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Category: Wikimedia Commons

Experience some of the world’s most beautiful places with Wiki Loves Earth 2022

Think about that feeling you get when you are walking through pristine nature. Do you think it can be captured in a single photo?  The Wiki Loves Earth photography competition celebrates the world’s natural heritage, encompassing everything from small parks to massive nature reserves. It asks photographers to dive into those areas to pick out….

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Chestnut-tailed starling (Sturnia malabarica), Satchari National Park

The majesty of nature (and an abundance of birds) on full display in Wiki Loves Earth 2020

In the volcanic valleys of Russia, a red fox lies alert amongst chossy boulders; in the treetops of Thailand, an owl precariously slumbers; and in the forests of Bangladesh,  a venomous pit viper stalks its prey. As unprecedented as 2020 has been, this year’s Wiki Loves Earth photography competition presents a stunning view of the….

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The World Health Organization and Wikimedia Foundation expand access to trusted information about COVID-19 on Wikipedia

Geneva, Switzerland, 22 October 2020 — The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that administers Wikipedia, announced today a collaboration to expand the public’s access to the latest and most reliable information about COVID-19. The collaboration will make trusted, public health information available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license at a….

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Imagination becomes reality in the winners of the 2019 Wiki Loves Earth photo contest

The child of a monkey holds on to its mother tightly. A lone straw bale stands in a field prior to being collected. A few rays of sunlight filter into a dark, foreboding cave filled with clear blue water. These are a mere three of the imagination-fueling winners from the international Wiki Loves Earth photography….

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Bodil Biørn

Norway and Armenia come together to bring Bodil Biørn’s historic photographs online

Over 180 memories of Armenian history are now available to everyone in the world, free of charge, thanks to a collaborative project between Wikimedia Norge (Norway), Wikimedia Armenia—both independent Wikimedia affiliate organizations—and the National Archives of Norway. All of the photographs were taken by Norwegian missionary and nurse Bodil Biørn (1871–1960), who proselytized within modern-day….

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Your weekly photo from the world’s free media repository: 13 September

Boats moored in Zoebigker Harbor on Lake Cospuden, located near Markkleeberg, Saxony, Germany. This photo comes to us from Wikimedia Commons, the freely licensed media repository whose holdings are extensively used on Wikimedia’s many projects, including Wikipedia. You can use the photo for just about any purpose as long as you credit the author (Ansgar….

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Your weekly photo from the world’s free media repository: 6 September

Wikipedia tells us that “the Umeda Sky Building is the nineteenth-tallest building in Osaka Prefecture, Japan, and one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks. It consists of two 40-story towers that connect at their two uppermost stories, with bridges and an escalator crossing the wide atrium-like space in the center.” This photo comes to us….

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Your weekly photo from the world’s free media repository: 30 August

The ruins of Salamis, the ancient Greek city-state on the east coast of Cyprus, have been the subject of archaeological excavations since the late nineteenth century. Here, the columns of the city’s public baths or gymnasium stand in repose. This photo comes to us from Wikimedia Commons, the freely licensed media repository whose holdings are….

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Your weekly photo from the world’s free media repository: 23 August

Jack Delano was an American photographer best known for his work with the US government’s photography program within the Farm Security Administration. The image above was captured in December 1942, in the midst of the Second World War, and it shows Chicago and Northwestern Railroad steam locomotives at rest in a Chicago roundhouse before their….

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Your weekly photo from the world’s free media repository: 9 August

The panther chameleon is native to northern and eastern Madagascar, and has also been introduced to Réunion and Mauritius. According to its entry on Wikipedia, “Like most species of chameleons, the panther chameleon is very territorial. It spends the majority of its life in isolation, apart from mating sessions. When two males come into contact,….

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