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. All users are welcome to participate in the process of addition to or removal from these lists. This page contains links to the 50,000 articles of the Level 5 list. This Level 5 list is discussed at 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 April 2026, the level 5 Vital Articles list includes 49,967 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 20:20, 27 April 2026 (UTC)
| Sublist | Current | Target | At quota? | Change in effect? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| People | 14,445 | 14,450 | Yes | N/a |
| Writers and journalists | 1,873 | 1,900 | Slightly under | N/a |
| Artists, musicians, and composers | 2,163 | 2,100 | Too many | Trim |
| Entertainers, directors, producers, and screenwriters | 2,026 | 2,000 | Slightly over | Trim |
| Philosophers, historians, and social scientists | 1,357 | 1,350 | Yes | N/a |
| Religious figures | 502 | 500 | Yes | N/a |
| Politicians and leaders | 2,379 | 2,400 | Slightly under | N/a |
| Military personnel, revolutionaries, and activists | 868 | 900 | Slightly under | N/a |
| Scientists, inventors, and mathematicians | 1,270 | 1,300 | Slightly under | Brainstorm |
| Sports figures | 1,000 | 1,000 | Yes | N/a |
| Miscellaneous | 1,007 | 1,000 | Yes | N/a |
| History | 3,288 | 3,300 | Yes | N/a |
| Geography | 5,169 | 5,200 | Yes | N/a |
| Basics and technical geography | 143 | 150 | Yes | N/a |
| Physical geography | 1,780 | 1,750 | Slightly over | N/a |
| Regions and countries | 1,262 | 1,300 | Slightly under | N/a |
| Cities | 1,984 | 2,000 | Yes | N/a |
| Arts | 3,824 | 3,850 | Yes | N/a |
| Audiovisual arts | 1,937 | 1,950 | Yes | N/a |
| Narrative arts | 1,887 | 1,900 | Yes | N/a |
| Everyday life | 2,467 | 2,450 | Yes | N/a |
| Everyday life | 1,315 | 1,300 | Yes | N/a |
| Sports, games and recreation | 1,152 | 1,150 | Yes | N/a |
| Philosophy and religion | 1,514 | 1,500 | Yes | N/a |
| Society and social sciences | 4,345 | 4,300 | Slightly over | ? |
| Social studies | 557 | 500 | Too many | ? |
| Politics and economics | 2,096 | 2,100 | Yes | N/a |
| Culture | 1,692 | 1,700 | Yes | N/a |
| Biology and health sciences | 5,686 | 5,650 | Yes | N/a |
| Biology, biochemistry, anatomy, and physiology | 1,155 | 1,150 | Yes | N/a |
| Animals | 2,402 | 2,400 | Yes | N/a |
| Plants, fungi, and other organisms | 1,006 | 1,000 | Yes | N/a |
| Health, medicine, and disease | 1,123 | 1,100 | Slightly over | Brainstorm |
| Physical sciences | 4,755 | 4,800 | Yes | N/a |
| Basics and measurement | 299 | 300 | Yes | N/a |
| Astronomy | 903 | 900 | Yes | N/a |
| Chemistry | 1,181 | 1,200 | Yes | N/a |
| Earth science | 1,198 | 1,200 | Yes | N/a |
| Physics | 1,174 | 1,200 | Slightly under | N/a |
| Technology | 3,262 | 3,200 | Slightly over | ? |
| Mathematics | 1,212 | 1,200 | Slightly over | ? |
| Unallocated quota slots | N/a | 100 | N/a | N/a |
| Total | 49,967 | 50,000 | Yes | N/a |