*Press release* Growing and sharing together: Kannada Wikipedia turns 9 years old

(Bangalore, May 29 2012): Kannada Wikipedia (*knhttp://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/ಮುಖ್ಯ_ಪುಟ . http://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/ಮುಖ್ಯ_ಪುಟwikipediahttp://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/ಮುಖ್ಯ_ಪುಟ . http://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/ಮುಖ್ಯ_ಪುಟorghttp://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/ಮುಖ್ಯ_ಪುಟ *), the Kannada version of the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia is all set to complete 9 years on 12th June. A meet up of Wikipedians will be held to celebrate this landmark day.

Wikipedia is the free online encyclopedia with almost 40 lakh articles on different subjects – and is read by 48.9 crore people, which makes it the 5 th most visited website in the world. It also exists in 20 major Indian languages including Kannada. Kannada Wikipedia has over 12,000 articles and has 11.5 lakh page views per month. A lesser known fact about Wikipedia is that all the content is contributed by volunteers. Currently, 27 volunteers from all over the world contribute to the content on Kannada Wikipedia.

In this community members collaborate with each other to add and enhance content on a wide variety of topics. Depending on their interests, they edit articles on Kannada cuisine, culture, traditions, music and much more. Some write about physics, biology, chemistry, medicine and other subjects so that fellow Kannadigas don't have to learn English to know more about any subject in the world!

However, the journey has only just begun. Omshivaprakash HL, an active member of the project explains, “In order to cover the incredibly diverse and rich culture in Karnataka from *Dharwad peda* to Bandipur forests to Coorg coffee estates, we welcome as many fellow lovers of Kannada to our project. All you need to know is how to read and write Kannada – and follow some basic principles such as writing about notable subjects, writing from a neutral point of view and adding references for any facts that you include. You can start by clicking the 'edit' (ಸಂಪಾದಿಸಿ) button you see on any article and start adding useful information on that topic. You can reference content from newspapers, journals or books.”

To celebrate their 9th anniversary, the Kannada Wikipedia Community has planned a get together at XXX on 9th June 2012 at XX pm. They will explore ways in which Kannada Wikipedia can be improved and also plan to teach new folks on how they can add content. All those passionate about sharing knowledge and who want to celebrate Kannadiga heritage are invited to join in - students, professionals, housewives, etc. As Tejas Jain, another Wikipedian from Bangalore puts it, “There is nothing more satisfying than sharing knowledge for free, that too in your mother tongue. So many of the nearly 5 crore Kannada speakers can gain from these efforts! ”

Hisham Mundol, who heads the Wikimedia Foundation’s India Program (which is the initiaitive to support Wikipedia in India) adds, “Wikipedia’s dream is to make all knowledge available to everyone for free. We invite Kannadigas to join the small but wonderful community of Kannada Wikipedians so that this is realised to benefit crores of people whose mother tongue is Kannada.”

To know more about the 9th anniversary celebrations and to attend, you can join them on Facebook (*httpshttps://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/ :// https://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/wwwhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/ . https://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/ . https://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/comhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/ / https://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/groupshttps://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/ / https://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/kannadawikipediahttps://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/ / https://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/*) or write to wikikn-l@lists.wikimedia.org.