The five nested vital article Levels are meant to give direction to theprioritization of improvements of English Wikipedia articles (e.g. which articles to bring toWP:GA andWP:FA status), to provide ameasurement of quality of overall English Wikipedia (e.g. what proportion of the most important articles are at GA and FA status), and to serve as acentralized watchlist of English Wikipedia's most important articles. Unlike thelist of articles every Wikipedia should have, they are tailored to the English Wikipedia and are actively maintained by the dedicatedWikiProject Vital Articles.This page contains links to the 50,000 articles of the Level 5 list.
Any addition to or removal from these lists should ONLY BE MADE after a discussion on the relevant Level 5 sub talk pages.
Level 1 (10 articles) <Level 2 (100 articles) <Level 3 (1,000 articles) <Level 4 (10,000 articles) <Level 5 (50,000 articles)
Because of its size, Vital articles Level 5 has been split into several sub-lists. If you spot a duplicate listing, please remove one of them; if you aren't sure in which section a topic belongs, please initiate a discussion on thetalk page. Please do notduplicate items on the same level of the list.
PeopleHistoryGeographyArtsPhilosophy and religionEveryday lifeSociety and social sciencesBiology and health sciencesPhysical sciencesTechnologyMathematics
As of February 2026, the level 5 Vital Articles list includes50,063 individual articles. All changes to this list should be proposed on thetalk page or the relevant subpage for the proposal.Cewbot provides a more updated count of articles in its edit summaries on subpages.
Counts updated from subpages at 22:37, 6 February 2026 (UTC)
| Sublist | Current | Target | At quota? | Change in effect? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| People | 14,716 | 14,700 | Yes | N/a |
| Writers and journalists | 1,929 | 1,900 | Slightly over | Trim |
| Artists, musicians, and composers | 2,186 | 2,200 | Yes | N/a |
| Entertainers, directors, producers, and screenwriters | 2,112 | 2,100 | Yes | N/a |
| Philosophers, historians, and social scientists | 1,366 | 1,400 | Slightly under | Brainstorm |
| Religious figures | 497 | 500 | Yes | N/a |
| Politicians and leaders | 2,389 | 2,400 | Yes | N/a |
| Military personnel, revolutionaries, and activists | 875 | 900 | Slightly under | N/a |
| Scientists, inventors, and mathematicians | 1,275 | 1,300 | Slightly under | Brainstorm |
| Sports figures | 1,072 | 1,000 | Too many | N/a |
| Miscellaneous | 1,015 | 1,000 | Yes | N/a |
| History | 3,303 | 3,300 | Yes | N/a |
| Geography | 5,180 | 5,200 | Yes | N/a |
| Basics and technical geography | 136 | 100 | Slightly over | N/a |
| Physical geography | 1,781 | 1,800 | Slightly under | N/a |
| Regions and countries | 1,269 | 1,300 | Slightly under | N/a |
| Cities | 1,994 | 2,000 | Yes | N/a |
| Arts | 3,803 | 3,800 | Yes | N/a |
| Audiovisual arts | 1,945 | 1,900 | Slightly over | N/a |
| Narrative arts | 1,858 | 1,900 | Slightly under | N/a |
| Philosophy and religion | 1,490 | 1,500 | Yes | N/a |
| Everyday life | 2,461 | 2,500 | Slightly under | Brainstorm |
| Everyday life | 1,298 | 1,300 | Yes | N/a |
| Sports, games and recreation | 1,163 | 1,200 | Slightly under | N/a |
| Society and social sciences | 4,260 | 4,200 | Slightly over | ? |
| Social studies | 536 | 500 | Slightly over | N/a |
| Politics and economics | 2,010 | 2,000 | Yes | N/a |
| Culture | 1,714 | 1,700 | Yes | ? |
| Biology and health sciences | 5,661 | 5,600 | Yes | N/a |
| Biology, biochemistry, anatomy, and physiology | 1,141 | 1,100 | Slightly over | N/a |
| Animals | 2,402 | 2,400 | Yes | N/a |
| Plants, fungi, and other organisms | 1,006 | 1,000 | Yes | Brainstorm |
| Health, medicine, and disease | 1,112 | 1,100 | Yes | Brainstorm |
| Physical sciences | 4,752 | 4,800 | Slightly under | N/a |
| Basics and measurement | 301 | 300 | Yes | N/a |
| Astronomy | 902 | 900 | Yes | N/a |
| Chemistry | 1,182 | 1,200 | Yes | N/a |
| Earth science | 1,193 | 1,200 | Yes | N/a |
| Physics | 1,174 | 1,200 | Slightly under | N/a |
| Technology | 3,231 | 3,200 | Yes | N/a |
| Mathematics | 1,206 | 1,200 | Yes | N/a |
| Total | 50,063 | 50,000 | Yes | N/a |