Wiki Explore

Wiki Explore is a new application that overlays Wikipedia articles onto an interactive map, allowing users to discover information about the world around them. Each point on the map represents a location with an associated Wikipedia article, providing users with quick access into insights about their surroundings.

Why Use Wiki Explore?

For history enthusiasts, travelers, or curious minds, Wiki Explore offers a unique and engaging way to learn about the local area. Instead of manually searching Wikipedia for local knowledge and history, users can simply navigate the map to uncover interesting stories and locations near them. 

How It Works

Wiki Explore utilizes Mapbox as its base mapping platform, enhanced with a custom historical cartography-inspired design. Users can click on a location to view Wikipedia article excerpts and images. In areas with multiple points of interest, clustering is used to maintain readability, and a dropdown menu allows users to browse all articles in that location.

Alternatives to Wiki Explore

Wiki Explore is a well-executed example of a wiki-based map. However, I can't help but ask: why? There are already several excellent interactive maps that allow users to discover nearby points of interest through geolocated Wikipedia articles. While there may be room for another, Wiki Explore doesn’t offer much that isn’t already available on:

• NearbyWiki
• Wikimap
• Geopedia

Another alternative is the long-running Wikimapia, the 19-year-old collaborative mapping project that blends wiki-style content with interactive maps. On Wikimapia users can tag places, add descriptions, and categorize locations into various types, such as landmarks, businesses, and residential areas. Many tagged locations not only feature user-contributed content but also include links to relevant Wikipedia articles.