How to List All Articles About People on Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a vast repository of knowledge, and it contains an incredible number of articles about individuals. As of the latest update, there are over 5,617,029 articles in the English-language Wikipedia. At least one in five Wikipedia articles is about a person, either an individual or a group. This means there's a list of articles that could contain over a million items!

While the full list might be too broad to manage effectively, there are ways to narrow it down and organize the articles in a more manageable and useful manner. In this article, we'll explore how to create such a list and provide resources to help you do so.

Navigating the People Category on Wikipedia

Wikipedia has a People category that can be accessed directly, which is a top-level category for all articles about people. This category is subdivided into numerous subcategories, each focused on a different aspect of the people they describe. Here's a breakdown of the main subcategories:

Subcategories by Association, Behavior, and Characteristics

People by association (what a person is known for) People by behavior (e.g., cannibals, mad scientists, misers) People by ethnicity People by event People by gender People by language People by medical or psychological condition People by medium (artists, journalists, podcasters, etc.) People by nationality People by occupation People by organization People by place People by political orientation People by religion People by role (e.g., bosses, politicians, rulers) People by status (e.g., celebrities, expatriates, survivors) People by time

Each of these subcategories has between five to 253 further subcategories, adding layers of detail. This structure can be confusing but also provides an extensive and organized way to navigate and list the articles about people.

Using SPARQL and Wikidata for a More Precise List

For a more precise and detailed list, you can use the Wikidata Query Service. Wikidata is a free, multilingual knowledge base that links and interconnects data from Wikipedia and other projects. Here is a simple SPARQL query that lists all the data items (homines) with the property of being a human:

SPARQL Query

SELECT ?item ?itemLabelWHERE {  ?item wdt:P31 wd:Q5.   SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language en }}

This query will return a list of all Wikipedia articles that are about human beings. The output can be quite extensive, and you may need to filter and refine it further to make it more usable. You can paste the query into the Wikidata Query Service to see the results.

Conclusion

While Wikipedia offers an incredibly detailed and organized way to list and categorize articles about people, manually creating such a list can be challenging. However, utilizing the People category and the power of SPARQL and Wikidata can make it more manageable and precise.