Bengali Wikipedia

Bengali Wikipedia
Name	Bengali Wikipedia
Url	bn.wikipedia.org
Owner	Wikimedia Foundation
Type	Online encyclopedia
Language	Bengali
Launched	2004
Content license	Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike

Bengali Wikipedia is the Bengali-language edition of the free, collaboratively edited encyclopedia project hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. It provides encyclopedic articles written in Bangla for readers and contributors from Bangladesh, India, and the global Bengali-speaking diaspora. The project spans biographies, geography, culture, science, and history, with contributions from volunteers, educators, and institutions.

History

The project began in 2004 and developed alongside other Wikimedia projects such as English Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikibooks, and Wikimedia Commons. Early milestones included growth spurts tied to coverage of events like the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and national commemorations such as Language Movement anniversaries. Contributors often coordinated through mailing lists, discussion pages, and meetups influenced by organizations like the Wikimedia Foundation and local user groups modeled after chapters such as Wikimedia Bangladesh. Significant content drives mirrored campaigns seen on Wikipedia sister projects during global initiatives like Wiki Loves Monuments.

Content and Features

Article coverage spans biographies of figures such as Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and Satyajit Ray; geographical entries for Dhaka, Kolkata, Chittagong District, and Sylhet Division; and cultural topics like Bengali cuisine, Baul music, Durga Puja, and Ekushey Book Fair. Scientific and technical topics reference works and people like Satyendra Nath Bose, Jagadish Chandra Bose, Homonculus-related pages, and modern research institutions such as Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and Indian Statistical Institute. Features include interlanguage links to English Wikipedia, Hindi Wikipedia, and Urdu Wikipedia; multimedia hosting via Wikimedia Commons; and structured data integration inspired by Wikidata. The site implements content policies analogous to those used on English Wikipedia and draws on licensing standards exemplified by the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license.

Community and Governance

The contributor community comprises volunteers from cities like Dhaka, Kolkata, Chittagong, and Kochi, as well as academics from institutions such as University of Dhaka and Jadavpur University. Governance relies on community norms, administrators elected through local consensus, and dispute resolution mechanisms aligned with practices from Wikimedia Foundation guidance. Local user groups and organized events echo structures employed by groups like Wikimedians of Bangladesh and similar chapters, and collaboration often involves partnerships with cultural institutions such as the Bangla Academy and museums with collections relevant to Tagore and Bengali literature.

Usage and Impact

The project serves as a primary reference for Bengali speakers seeking information about topics including national history entries on Partition of India, Bangladesh Liberation War, and personalities like Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, as well as entries on global topics such as World War II and United Nations. Educational uptake is evident in initiatives at universities like University of Calcutta and University of Dhaka, and in outreach programs modeled after efforts at Wikimedia Foundation partner institutions. The encyclopedia influences public understanding during elections in regions such as West Bengal and Bangladesh, and is cited by media outlets and cultural festivals including the Kolkata Book Fair.

Localization and Language Issues

Content creation navigates the challenges of Bengali script standards, dialectal variants tied to regions like West Bengal and Bangladesh, and orthographic conventions promoted by bodies such as the Bangla Academy. Contributors address term standardization for technical subjects drawing on terminology from institutions like Bangladesh National Museum and scientific communities associated with Indian Institute of Science. Issues include representation of loanwords from Persian language, Arabic language, and English language, and reconciling spelling norms used in publications by Ananda Publishers and academic presses.

Technical Development and Tools

Technical infrastructure uses the MediaWiki platform maintained by the Wikimedia Foundation with extensions and tools such as Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons integration, and bots for maintenance modeled after bot projects on other language editions like English Wikipedia. Localization involves translations managed with resources from the Translatewiki community and font/rendering work influenced by initiatives from organizations working on Bengali script support. Development collaborations have included volunteers using tools like Pywikibot and projects similar to WikiProjects on other Wikipedias for quality assurance.

Category:Wikipedias