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Wikimedia chapters

From Meta, a Wikimedia project coordination wiki




"Local chapter/s" redirects here. To see other possible uses, see Chapters, a disambiguation page.

Wikimedia chapters are independent organizations founded to support and promote the Wikimedia projects in a specified geographical region (in most cases, a country). Like the Wikimedia Foundation, they aim to "empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content under a free license or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally". There are currently 37 chapters, with at least one on every inhabited continent.

This page lists current and planned chapters. Please see the step-by-step chapter creation guide and the movement affiliates FAQ for more information. The Affiliations Committee advises on and assists the creation of and to support affiliates.

Some chapters have an office.

Find an overview of chapter-related Meta pages on Chapters Portal.

Existing chapters, both founded (dark blue) and approved (dark turquoise), planned chapters (green), and chapters in discussion (light blue) as of 28 August 2019.

Existing chapters

There are currently 37 recognised Wikimedia chapters.



Former chapters

The following were recognized Wikimedia chapters during the periods indicated.


Chapters in discussion phase

Chapters in active preparation to become a chapter. You should add here any chapter that is under discussion to be started up. Please provide link to a page (in meta) with more detailed information (at best with a short summary in English) and provide a contact for questions about the present state.

Key
A yellowish background means organizations are currently in active contact (as of the "last update" date) with the Affiliations Committee;
A light grey background means awaiting an update (from the proposed organization? from AffCom?)
A light blue background means the AffCom has asked the Board to approve the organization's formation.
country code Chapter Status Articles of Incorporation/
Statute
Website Mailing list Contact Last update
BW Wikimedia Botswana Early development Meta,
wikimedia.bw (doesn't exist yet)
wikimediabw (doesn't exist yet) tn:User:Oarabile Mudongo (kck, tn, en-3, zu-1, sn-1),
Facebook,
talk on Meta,
talk on Wikipedia
2012-12-19
BY Wikimedia Belarus In discussion Meta,
wikimedia.by
wikimediaby ru:User Talk:Track13 (en, ru, be),
ru:User Talk:Pessimist2006 (ru, be)
2010-05-29
BG Wikimedians of Bulgaria In discussion wikimedia.bg info-l See Wikimedians of Bulgaria 2014-04-18
CI Wikimedia Côte d'Ivoire Writing bylaws fr, en Meta Wikimedia-CI Zenman (talk) 2014-06-30
DZ Wikimedia Algeria In discussion to come Meta Wikimedia Algeria/Gestion/Members and Mohammed Bachounda 2007-07-01
EG Wikimedia Egypt Writing bylaws Proposed by-laws Wikimedia Egypt mail:wikimediaeg-l Mido or/and #wikimedia-eg 2009-03-01
GE Wikimedia Georgia AffCom Review ka http://ge.wikimedia.org/ wiki(_AT_)wikimedia.ge info(_AT_)wikimedia.ge 2023-07-28
GR Wikimedia Greece In discussion Not translated wikimedia.gr Geraki or/and #wikimedia-el 2024-04-16
HR Wikimedija Hrvatske Formally established under Croatian law on January 17, 2009. hr, en SpeedyGonsales, #wikimedija-hr 2011-01-12
IE Wikimedia Ireland In discussion Wikimedia Ireland Community mail:wikimediaie wikimediaireland@gmail.com 2014-07-26
IN-DL Wikimedia Delhi City Memorandum of Association has been posted on Meta. Meta Wikimedia-in-del Vibhijain 2011-06-05
IR Wikimedia Iran Affiliations Committee/Resolutions/Iranian Wikimedians User Group - Liaison approval, July 2015 Meta info@wikimediairan.ir Mardetanha 2008-07-07
KG Wikimedia Kyrgyzstan In discussion Wikimedia Kyrgyzstan Aidabishkek (en, ru, tr, ky),
Maksat (en, ru, ky)
2012-05-02
KZ Wikimedia Kazakhstan Reviewing bylaws with AffCom. No currently ongoing communication. en Ashina, Alash, Rauank 2012-08-05
LT Wikimedia Lietuva Stopped at discussion phase none none 2009-12-10
MY Wikimedia Malaysia Early development Research stage Wikimedia Malaysia (on meta) Talk:Wikimedia Malaysia 2009-01-12
NP Wikimedia Nepal Community Approved Draft By-Laws in Nepali Now in Lawyer's revision/ By-laws translation into English Affcom studying on proposal Meta (on meta),
T:@WikimediaNepal,
F:Wikimedia Nepal
nepaliwiki@gmail.com; nepaliwiki@googlegroups.com Rajesh Pandey,
Ganesh Paudel,
Saroj K. Dhakal (en, hi, ne),
Nirmal Dulal (en, hi, ne)
2013-04-24
RO Wikimedia România Early stages (planning) ro (drafts) wikimedia.ro (currently a portal) WikimediaRO-l IulianU or Razool 2005-09-26
SA Wikimedia Saudi Arabia Early development Wikimedia Saudi Arabia Alrwaikm 2008-12-26
SG Wikimedia Singapore Early development Wikimedia Singapore Wikimedia-SG Mailing list or #wikimedia-sgconnect 2011-04-27
SI Wikimedia Slovenia In discussion Writing first draft Wikimedia Slovenia (on meta),
w:sl:Wikipedija:Društvo on sl.wikipedia.org
none yet Wikimedia Slovenia,
Miha / xJaM / Yerpo
2013-03-14
TR Wikimedia Türkiye In discussion Early development Wikimedia Türkiye (on Meta),
tr.wikimedia.org
wikimedia-tr #wikimedia-tr 2011-11-01
US-CAS Wikimedia Cascadia In discussion, drafting bylaws pending Meta wikimedia-cascadia Another Believer
US-MW Wikimedia Midwest US In discussion Meta

#wikimedia-midwest

Varnent (talk) 2012-06-22
US-TX Texas Wikimedians In discussion pending Meta WhisperToMe

Former chapters in discussion

Chapters formerly in preparation to become a chapter, which have either stalled or been absorbed into other chapters.

country code Chapter Status Articles of Incorporation/
Statute
Website Mailing list Contact Last update
US-CA Wikimedia California Inactive pending Meta wikimedia-california Geoff Plourde 2010-05-05
US-PA Wikimedia Pennsylvania Stalled, merged with Wikimedia New York City en pa.us.wikimedia.org Wikimediapa-l Cbrown1023 talk, SB_Johnny, Whiteknight, or #wikimedia-pa 2009-04-29

Ideas for chapters

See the movement affiliates FAQ to understand what a local chapter is, and what it entails to create a new one. If you wish to create a local chapter, follow the step-by-step chapter creation guide. In case you have any questions, contact the Affiliations Committee.

In Europe

In North America

In Asia

  • Wikimedia Mainland China – The discussion of establishing a chapter started in 2009 on Chinese Wikipedia. The discussion was ended due to the political problems and no possibility of being legally incorporated. While the discussion restarted in 2013 when WMF start to recognize User Group, and the Wikimedia User Group China has been recognized since August 2014. There is no further plan for forming a chapter before the NPO can be freely incorporated in mainland China.
  • Wikimedia Japan – 設立の是非について投票中です。 The page reads "There are currently no active arguments to establish a local Japanese chapter, mainly because very few Japanese language community members are interested in it. Lack of legal knowledge and accounting skills among the community is also a large contributing factor."
  • Wikimedia Nepal विकिमिडिया नेपाल is recognized as a user group Wikimedians of Nepal on 29th May, 2013. Now it is in the way of becoming national chapter. Wikipedia was begun in Nepal on June 3, 2002 with Nepali Wikipedia. Now Wikipedias are avaible in five languages spoken in Nepal. Wikimedia Nepal begun regular meetups and discussions from 17 July 2010. It has been organizing outreach and various programs to promote Wikipedia in Nepal.
  • Wikimedia Pakistan is recognized as a user group.

In Africa

In Oceania

In South America

  • Wikimedia Ecuador – Recognized on September 18th as Wikimedians of Ecuador user group. Still calling for supporters.
  • Wikimedia Bolivia – Recognized on 2018 as Wikimedistas of Bolivia user group. Still calling for supporters.

In Central America

Composition of chapters

See also Wikimedia chapters/Summaries. This list may be partially outdated; provided in alphabetical order by country codes:

[AM] Wikimedia Armenia (Armenia)

President

Arshak Shahenyan

Board
Auditing Commission
  • Aram Soghomonyan / Chair of the Supervision Commission
  • Karen Terteryan
  • Sevak Ayvazyan
Staff

[AR] Wikimedia Argentina (Argentina)

Board
Staff

[AT] Wikimedia Österreich (Austria)

Board

Elected 2022-06-12 / Constituted on 2022-07-06

Staff
Internal auditor

[AU] Wikimedia Australia (Australia)

Committee (elected 7 August 2022):

[BD] Wikimedia Bangladesh (Bangladesh)

Elected on 2024-01-27

[BE] Wikimedia Belgium (Belgium)

See wmbe:Board for an overview of the board positions within Wikimedia Belgium.

Board members (2021)
  • Chair: Geert Van Pamel - User:Geertivp - geert [at] wikimedia.be in Dutch, English, or French.
  • Dominique - User:LabDom - dominique [at] wikimedia.be in French, English, or Dutch.
  • Mike - User:Taketa - mike [at] wikimedia.be in Dutch, or English.
  • Sam - User:Sam.Donvil - sam [at] wikimedia.be in Dutch, or English.

[CA] Wikimedia Canada (Canada)

In 2024, the Board of Directors is:

[CH] Wikimedia CH (Switzerland)

  • Matthias Nepfer, president
  • Jon Becker, board member
  • Amandine Cabrio, board member
  • Cathérine Janssens, board member
  • Nawal Aït-Hocine, board member
  • Michael Witschi, board member
  • Mauro Cassina, board member

[CL] Wikimedia Chile (Chile)

[CO] Wikimedia Colombia (Colombia)

Board and Audit committee elected by the general assembly.

[DE] Wikimedia Deutschland (Germany)

Board elected in 2020:

[DK] Wikimedia Danmark (Denmark)

[EE] Wikimedia Eesti (Estonia)

  • Board Members: (2024)
    • Robert Treufeldt
    • Jaan Meriniit
  • Audit committee:
    • Madis Maasing
    • Nicolás Tamargo de Eguren
  • Staff:

[ES] Wikimedia España (Spain)

See https://www.wikimedia.es/inicio/nuestro-trabajo/ for a current list and biographies of board members.


[FI] Wikimedia Suomi (Finland)

Effective 2024-01-01.

  • Tero Toivanen, president, staff, external funding applications, board member since 2017
  • Heikki Kastemaa, vice president, Villa Karo, board member 2015-2018, 2023–
  • Jaakko Pirinen, secretary, weekly competitions, board member since 2018
  • Kaj Arnö, swedish language, board member since 2021
  • Tuukka Hastrup, GLAM, Wikimedia hackathon, board member since 2022
  • Kimberli Mäkäräinen, native languages, women in red, board member since 2019-

[FR] Wikimédia France (France)

See https://www.wikimedia.fr/conseil-dadministration/ for a current list and biographies of board members.

[GB] Wikimedia UK (United Kingdom)

See wmuk:board for a current list and biographies of board members.

[ID] Wikimedia Indonesia (Indonesia)

Board of Trustees (Dewan Pengawas, 19 Feb 2022-31 Dec 2024):

Board of Executives (Dewan Pengurus, 19 Feb 2022-31 Dec 2024):

[IL] Wikimedia Israel (Israel)

  • Board Members
    • Itzik Edri (chairperson and spokesperson)
    • Ido Ivry (secretary)
    • Dana L. Dekel
    • Daria Kantor
    • Eli Shani
    • Gidi Beery
    • Sandra Zonensein
    • Sheizaf Rafaeli
    • Yoav Dothan
  • Audit committee
    • Avi Rosenthal
    • Hana Yariv
  • Other major functions
    • Michal Wander Schwartz, executive director

[IN] Wikimedia India (India (derecognized))

  • Rahul Deshmukh (President)
  • Sanket Oswal (Treasurer)
  • Yohann Thomas (Secretary)
  • Viswanathan Prabhakaran
  • Santosh Shingare


For biographical summaries, please visit Wikimedia India Chapter Executive Committee Members

[IT] Wikimedia Italia (Italy)

[MX] Wikimedia México (Mexico)

Updated 2018-06-09

[NL] Wikimedia Nederland (Netherlands)

As of April 18, 2020:

  • Justus de Bruijn, secretary
  • Lizzy Jongma, open knowledge and partnerships
  • Bart Nieuwenhuis, treasurer
  • Jan Bart de Vreede, çhair
  • Michel Wesseling, sponsorships
  • Lotte Belice Baltussen, open knowledge and partnerships
  • Heleen Ririassa, communications

[NO] Wikimedia Norge (Norway)

Updated 2023-10-18 Elected board as of board meeting 17 October 2023:

Presentation in English

[PL] Wikimedia Polska (Poland)

Board is elected by General Assembly for a two-year term. Board elected in 2024:

[PT] Wikimedia Portugal (Portugal)

A new board was elected on January 15, 2023. The current members of the board:

Board
Staff

[SE] Wikimedia Sverige (Sweden)

[TW] Wikimedia Taiwan (Taiwan)

See the Chapter page.

[UA] Wikimedia Ukraine (Вікімедіа Україна) (Ukraine)

See the Chapter page.

[US-DC] Wikimedia District of Columbia (United States)

See Wikimedia DC's official list.

[US-NYC] Wikimedia New York City (United States)

See Wikimedia NYC's official list.

[UY] Wikimedia Uruguay (Uruguay)

  • Rodrigo Barbano, president
  • Mariana Fossatti, secretary
  • Jorge Gemetto, treasurer
  • Gustavo Ginares, ordinary member

[VE] Wikimedia Venezuela (Venezuela)

[ZA] Wikimedia South Africa (South Africa)

2020 Board

Inter-chapter initiatives

Active:

Ideas:

Mailing lists and wikis

Apart from public mailing lists (most notably Chapters-reports) and websites listed elsewhere, there are two main private channels for communication and coordination among chapters, which existing chapters must follow and participate in:

  • Internal wiki[24] and Internal-l – Local Chapters, board and officers coordination: each chapter can subscribe an unlimited number of board members (as of 13th August 2010), with an e-mail to the list admin by the president; additional members can be subscribed following the usual procedure (endorsement by a subscribed person + consensus on wiki);
  • Chapters wiki[25] and chapters mailinglist[26] for discussions and decisions among chapters: each chapter can subscribe unlimited board members (and some staffer) and an email by the president of the chapter to the list admins with the list of email addresses to add/remove is the usual process; there are also other lists for working groups, generally subsets of the previous one, apart some more open lists (e.g. GLAM).


See also

Notes

  1. Is the chapter formally recognized as a Nonprofit organization under its nation's laws? "n/a" should be used if the country's laws do not recognize a nonprofit status.
  2. corporation information
  3. A small no profit association doesn't require the formal approval. It's sufficient to follow the law and to have a bylaws compliant with to the law[1][2]. The tax exemption has been formally approved [3].
  4. All associations are non-profit by definition in the Czech republic.
  5. All associations in Spain have Non profit status.
  6. Wikimédia Magyarország is a registered association at the Court and all registered associations are non-profit by definition in Hungary. Wikimédia Magyarország is recognized as "organization for the public benefit" status which means: transparency requirements, tax exemptions, tax deductibility etc.
  7. Based on Wikimedia Indonesia Board of Executive Meeting.
  8. Officially approved by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of South Korea since 2015.
  9. At the founding team's request, the provisional approval was extended by the WMF executive director until April 2013.
  10. Officialy recognized as Wikimedia México A.C. (civic association) under Mexican laws since February 2013.
  11. There is no separate official non-profit status. However, we have been granted charity status (ANBI) by the tax office since January 2010, which, among other demands, requires that the organization is a non-profit by its bylaws and operates as a non-profit in practice. During 2012 we were busy to prepare the chapter for the CBF certificate for 'small charities'.
  12. All associations are non-profit by definition in Poland
  13. All organizations in Portugal have Non profit status.
  14. https://neprofitne.rs/organisation-info/4772
  15. https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Medlemskap
  16. board resolution here
  17. Announcement from the Affiliations Committee, Feb 7th, 2017.
  18. Announcement from the Affiliations Committee, Sep 9th, 2017.
  19. Announcement from the Affiliations Committee, Aug 13th, 2017.
  20. Announcement from the Affiliations Committee, April 22nd, 2017.
  21. Wikimedia movement affiliates/Formerly Active Affiliates
  22. Wikimedia movement affiliates/Formerly Active Affiliates
  23. Wikimedia movement affiliates/Formerly Active Affiliates
  24. internal.wikimedia.org
  25. chapters.wikimedia.ch
  26. Chapters mailing list