How did a small language like Dutch become one of Wikipedia’s biggest?

Why does Dutch — a relatively small language — rank sixth worldwide on Wikipedia, with nearly two million articles?

During the Radio 1 program “Zijn er nog vragen?“ (“Any more questions?”), Geert Van Pamel, chair of Wikimedia Belgium, offered a behind-the-scenes look at the Dutch-language Wikipedia.

1. A small language, a big community

According to Geert, there are three main reasons why Dutch is so strongly represented on Wikipedia:

• An active community – Dutch-speaking volunteers are among the most engaged in the world.
• One language, several countries – Although the Netherlands, Flanders, and Suriname share the same language, their political systems, taxes, and education differ widely. As a result, separate articles often emerge around similar topics.
• Breadth over depth – Dutch articles are generally shorter, but cover a broader range of subjects than their English counterparts.
  
  In other words: many hands make many pages.

2. Volunteers with passion

Worldwide, Wikipedia counts about 260,000 active contributors — roughly 50 per million speakers.
There is no typical Wikipedian: some write about trains, others about heritage, politics, or history. There are also “maintenance editors” who don’t create new pages but focus on improving or restructuring existing ones.

Everything is done on a voluntary basis. Only in rare cases are articles edited for payment — for instance by public figures — and such edits must always be disclosed transparently. When they aren’t, the changes are reverted.

3. Control and quality

Every change on Wikipedia is tracked in real time. Volunteers can receive notifications of new articles or edits, allowing them to quickly correct mistakes or vandalism.
Automatic scripts provide extra protection — detecting inappropriate edits, counting references, and assessing the structure of an article.

AI plays an increasingly important role in this process.

“Wikipedia was already using basic AI scripts long before the global AI boom,” says Geert. “Today, AI helps monitor quality and improve reliability.”

4. A living network of knowledge

The interview ended on a light note: Geert doesn’t have his own Wikipedia page — and he’s not allowed to write one about himself. It’s a rule that helps safeguard neutrality.

The message is clear: Wikipedia belongs to everyone, but never to just one person.
🎧 Listen to the full interview with Geert Van Pamel in “Zijn er nog vragen?” on VRT Radio 1