User:Hemlock Martinis/Kingdom of Wikipedia
 | This is a humorous essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors and is made to be humorous. This page is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. This essay isn't meant to be taken seriously. |
Kingdom of Wikipedia Wikipedia | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Coat of arms
| |
| Motto: Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia | |
| Anthem: Hotel Wikipedia | |
.png) | |
| Capital | En |
| Largest language | En |
| Official languages | English de facto |
| Demonym(s) | Wikipedian |
| Government | Constitutional monarchy |
| Jimbo I | |
• Upper House of Parliament | House of Arbitrators |
• Lower House of Parliament | House of Editors |
| Establishment | |
• Establishment | January 15, 2001 |
| Area | |
• Total | [convert: invalid number] (n/a) |
• Water (%) | negligible |
| Population | |
• 2007 estimate | est. 4,800,000 (n/a) |
• 2007 census | n/a |
• Density | [convert: invalid number] (n/a) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2001 estimate |
• Total | n/a (n/a) |
• Per capita | n/a (n/a) |
| Gini (2001) | n/a Error: Invalid Gini value |
| HDI (2001) | n/a Error: Invalid HDI value (n/a) |
| Currency | United States dollar ($), WikiMoney (ψ) (USD) |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (UTC) |
| Calling code | 1 |
| Internet TLD | .org |
The Kingdom of Wikipedia (IPA: /ˌwikiˈpiːdi.ə/ or /ˌwɪkiˈpiːdi.ə/ (), commonly called Wikipedia, is a country located on the Internet. Consisting of nearly six million pages in the capital province of En alone, Wikipedia has grown to become one of the most powerful nations on the Internet despite citizen revolts, an ongoing insurgency, and two large independence movements.
History
editWikipedia was founded on January 15, 2001 by Jimbo I as an alternative to the largely over-commercialized encyclopedias of the time. Originally containing just the En province, Wikipedia has since been subdivided into other provinces, most notably De, Fr, Es, Jp, and Zh. Most Wikipedians now live outside the capital, which has a certain degree of special status as not only the most largest and most populous province, but also as the residence of the King.
Government
editIn its earliest days, Wikipedia was an absolute monarchy, with Jimbo I and his designated representatives enforcing the common law of the land. By 2002, Wikipedia had grown so large that it was not feasible to limit powers to such a small group. This led to the formation of the Administration Corps, who handle day-to-day law enforcement in a manner similar to the fictional Green Lantern Corps. Administrators are appointed for life or good behavior. Abuse of powers, although rare, has happened; when it does, they can be forcibly removed from office by Jimbo I, the Arbitration Committee, or the Steward Corps (the personal enforcers of the Arbitration Committee). Admins are known to have the ability to exile unsavory citizens and quarantine sections of the Kingdom. Rumors abound that the members of the Admin Corps have supernatural abilities beyond mere mortals, such as time travel to prevent vandalism before it occurs and even erasing pollution and urban decay from existence. Because of their extraordinary powers, conflicts between Admins have been known to be incredibly destructive.
Political participation is most accessible through the Lower House of Parliament, the House of Editors, which consists of every single citizen of the Kingdom. It is the only House of Parliament to allow political parties to participate. The two largest political parties are the Inclusionist and Deletionist Parties, although enough minor parties exist to make sessions and debates lively and spirited.
The House of Arbitrators is not only the Upper House of Parliament but also the court of last resort, giving it extraordinary powers over both judicial and legislative matters. Cases come to the House of Arbitrators through either original jurisdiction (coming directly to the House of Arbitrators) or appellate jurisdiction (passing first through either the district courts or the justices of the peace), with original jurisdiction comprising the vast majority of cases.
Foreign relations
editAllies
editThe Kingdom of Wikipedia is at the heart of the Wikimedia Commonwealth, a commonwealth of states that includes (in order of founding) Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Wikibooks, Wikisource, Wikimedia Commons, Wikispecies, Wikinews, Wikiversity and Meta-Wiki. The Wikimedia Commonwealth is led by a Security Council, the members of which each elected by popular vote by all Foundation citizens. As Emperor of the Wikis, Jimbo I also holds the title of King in each of the other Commonwealth states, although he rarely deigns to interfere in their internal affairs; he also maintains a permanent seat on the Security Council.
Wikipedia maintains good relations with the neighboring Wikia Confederacy. The two nations often share territory, with non-arable lands often ceded to states in the Confederacy with similar backgrounds. The lands are then tended there, allowing Wikipedia citizens to focus their energies on more arable lands.
During 2012, the Wikimedia Commonwealth was approached by a senior delegation of dissidents from Wikitravel wishing to break away from that entity's increasingly authoritarian regime. A previous dissident faction having already formed Wikivoyage, was also consulted. Following high-level diplomatic talks, with the Wikivoyage faction, a memorandum of understanding was reached, which was the prelude to Wikivoyage's current role within the Wikimedia Commonwealth. These negotiations were met with hostility from the Wikitravel regime, with formal protests being lodged. Although the hostility did not erupt into open conflict, the Kingdom of Wikipedia significantly reduced its ties with Wikitravel over these actions.
Over the years of its existence, the Wikimedia Commonwealth has developed mutually beneficial, if unspoken, relationships with several other states. Such superpowers as the Alphabet Empire (formerly the Google Empire), Unitary Ecosystem of Apple, and Amazon Free State often access Wikimedia Commonwealth states (chiefly Wikipedia) due to its reputation as a highly cultivated space of knowledge. In order to capitalize on this reputation, the Wikimedia Confederation announced the creation of a Wikimedia Tariff in 2021 for access to Wikimedia Confederation lands by the governments of non-affiliated states. After much debate in the Wikipedian public, the Security Council announced that tariff revenues would be capped to 30% of the total Commonwealth budget.
Breakaway countries
editIn the last few years, three independence movements left Wikipedia and established their own lands elsewhere on the Internet. The first successful one, the Conservapedia Conclave, was founded by a group of former Wikipedia citizens in 2006. The Conservapedians, as they rechristened themselves, were frustrated by a perceived political bias; to counter this, they established a nation where their sociopolitical system was dominant. As of July 2007, Conservapedia has grown to nearly 11,000 articles, or roughly six percent of the En province of Wikipedia.
The second independence movement was led by Larry Sanger, the first and only En Prime Minister. Sanger had become disaffected with Wikipedia after a number of public relations incidents had tarnished the kingdom's reputation at home and abroad. In November of 2006, Sanger founded the Citizendium Republic. Despite a number of organizational similarities, Citizendium has much tougher immigration laws and a much more rigid hierarchy. The republic's meritocracy allows only the most educated citizens powers and privileges possessed by much of Wikipedia's populace.
The third independence movement was created by citizens who wanted to create a content-free useless wiki, and created https://www.uncyclopedia.co. This encyclopedia contains no useful information and is (for the most part) a meme.
Other countries
editThe Meme Empire, based in the Sea of Subculture and led by territories such as Fark and SomethingAwful, has frequently staged attacks against Wikipedia. Meme raids pillage subculture articles and cause havoc among the citizens. The attacks contrast sharply with the insurgency; whereas insurgents often make small attacks across the kingdom, meme raiders often focus their efforts on a specific area to create a much more pronounced and prolonged effect. While the damage is usually quickly undone by Admins, the psychological scars often lead to periods of quarantine in affected areas.
One of the most mysterious and unknown forces on the Internet is the Wikitruth Assembly. The inhabitants and leaders are entirely unknown, but it is presumed that they are all either active inside Wikipedia or have been banished from it. On their small island, the Wikitruthers have build grand museums and libraries filled not with knowledge but with political essays and writings. The writings are highly critical of Wikipedia, condemning everything from the King to members of the Administrator Corps to policies instituted by the government. Rumor has it that a secret library exists containing knowledge forbidden from Wikipedia; the existence of this knowledge outside of the kingdom suggests that one or more Admins is a member of the secretive society.
Neither the Kingdom of Wikipedia or Wikimedia Commonwealth has a formal relationship with Wikileaks, an anarchist faction which has been claimed to be supporting terrorism by some official sources.
Languages
editWikipedia is divided into numerous subdivisions called languages, which are equivalent to provinces. Below are the 60 most populous languages out of the 199 in total.
|
|
|
- Notes
- In the list above are the official names of each languages. However, the shortened, two-letter names provided in parentheses are more commonly used in writing.
- Each language is divided into smaller subdivisions called articles. As of 2022, the English Wikipedia contained more than 6,000,000 articles.
- Wikipedia is in an association with several other domains. Called sister projects, these entities strive for more independence from Wikipedia.
- The English Wikipedia is associated with Simple English.
- Alsatian has been renamed Alemannic.
- Moldovan has largely been abandoned for Romanian.
- Serbo-Croatian has been dissolved into Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian.
- Toki Pona is no longer a part of Wikipedia.
Geography
edit
On the map of the Internet created by XKCD, Wikipedia (and the rest of the Commonwealth) inhabits the southeast quadrant. Its territory neighbors Wikia, Citizendium and Conservapedia (not shown on the map), as well as the Blogosphere and the IRC Isles.
Economy
editWhile the King has supported Wikipedia at great length, more territory was recently acquired by means of a donating non-binding tax. A major economic problem is the unauthorized duplication of Wikipedian intellectual property by residents of other nations. Little is being done about this, though some foreigners are moving into voluntary compliance.
In 2021, the Wikimedia Confederation announced the creation of a Wikimedia Tariff for access to Wikimedia Confederation lands by the governments of non-affiliated states, most notably the Alphabet Empire, Unitary Ecosystem of Apple, and Amazon Free State. After much debate in the Wikipedian public, the Security Council announced that tariff revenues would be capped to 30% of the total Commonwealth budget.
Demographics
editThe vast majority of Wikipedians are technically literate, and many are young and somewhat leftist. This leads to occasional conflicts. Insomnia is a major medical problem, as is burnout among the sysop caste, who often feel compelled to overwork themselves.
An application for citizenship is simple and is done online. Citizenship is gained almost instantly. Dual citizenship with other nations is allowed. However, citizens can carry more than one identification. There are many residents in Wikipedia who are not citizens. Others are tourists and students who occasionally visit Wikipedia to study from its vast system of knowledge.
Culture
edit Wikipedia largely uses Standard English, at least within En, though some terms such as consensus and vandal are not used, having become profanities in the local dialect. While Wikipedia is largely peaceful, fights often break out between immigrant groups, and on sensitive issues such as abortion and religion. Violations of these norms are punishable by law or, in rarer cases, through the very popular tarring and feathering on the pillory. Letters are not sewn into clothes yet.
Miscellaneous topics
edit- Communications in Wikipedia
- Transportation in Wikipedia (mostly carried out by the blue and violet Wikilink Buses; red ones are workers' buses leading to construction sites; cyan ones are cross-border services and may require getting your passport checked)
- Military of Wikipedia
- Holidays in Wikipedia