every day, it's not surprising that many in its 125 million-strong English-speaking population are choosing the English Wikipedia over those in their native languages. This week marked the first time three India-themed (or, more accurately, Bollywood-themed) entries appeared in the top 25 since we started the report; a number that is sure to increase.
For the week of May 26 to June 1, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the 5,000 most trafficked pages* were:
Rank | Last | Wks | Article | Views | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | - | - | Julius Richard Petri | 1,195,103 | ![]() |
2 | 23 | 2 | Liberace | 950,205 | ![]() |
3 | 2 | 13 | Game of Thrones | 736,309 | This epic fantasy TV series launched its third season on March 31, and has seen its ratings almost double on its premiere episode. |
4 | 10 | 7 | Game of Thrones (season 3) | 726,946 | see #3 above |
5 | 8 | 2 | Memorial Day | 707,512 | The last Sunday in May (that's May 27 this year), the day that the United States chose to honour its war dead, is perhaps better known as the traditional beginning of US summer vacation, and is thus eagerly anticipated by millions of people too young to serve but old enough to stand in line for action movies. |
6 | 6 | 2 | Fast & Furious 6 | 696,046 | In the 15 days since its first international release, this movie has grossed just under $400 million worldwide. So, that's a franchise in rude health then. How rude? Part 7 comes out next year. |
7 | - | - | Arrested Development (TV series) | 672,396 | The biggest cult sitcom in recent years is back on Netflix after a prolonged absence, to much joy among its grateful fans. |
8 | 13 | 7 | List of Game of Thrones episodes | 664,680 | see #3 above |
9 | 1 | 21 | 642,832 | A perennially popular article. | |
10 | - | - | Scott Thorson | 525,386 | Liberace's much put-upon lover got a shot of interest by being played by Matt Damon in Behind the Candelabra (see #2 above) |
11 | - | - | Amanda Bynes | 504,471 | ![]() |
12 | 17 | 2 | The Fast and the Furious (series) | 499,357 | see #6 above |
13 | 4 | 6 | The Great Gatsby | 440,257 | ![]() |
14 | - | - | Arrested Development (season 4) | 435,511 | See #7 above |
15 | 7 | 5 | Daft Punk | 417,679 | ![]() |
16 | 12 | 31 | Deaths in 2013 | 402,187 | The lists of deaths in the current year is always a quite popular article. |
17 | - | - | After Earth | 380,370 | Despite appearing on course to box-office bombhood, having opened in third place with lower grosses than the similarly fated John Carter last year, this was still the most-viewed new movie on Wikipedia; Now You See Me, which beat After Earth at the box office, didn't break the top 100. |
18 | 20 | 5 | Aashiqui 2 | 375,084 | The first of three Bollywood-related articles in the top 25, this film has grossed over Rs. 1 billion (~US$18 million) at the box office, and become a phenomenon on the sub-continent. |
19 | 19 | 32 | YouTube | 363,292 | Another perennially popular article |
20 | - | - | Rituparno Ghosh | 361,886 | The acclaimed Bollywood director of such films as the award-winning Unishe April died of a heart attack on May 30. |
21 | 16 | 21 | 358,888 | A perennially popular article | |
22 | 5 | 5 | Star Trek Into Darkness | 354,396 | As of Jun 1, this movie has grossed $328 million worldwide. Despite this, its distributors are debating whether to call it a disappointment. Such is the way of Hollywood these days. |
23 | - | 2 | List of Bollywood films of 2013 | 348,504 | The third and final Bollywood article on this list. |
24 | 22 | 32 | World War II | 338,562 | ![]() |
25 | - | 2 | Attack on Titan | 330,123 | Popular anime series nearing the end of its run. |