Asal mula Pergerakan Wikimedia diawali dengan terciptanya Wikipedia Bahasa Inggris pada 15 Januari 2001. Versi bahasa lainnya (Jerman, Prancis, dan Spanyol) dan proyek-proyek serupa di dikemukakan berbulan-bulan dan bertahun-tahun kemudian. Pada tahun 2003,Jimmy Wales mengumumkan berdirinya "Wikimedia Foundation", sebuah badan resmi untuk memelihara dan membina proyek-proyek Wikimedia. Pada tahun 2004, Dewan Pengawas pertama dibentuk dan komunitas memilih perwakilan pertamanya untuk duduk di Dewan Pengawas.
Di tahun 2004, Wikipedian Jerman menemukan sebuah asosiasi bernama "Wikimedia Deutschland" untuk mendukung komunitas Wikimedia lokal dan mempromosikan Pengetahuan Gratis di Jerman. Awal Wikimedia Chapter dilahirkan.
Chapters are independent organizations founded to support and promote the Wikimedia projects in a specified geographical region (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". 40 chapters currently exist, with at least one Chapter on every inhabited continent.
In 2012, the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation approved User Groups and Thematic Organisations as additional models of Wikimedia groups. As of July 2014, there are 40 Chapters, 1 Thematic Organisation and 12 User Groups officially recognised as Wikimedia affiliates.
Today, almost 500 Million people visit the Wikimedia projects, and more than 80,000 people are actively contributing to those projects every month.
Links and documents
The following collection of links and documents gives an overview over the context, history and development of the Wikimedia movement.
Annual report on the Funds Dissemination Committee process 2012-2013, chapter “The WMF Executive Director’s Reflections on the FDC Process“, by Sue Gardner (WMF)