Much like it's hard to remember a time before the internet consumed our lives, it's hard to remember a time before Wikipedia. The free online encyclopedia has only been in our lives since 2001, meaning it came out the same year as the OG iPod, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and the first Xbox.
How many of you turn to Wikipedia for research? It would appear a lot because in 2026, it's currently the ninth most-visited website in the world. That means Wikipedia outranks LinkedIn, Netflix, and
even Pornhub in terms of page views, with it being said that some 6,000 users visit the site every second.
This equates to billions of visitors every month, and despite a decline from its peak and attacks from Elon Musk, it remains the largest and most-read reference work in history. But what exactly are we turning to Wikipedia for?
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According to Popular Science, the top 25 most-visited Wikipedia pages make for some interesting reading, highlighting what trends we're looking for and showing our dark obsession with a pretty grim subject matter.
Netflix has made bank with its true crime documentaries and dramas, and while Wikipedia isn't quite obsessed with serial killers, it's seemingly just as passionate about death.
Having just celebrated 25 years of Wikipedia, it's time to dig a little deeper into what's helped its longevity. Just in the English language, there are 7.1 million Wikipedia entries that have to be fact-checked and maintained by a team of tens of thousands of volunteers around the world.
Popular Science confirms the most-visited page on the encyclopedia is 'Lists of Deaths by Year'. The data was provided by the Wikimedia Foundation, and although its stats only go back to 2008, the top 25 remain the highest-trafficked topics.
A scan over that specific entry not only splits things into specific years, but also months and then days. It's a pretty stark reminder that death is coming for us all, because in January 2026 alone, there are hundreds of tragic passings.
Second place goes to the Wikipedia page for the United States, which comes as no real surprise considering it's largely considered the world's leading power. President Donald Trump is third, again surprising few, considering how the POTUS is barely out of the spotlight.
The top five is rounded out by Queen Elizabeth II and then India.
Others that snuck into the top 10 include Cristiano Ronaldo, outranking Elon Musk (Ronaldo in sixth and Musk in eighth). Then again, with Ronaldo being the most-followed person on Instagram, it all makes sense.
Notably, the top 25 is a mix of celebrities, pop culture, and world events. Some of the more unexpected ones are Game of Thrones (No. 13), Eminem (No. 15), and the Academy Awards (No. 23).
The reveal comes shortly after the Wikimedia Foundation revealed its most-read pages of 2025, where Charlie Kirk came in first following his September assassination.
It also seems we were reading up on Ed Gein and 'Deaths in 2025', but in general, there's no getting away from our general obsession with our own limited time on this planet.