Korean Wikipedia
Encyclopedia
The Korean Wikipedia ) is the Korean language
edition of the Wikipedia
. It was founded in October 2002 and reached ten thousand articles on 4 June 2005. As of November 8 2011, it has 180,569 articles and is the 20th largest Wikipedia.
. The software had problems representing Hangul
, which limited usage. In August 2002, the software was upgraded and started to support non-English scripts like hangul
. However, Internet Explorer
continued to have an encoding problem, which kept contributions to the encyclopedia low. Nevertheless, from October 2002 to July 2003, the number of articles increased from 13 to 159, and in August 2003 it reached 348. Finally, in September 2003 the hangul problem was solved.
is only used in order to clarify certain phrases, and is usually parenthesized. There is a group, named Dajimo, that is actively working to introduce a mixed script system
to the Korean Wikipedia. A request for a separate Wikipedia in mixed script, however, was rejected.
of the Internet in North Korea
. Therefore, most users of the Korean Wikipedia are South Koreans and most articles are written in the South Korean style. The official name of the Wikipedia is . Hangugeo is the name for the Korean language
in South Korea, and baekgwa is a clipped form
of "encyclopedia".
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
edition of the Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
. It was founded in October 2002 and reached ten thousand articles on 4 June 2005. As of November 8 2011, it has 180,569 articles and is the 20th largest Wikipedia.
History
The Korean Wikipedia used an older version of MediaWikiMediaWiki
MediaWiki is a popular free web-based wiki software application. Developed by the Wikimedia Foundation, it is used to run all of its projects, including Wikipedia, Wiktionary and Wikinews. Numerous other wikis around the world also use it to power their websites...
. The software had problems representing Hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
, which limited usage. In August 2002, the software was upgraded and started to support non-English scripts like hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
. However, Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
continued to have an encoding problem, which kept contributions to the encyclopedia low. Nevertheless, from October 2002 to July 2003, the number of articles increased from 13 to 159, and in August 2003 it reached 348. Finally, in September 2003 the hangul problem was solved.
Hangul and Hanja
The Korean Wikipedia is written almost entirely in hangul. HanjaHanja
Hanja is the Korean name for the Chinese characters hanzi. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation...
is only used in order to clarify certain phrases, and is usually parenthesized. There is a group, named Dajimo, that is actively working to introduce a mixed script system
Korean mixed script
Korean mixed script is a form of writing that uses both Hangul and hanja .The script has never been used for languages other than Korean. In North Korea, writing in mixed script was replaced by writing only in Hangul in the middle of the 20th century and has not been used since...
to the Korean Wikipedia. A request for a separate Wikipedia in mixed script, however, was rejected.
Dialects
There are two major standards in the Korean language, the South Korea standard, and the North Korea standard. North Koreans are underrepresented on the Korean Wikipedia, due to North Korean censorshipCensorship in North Korea
North Korea has a high degree of censorship and no de facto freedom of the press. It is routinely at the bottom of the World Press Freedom Index Rankings published annually by Reporters Without Borders...
of the Internet in North Korea
Internet in North Korea
North Korea is almost completely isolated from the rest of the world and, while there is a public telephone network, there is no broadband data network. Satellite Internet coverage from BGAN and Thuraya is available, offering download speeds up to 492 kbit/s and upload speeds of 400 kbit/s;...
. Therefore, most users of the Korean Wikipedia are South Koreans and most articles are written in the South Korean style. The official name of the Wikipedia is . Hangugeo is the name for the Korean language
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
in South Korea, and baekgwa is a clipped form
Clipping (morphology)
In linguistics, clipping is the word formation process which consists in the reduction of a word to one of its parts . Clipping is also known as "truncation" or "shortening."...
of "encyclopedia".