Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/5
The five nested vital article Levels are meant to give direction to the prioritization of improvements of English Wikipedia articles (e.g. which articles to bring to WP:GA and WP:FA status), to provide a measurement of quality of overall English Wikipedia (e.g. what proportion of the most important articles are at GA and FA status), and to serve as a centralized watchlist of English Wikipedia's most important articles. Unlike the list of articles every Wikipedia should have, they are tailored to the English Wikipedia and are actively maintained by the dedicated WikiProject Vital Articles. This page contains links to the 50,000 articles of the Level 5 list.
Any addition to or removal from these lists should ONLY BE MADE after a discussion on the relevant Level 5 sub talk pages.
Level 1 (10 articles) < Level 2 (100 articles) < Level 3 (1,000 articles) < Level 4 (10,000 articles) < Level 5 (50,000 articles)
Level 5 sub-lists
[edit]Because of its size, Vital articles Level 5 has been split into several sub-lists. If you spot a duplicate listing, please remove one of them; if you aren't sure in which section a topic belongs, please initiate a discussion on the talk page. Please do not duplicate items on the same level of the list.
Current total
[edit]As of July 2025, the level 5 Vital Articles list includes 50,000 individual articles. All changes to this list should be proposed on the talk page or the relevant subpage for the proposal. Cewbot provides a more updated count of articles in its edit summaries on subpages.
Counts updated from subpages at 04:29, 12 November 2025 (UTC)
| Sublist | Current | Target | At quota? | Change in effect? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| People | 14,930 | 14,900 | Yes | — |
| Writers and journalists | 1,970 | 1,900 | Too many | Trim |
| Artists, musicians, and composers | 2,179 | 2,200 | Slightly under | — |
| Entertainers, directors, producers, and screenwriters | 2,131 | 2,100 | Slightly over | — |
| Philosophers, historians, and social scientists | 1,353 | 1,400 | Not enough | Brainstorm |
| Religious figures | 494 | 500 | Slightly under | — |
| Politicians and leaders | 2,408 | 2,400 | Yes | — |
| Military personnel, revolutionaries, and activists | 877 | 900 | Not enough | — |
| Scientists, inventors, and mathematicians | 1,265 | 1,300 | Not enough | Brainstorm |
| Sports figures | 1,119 | 1,100 | Yes | — |
| Miscellaneous | 1,134 | 1,100 | Too many | Trim |
| History | 3,297 | 3,300 | Yes | — |
| Geography | 5,167 | 5,200 | Yes | — |
| Basics and technical geography | 131 | 100 | Too many | — |
| Physical geography | 1,773 | 1,800 | Yes | Slightly under |
| Countries and subdivisions | 1,278 | 1,300 | Slightly under | — |
| Cities | 1,985 | 2,000 | Yes | — |
| Arts | 3,746 | 3,700 | Slightly over | — |
| Audiovisual arts | 1,912 | 1,900 | Yes | — |
| Narrative arts | 1,834 | 1,800 | Slightly over | — |
| Everyday life | 2,471 | 2,500 | Slightly under | — |
| Everyday life | 1,293 | 1,300 | Slightly under | — |
| Sports, games and recreation | 1,178 | 1,200 | Slightly under | Brainstorm |
| Philosophy and religion | 1,462 | 1,500 | Not enough | ? |
| Society and social sciences | 4,136 | 4,100 | Yes | — |
| Social studies | 513 | 500 | Too many | — |
| Politics and economics | 1,980 | 2,000 | Yes | — |
| Culture | 1,632 | 1,600 | Slightly over | ? |
| Biology and health sciences | 5,594 | 5,600 | Yes | — |
| Biology, biochemistry, anatomy, and physiology | 1,128 | 1,100 | Too many | — |
| Animals | 2,400 | 2,400 | Yes | Reorganize |
| Plants, fungi, and other organisms | 992 | 1,000 | Not enough | Brainstorm |
| Health, medicine, and disease | 1,074 | 1,100 | Slightly under | Brainstorm |
| Physical sciences | 4,778 | 4,800 | Yes | — |
| Basics and measurement | 328 | 300 | Too many | Trim |
| Astronomy | 902 | 900 | Yes | — |
| Chemistry | 1,176 | 1,200 | Slightly under | — |
| Earth science | 1,189 | 1,200 | Yes | — |
| Physics | 1,176 | 1,200 | Slightly under | — |
| Technology | 3,227 | 3,200 | Yes | — |
| Mathematics | 1,201 | 1,200 | Yes | — |
| Total | 50,000 | 50,000 | Yes | — |