Wikipedia:Vital articles

This is a list of basic subjects for which Wikipedia should have a corresponding high-quality article, and ideally a featured article. It also serves as a centralized watchlist and tracks the status of some of Wikipedia's most essential articles.

Ideally this page should list approximately 1,000 of the most vital Wikipedia articles.

Section	Current Number	Target Number
People	0	115
History	0	60
Geography	0	94
Arts	0	56
Philosophy and religion	0	77
Everyday life	0	78
Society and social sciences	0	88
Health and medicine	0	48
Science	0	177
Technology	0	122
Mathematics	0	59
Measurement	0	26
Total	0	1000

Count checked: 00:50, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

See also m:List of articles every Wikipedia should have and Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Core topics

People (115 articles)

Artists

1. Leonardo da Vinci
2. Michelangelo
3. Rembrandt
4. Diego Velázquez
5. Hokusai
6. Claude Monet
7. Vincent van Gogh
8. Pablo Picasso
9. Salvador Dalí

Authors

1. Homer
2. Sophocles
3. Virgil
4. Li Bai
5. Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi-Rumi
6. Dante Alighieri
7. William Shakespeare
8. Miguel de Cervantes
9. Molière
10. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
11. Edgar Allan Poe
12. Fyodor Dostoevsky
13. Leo Tolstoy
14. James Joyce
15. Franz Kafka
16. Pablo Neruda

Composers and musicians

1. Johann Sebastian Bach
2. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
3. Ludwig van Beethoven
4. Frédéric Chopin
5. Richard Wagner
6. Arnold Schoenberg
7. Igor Stravinsky
8. Elvis Presley
9. The Beatles

Explorers

1. Roald Amundsen
2. Jacques Cartier
3. Christopher Columbus
4. James Cook
5. Ferdinand Magellan
6. Marco Polo
7. Ibn Battuta
8. Zheng He

Inventors and scientists

1. Nicolaus Copernicus
2. Charles Darwin
3. Thomas Edison
4. Albert Einstein
5. Galileo Galilei
6. Geber
7. Carl Linnaeus
8. Isaac Newton
9. Nikola Tesla
10. Sigmund Freud
11. Niels Bohr
12. Marie Curie
13. Dmitri Mendeleev

Mathematicians

1. Archimedes
2. Euclid
3. Leonhard Euler
4. Carl Friedrich Gauss
5. Kurt Gödel
6. David Hilbert
7. Gottfried Leibniz
8. Blaise Pascal
9. Henri Poincaré
10. Pythagoras
11. Alan Turing
12. Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi

Philosophers and social scientists

1. Confucius
2. Socrates
3. Plato
4. Aristotle
5. Nagarjuna
6. Avicenna
7. Thomas Aquinas
8. Ibn Khaldun
9. René Descartes
10. John Locke
11. Immanuel Kant
12. Karl Marx
13. Friedrich Nietzsche
14. Max Weber

Religious figures

1. Abraham
2. Gautama Buddha
3. Guru Nanak Dev
4. Jesus
5. Laozi
6. Moses
7. Muhammad
8. Paul the Apostle
9. Zoroaster

Politicians and leaders

1. Hammurabi
2. Cyrus the Great
3. Alexander the Great
4. Qin Shi Huang
5. Julius Caesar
6. Cleopatra VII
7. Augustus
8. Attila the Hun
9. Charlemagne
10. Genghis Khan
11. Joan of Arc
12. Suleiman the Magnificent
13. Elizabeth I
14. George Washington
15. Napoleon I of France
16. Simón Bolívar
17. Abraham Lincoln
18. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
19. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
20. Vladimir Lenin
21. Winston Churchill
22. Joseph Stalin
23. Adolf Hitler
24. Mao Zedong
25. Nelson Mandela

History (60 articles)

1. History
2. Civilization
3. History of the world
4. History of Africa
5. History of the Americas
6. History of China
7. History of Europe
8. History of India
9. History of Japan
10. History of the Middle East

Prehistory to Middle Ages

1. Prehistory
2. Stone Age
3. Mesopotamia
4. Neolithic Revolution
5. Sumer
6. Bronze Age
7. Ancient Egypt
8. Assyria
9. Indus Valley Civilization
10. Iron Age
11. Ancient Greece
12. Ancient Rome
13. Macedon
14. Persian Empire
15. Middle Ages
16. Black Death
17. Byzantine Empire
18. Crusades
19. East-West Schism
20. Holy Roman Empire
21. Islamic Golden Age
22. Mongol Empire
23. Ottoman Empire
24. Pre-Columbian
25. Spanish Inquisition
26. Viking Age

Renaissance to present

1. Abolitionism
2. Age of Discovery
3. Age of Enlightenment
4. British Empire
5. Civil rights movement
6. Cold War
7. Congress of Vienna
8. Cultural Revolution
9. European colonization of the Americas
10. History of the European Union
11. French Revolution
12. Great Depression
13. The Holocaust
14. Industrial Revolution
15. Iranian Revolution
16. Korean War
17. Napoleonic Wars
18. Protestant Reformation
19. Renaissance
20. Russian Empire
21. Scientific Revolution
22. Scramble for Africa
23. Soviet Union
24. Space exploration
25. Taiping Rebellion
26. History of the United States
27. Women's suffrage
28. World War I
29. World War II

Geography (106 articles)

1. Geography
2. City
3. Continent
4. Country
5. Desert
6. Forest
7. Glacier
8. Mountain
9. Ocean
10. River

Bodies of water

1. Amazon River
2. Atlantic Ocean
3. Black Sea
4. Caspian Sea
5. Danube
6. Great Barrier Reef
7. Indian Ocean
8. Mediterranean Sea
9. Niagara Falls
10. Nile
11. Pacific Ocean
12. Panama Canal
13. Suez Canal

Cities

1. Athens
2. Beijing
3. Berlin
4. Delhi
5. Hong Kong
6. Istanbul
7. Jerusalem
8. London
9. Los Angeles
10. Mecca
11. Mexico City
12. Moscow
13. New York City
14. Paris
15. Rome
16. São Paulo
17. Seoul
18. Tokyo

Continents and regions

1. Africa
2. Antarctica
3. Arctic
4. Asia
5. Europe
6. Latin America
7. Middle East
8. North America
9. Oceania
10. South America

Countries

See also: List of countries and List of countries by population.

1. Argentina
2. Australia
3. Austria
4. Bangladesh
5. Belgium
6. Brazil
7. Burma
8. Canada
9. People's Republic of China
10. Colombia
11. Democratic Republic of the Congo
12. Denmark
13. Egypt
14. Ethiopia
15. Finland
16. France
17. Germany
18. Greece
19. India
20. Indonesia
21. Iran
22. Iraq
23. Republic of Ireland
24. Israel
25. Italy
26. Japan
27. Mexico
28. Netherlands
29. Nigeria
30. Norway
31. Pakistan
32. Philippines
33. Poland
34. Russia
35. Saudi Arabia
36. Singapore
37. South Africa
38. South Korea
39. Spain
40. Sweden
41. Switzerland
42. Republic of China (Taiwan)
43. Thailand
44. Turkey
45. Ukraine
46. United Kingdom
47. United States
48. Vietnam

Mountains, valleys and deserts

1. Alps
2. Andes
3. Gobi Desert
4. Grand Canyon
5. Himalayas
6. Mount Everest
7. Sahara

Arts and culture (56 articles)

1. Art
2. History of art
3. Aesthetics

Artistic movements

1. Gothic
2. Baroque
3. Romanticism
4. Modernism
5. Postmodernism
6. Pop culture

Literature

1. Literature
2. History of literature
3. Prose
4. Book
5. Fiction
6. Novel
7. Short story
8. Poetry
9. Rhyme
10. Forms
11. Epic poetry
12. Haiku
13. Sonnet

Music

1. Music
2. History of music
3. Musical instrument
4. Singing
5. Genres
6. Classical music
7. Folk music
8. Hip hop music
9. Jazz
10. Pop music
11. Rock music

Performing arts

1. Performing arts
2. Dance
3. Ballet
4. Film
5. Documentary
6. Opera
7. Orchestra
8. Theatre
9. Comedy
10. Tragedy

Visual arts

1. Visual arts
2. Architecture
3. Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
4. Great Wall of China
5. Comics
6. Drawing
7. Painting
8. Illustration
9. Portrait
10. Photography
11. Sculpture
12. Pottery
13. Statue

Philosophy and religion (77 articles)

Philosophy

1. Philosophy
2. Philosophical branches
3. Ethics
4. Epistemology
5. Belief
6. Knowledge
7. Truth
8. Logic
9. Metaphysics
10. Existence
11. Ontology
12. Free will
13. Philosophy by region and period
14. Western philosophy
15. Greek philosophy
16. Medieval philosophy
17. Contemporary philosophy
18. Eastern philosophy
19. Chinese philosophy
20. Indian philosophy
21. Islamic philosophy
22. Philosophical movements
23. Confucianism
24. Existentialism
25. Idealism
26. Hedonism
27. Humanism
28. Marxism
29. Nihilism
30. Rationalism
31. Realism
32. Skepticism

Religion

1. Religion
2. Deity
3. God
4. Goddess
5. Mythology
6. Mysticism
7. Soul
8. Spirituality
9. Meditation
10. Prayer
11. Worship
12. Yoga
13. Theistic philosophies
14. Theism
15. Agnosticism
16. Atheism
17. Deism
18. Gnosticism
19. Pantheism

Specific religions

1. Bahá'í Faith
2. Buddhism
3. Mahayana
4. Theravada
5. Vajrayana
6. Christianity
7. Bible
8. Roman Catholic Church
9. Church
10. Eastern Orthodox Church
11. Protestantism
12. Pope
13. Hinduism
14. Bhagavad Gita
15. Krishna
16. Upanishad
17. Vedas
18. Islam
19. Mosque
20. Shia Islam
21. Sunni Islam
22. Qur'an
23. Jainism
24. Judaism
25. Tanakh
26. Shinto
27. Sikhism
28. Guru Granth Sahib
29. Taoism
30. Voodoo
31. Zoroastrianism

Everyday life (82 articles)

1. Clothing
2. Cooking
3. Color
4. Black
5. White
6. Emotion
7. Anger
8. Fear
9. Love
10. Happiness
11. Family
12. Adult
13. Child
14. Infant
15. Marriage
16. Gender
17. Man
18. Woman
19. Mind
20. Consciousness
21. Thought
22. Sleep
23. Dream

Food and drink

1. Food
2. Bread
3. Cheese
4. Fruit
5. Grain
6. Maize
7. Meat
8. Oat
9. Potato
10. Rice
11. Soybean
12. Vegetable
13. Wheat
14. Beer
15. Coffee
16. Drinking water
17. Milk
18. Tea
19. Wine

Language

1. Language
2. Alphabet
3. Letter
4. Grammar
5. Word
6. Writing
7. Specific languages
8. Arabic language
9. Bengali language
10. Chinese language
11. English language
12. French language
13. German language
14. Hindi
15. Japanese language
16. Latin
17. Portuguese language
18. Punjabi language
19. Russian language
20. Sanskrit
21. Spanish language
22. Swahili language
23. Turkish language

Recreation and entertainment

1. Recreation
2. Game
3. Board game
4. Chess
5. Draughts
6. Go
7. Mancala
8. Video game
9. Gambling
10. Sport
11. Association football (soccer)
12. Athletics (track and field)
13. Toy

Society and social sciences (88 articles)

1. Society
2. Culture

Social issues

1. Abortion
2. Euthanasia
3. Suicide
4. Discrimination
5. Racism
6. Sexism
7. Education
8. Freedom
9. Slavery
10. Globalization
11. Law
12. Capital punishment
13. Civil rights
14. Constitution
15. Crime
16. Justice
17. Police
18. Peace
19. War
20. Pollution
21. Poverty
22. Social movement
23. Environmentalism
24. Feminism

Business and economics

1. Business
2. Economics
3. Good
4. Service (economics)
5. Supply and demand
6. Company
7. Corporation
8. Finance
9. Industry
10. Agriculture
11. Manufacturing
12. Mining
13. Market
14. Marketing
15. Money
16. Euro
17. Japanese yen
18. Pound sterling
19. Renminbi
20. United States dollar
21. Tax
22. Trade

Media

1. Advertising
2. Broadcasting
3. Journalism
4. Magazine
5. Mass media
6. News
7. Newspaper
8. Publishing

Politics and government

1. Politics
2. Government
3. Capitalism
4. Socialism
5. Civics
6. Anarchism
7. Communism
8. Democracy
9. Dictatorship
10. Fascism
11. Monarchy
12. Theocracy
13. Conservatism
14. Liberalism
15. Diplomacy
16. Imperialism
17. Military
18. Nationalism
19. State
20. Specific political and governmental institutions
21. European Union
22. International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
23. NATO
24. Nobel Prize
25. OPEC
26. United Nations
27. World Health Organization
28. World Trade Organization

Social sciences

1. Social sciences
2. Anthropology
3. Political science
4. Psychology
5. Sociology

Health and medicine (48 articles)

Disease

1. Disease
2. Alzheimer's disease
3. Cancer
4. Cholera
5. Common cold
6. Diabetes mellitus
7. Dysentery
8. Influenza
9. Malaria
10. Parkinson's disease
11. Sexually transmitted disease
12. AIDS
13. Syphilis
14. Smallpox
15. Tuberculosis

Health and fitness

1. Health
2. Physical fitness
3. Exercise
4. Hygiene
5. Obesity
6. Stress
7. Addiction
8. Drug
9. Nutrition

Medicine

1. Medicine
2. Birth control
3. Coma
4. Disability
5. Autism
6. Blindness
7. Hearing impairment
8. Mental illness
9. Physical trauma
10. Aneurysm
11. Bone fracture
12. Brain damage
13. Burn
14. Cardiac arrest
15. Frostbite
16. Bleeding
17. Inflammation
18. Respiratory failure
19. Shock
20. Stroke
21. Medication
22. Antibiotic
23. Vaccine
24. Physician

Science (177 articles)

1. Science
2. History of science
3. Nature
4. Philosophy of science
5. Scientific method

Astronomy

1. Astronomy
2. Asteroid
3. Asteroid belt
4. Big Bang
5. Comet
6. Eclipse
7. Galaxy
8. Milky Way
9. Natural satellite
10. Orbit
11. Outer space
12. Physical cosmology
13. Planet
14. Solar System
15. Sun
16. Mercury
17. Venus
18. Earth
19. Moon
20. Mars
21. Jupiter
22. Saturn
23. Uranus
24. Neptune
25. Pluto
26. Star
27. Supernova
28. Universe

Biology

1. Biology
2. Life
3. Abiogenesis
4. Anatomy
5. Brain
6. Gastrointestinal tract
7. Heart
8. Immune system
9. Lung
10. Skeleton
11. Reproduction
12. Pregnancy
13. Sex
14. Botany
15. Cell (biology)
16. Ecology
17. Ecosystem
18. Evolution
19. Natural selection
20. Genetics
21. DNA
22. Gene
23. Heredity
24. Organism
25. Animal
26. Amphibian
27. Bird
28. Dinosaur
29. Fish
30. Insect
31. Mammal
    1. Cattle
    2. Cat
    3. Dog
    4. Horse
    5. Human
32. Reptile
33. Archaea
34. Bacteria
35. Fungus
36. Plant
37. Flower
38. Tree
39. Protist
40. Species
41. Zoology

Chemistry

1. Chemistry
2. Biochemistry
3. Organic chemistry
4. Inorganic chemistry
5. Acid
6. Alloy
7. Bronze
8. Steel
9. Atom
10. Base
11. Catalysis
12. Chemical bond
13. Chemical compound
14. Alcohol
15. Carbon dioxide
16. Oil
17. Salt
18. Water
19. Chemical element
20. Aluminium
21. Carbon
22. Copper
23. Gold
24. Helium
25. Hydrogen
26. Iron
27. Nitrogen
28. Oxygen
29. Silicon
30. Silver
31. Sulfur
32. Uranium
33. Chemical reaction
34. Crystal
35. Electrolysis
36. Glass
37. Ion
38. Metal
39. Mineral
40. Molecule
41. Periodic table

Earth science

1. Earth science
2. History of Earth
3. Geology
4. Avalanche
5. Crust
6. Earthquake
7. Erosion
8. Geologic fault
9. Magma
10. Mantle
11. Plate tectonics
12. Volcano
13. Earth's atmosphere
14. Climate
15. Cloud
16. Flood
17. Global warming
18. Meteorology
19. Rain
20. Tornado
21. Tropical cyclone
22. Weather
23. Oceanography

Physics

1. Physics
2. Particle physics
3. Standard Model
4. Subatomic particle
5. Electron
6. Neutrino
7. Neutron
8. Photon
9. Proton
10. Classical mechanics
11. Kinematics
12. Kinetics
13. Energy
14. Kinetic energy
15. Potential energy
16. Force
17. Electromagnetism
18. Gravitation
19. Strong interaction
20. Weak interaction
21. Heat
22. Temperature
23. Light
24. Electromagnetic radiation
25. Speed of light
26. Visible spectrum
27. Mass
28. Weight
29. Matter
30. Motion
31. Quantum mechanics
32. Sound
33. Space
34. Thermodynamics
35. Theory of relativity
36. Time

Technology (121 articles)

1. Technology
2. History of technology
3. Engineering
4. Artificial intelligence
5. Biotechnology
6. Genetic engineering
7. Nuclear technology
8. Tool

Energy

1. Electricity
2. Geothermal power
3. Hydropower
4. Nuclear power
5. Petroleum
6. Solar energy
7. Wind power

Electronics

1. Electronics
2. Battery
3. Capacitor
4. Diode
5. Incandescent light bulb
6. Integrated circuit
7. Semiconductor
8. Transistor

Mechanical and structural engineering

1. Mechanical engineering
2. Engine
3. Electric motor
4. Internal combustion engine
5. Jet engine
6. Steam engine
7. Inclined plane
8. Lever
9. Pulley
10. Robot
11. Wheel
12. Arch
13. Bridge
14. Canal
15. Dam
16. Dome
17. House
18. Pyramid
19. Tower

Transportation

1. Transport
2. Vehicle
3. Aircraft
4. Automobile
5. Bicycle
6. Elevator
7. Helicopter
8. Motorcycle
9. Train

Information technology

1. Information technology
2. Abacus
3. Calculator
4. Computer
5. Cryptography

Optical

1. Camera
2. Glasses
3. Laser
4. Lens
5. Microscope
6. Prism
7. Telescope

Media and communication

1. Telecommunication
2. E-mail
3. Internet
4. Microphone
5. Mobile phone
6. Printing press
7. Printing
8. Radio
9. Telephone
10. Television
11. Typewriter
12. Video
13. World Wide Web

Navigation and timekeeping

1. Calendar
2. Clock
3. Compass
4. Global Positioning System
5. Gyroscope
6. Pendulum
7. Radar
8. Sonar
9. Sundial

Weapons

1. Weapon
2. Artillery
3. Bow
4. Firearm
5. Handgun
6. Knife
7. Machine gun
8. Nuclear weapon
9. Rifle
10. Sword
11. Submarine
12. Tank

Material and chemical

1. Candle
2. Fire
3. Explosive material
4. Dynamite
5. Gasoline
6. Gunpowder
7. Metallurgy
8. Plastic
9. Rubber

Food and health

1. Electrocardiogram
2. Magnetic resonance imaging
3. Pasteurization
4. Refrigerator
5. Stove
6. X-ray

Space

1. Hubble Space Telescope
2. International Space Station
3. Moon landing
4. Rocket
5. Satellite
6. Space Shuttle
7. Space station

Mathematics (59 articles)

1. Mathematics
2. Constant
3. Pi
4. e
5. Number
6. Complex number
7. Integer
8. Natural number
9. Number theory
10. Prime number
11. Rational number
12. Real number
13. Arithmetic
14. Addition
15. Subtraction
16. Multiplication
17. Division
18. Fraction
19. Percentage
20. Exponentiation
21. Square root
22. Combinatorics
23. Digit
24. Equation
25. Function
26. Logarithm
27. Variable
28. Algebra
29. Linear algebra
30. Matrix

1. Mathematical analysis
2. Calculus
3. Differential equation
4. Infinity
5. Limit
6. Probability
7. Statistics
8. Chaos theory
9. Game theory
10. Geometry
11. Angle
12. Area
13. Coordinates
14. Dimension
15. Line
16. Plane
17. Point
18. Shape
19. Circle
20. Cube
21. Sphere
22. Square
23. Triangle
24. Volume
25. Mathematical proof
26. Series
27. Set
28. Topology
29. Trigonometry

Measurement (26 articles)

1. Measurement
2. Metric system
3. International System of Units
4. Imperial unit
5. Time
6. Second
7. Day
8. Year
9. Length
10. Foot
11. Kilometer
12. Metre
13. Mile
14. Angle
15. Degree
16. Radian

1. Volume
2. Litre
3. Mass
4. Weight
5. Kilogram
6. Pound
7. Ton
8. Temperature
9. Celsius
10. Fahrenheit
11. Force
12. Newton
13. Power
14. Watt
15. Electromagnetism
16. Ampere
17. Volt
18. Ohm

See also

• Wikipedia:Vital 100