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Wikidata is a free, structured knowledge base that organizes information about people, places, works, and other entities so that people and computer programs can use it. Each item has a stable identifier, and its statements connect properties to values, often with references and contextual details. You can explore items directly, find connections with the Wikidata Query Service, or access data through APIs and downloads.
What is Wikidata?
Wikidata is a collaborative knowledge base of structured data. Rather than storing information only as prose, it records facts in a form that can be read by people and processed by software. The data can support Wikimedia projects and other uses, but an entry should be understood as a collection of claims drawn from sources—not as original research or a guarantee that every claim is equally well supported.
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The introductory Wikidata data model overview describes the basic concepts below. It is explicitly a draft introduction, not an exhaustive account of every entity type or special case.
How Wikidata organizes information
Items have identifiers, labels, and descriptions
An item represents an entity, such as a person or a place. Its Q-number—such as Q42—is its identifier. Labels, descriptions, and aliases are human-readable terms that can differ by language; the Q-number is the stable reference point, not the label. An item page can also show statements and links to related pages on Wikimedia projects.
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Statements connect properties and values
A statement expresses information about an item as a property-value relationship. A property has a P-number and a defined data type. For example, a statement about a person might use a “place of birth” property and a place as its value. Taken together, the item, property, and value make the claim understandable as structured data.
References and qualifiers add important context
A reference points to a source for a statement; a qualifier adds context to the statement, such as a time period or other detail. The data model overview illustrates this with the claim that Douglas Adams was born in Cambridge, presented according to a Guardian article published in 2001. When evaluating an item, inspect its references and qualifiers rather than assuming every displayed value has the same support or meaning. A statement without a source is less well supported than one with a reference.
How Wikidata relates to Wikipedia
Wikipedia is primarily read as an encyclopedia of articles; Wikidata organizes information as structured entities, statements, and links. Wikidata items may include sitelinks to related pages on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects, but an item is not simply a short Wikipedia article: its purpose is to make data and relationships reusable by people and software.
The two projects are related, but this distinction alone does not establish that a Wikidata statement is accurate or that it carries the same editorial context as a Wikipedia article. Check the statement’s source and qualifiers when you need to assess a particular claim.
Ways to find and use Wikidata information
The right access method depends on whether you are browsing, asking a precisely defined question, retrieving or editing individual records, or collecting data at large scale. Wikidata’s data access guide distinguishes these use cases:
| Task | Suitable route | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Discover a topic or find text that may be described in different ways | Wikidata search | Better suited to discovery and fuzzy or text searches than a structured query. |
| Find entities or relationships matching clearly defined data characteristics | Wikidata Query Service (WDQS) | Uses SPARQL and is not recommended for fuzzy text searches or queries that would return a substantial percentage of Wikidata. |
| Retrieve or edit particular items and statements | Wikibase REST API | Designed for interacting with entity-level data and editing; requires working with an API. |
| Read common structured data patterns, such as batches of items and linked labels | GraphQL | Useful for those reading patterns; choose another route if your task needs a different query or edit workflow. |
| Obtain data at very large scale | Wikidata dumps | Can cover all entities, but take time and resources to retrieve and process; not ideal when immediate freshness is essential. |
WDQS and RDF dumps are not identical datasets. The Wikidata Query Service manual documents differences, mainly made for performance reasons. If exact coverage matters, check the documentation for the access route you choose.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to start querying Wikidata
The Wikidata Query Service lets you ask structured questions about data and relationships using SPARQL, a query language for RDF data. You can begin in the web interface without first learning to write a complete query: the official query help portal links a gentle introduction for modifying queries and viewing results, an interactive tutorial, and Asaf Bartov’s two-hour video “Querying Wikidata with SPARQL for Absolute Beginners.” For more control, use the portal’s SPARQL tutorial and query-building documentation.
A SPARQL query specifies logical patterns—such as a particular property and the values connected to it—and returns matching facts or relationships. WDQS can be used interactively or programmatically through HTTP GET or POST requests to its endpoint; the query service manual explains the interface and request examples.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsWDQS help says the service is migrating to a new backend during 2026–2027, including new v2 endpoint URLs that may require existing queries to be revised. Because endpoint guidance can change during the migration, check the current official help before hard-coding an endpoint into an application.
Can you reuse Wikidata data?
Wikidata says its data is offered under CC0, which does not require attribution. Its official guidance nevertheless encourages users to identify Wikidata as the data source and provide a way for their users to report errors. It also cautions against implying endorsement when using the Wikidata logo.
These points apply to Wikidata data; check the licensing terms for other material separately. CC0’s lack of an attribution requirement does not remove the practical value of telling users where data came from or how to flag a problem.
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