The international top 20 books includes: Bible, 1984, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Dune, Sword Art Online, Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu, KonoSuba, Don Quixote, The Plague, The Lord of the Rings, James Bond, Hachinantte Sore wa Inai Deshō!, Les Misérables, Romeo and Juliet, The Witcher, Brave New World, The Divine Comedy, The Decameron, Little Women and Violet Evergarden.
Briefly about the method
Wikipedia currently has over 53 million articles in over 300 languages. Despite the impressive number of articles, not all topics can be written in this free encyclopedia. At the same time, the community of each language version has the ability to decide which topic can be described in the encyclopedia, and which is not (for example, article must be notable). In addition, each language version can describe the same topic in its own way – it all depends on the number and experience of interested authors (Wikipedia users who edit articles).
Almost every Wikipedia article has an alignment to certain categories. Additionally, based on the content, you can specify the subject of the article – for example, using semantic relations on Wikidata or DBpedia. More details on the automatic classification process can be found in various scholarly papers (e.g. for articles or sources).
This article selected the most-developed language versions of Wikipedia with more than 1 million articles, including English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Polish and other. After the classification of articles, only those that are dedicated to individual books. As a result for English Wikipedia 56589 articles about books were found, for French – 24189 books, for Italian – 15791 books, for German – 13184 books, for Spanish – 11747 books, for Russian – 8121 books, for Portuguese – 7186 books, for Polish – 6924 books, for Arabic – 6614 books, for Japanese – 6066 books and for Chinese – 5093 books.
As mentioned earlier, every Wikipedia article can have different language versions, so we can find out different names of the same object (book). Using open data on Wikipedia article views we can find out how many times a given article has been viewed on specific days. After collecting data for viewing all Wikipedia articles on books in the appropriate language versions April 2020 ranking of the most readable was made. First, the positions of books in the ranking are shown, which were obtained by adding up the page views from different language versions for a given book. Later, the most popular books are shown for only one language version of Wikipedia.
Recently we observed that visitors number for some articles was “overclocked” in some periods of time. Therefore, we decide to provide additional modification of the pageview statistics for such cases and change this number (usually by reduction). Fairness of statistics for each article in selected language version in selected months can be assessed using such indicators as: number of the edits and authors, page protection, the rate of citation increasing of the article, popularity statistics of related keywords (phrases) in Google Trends and others.
1st place – Bible
Bible – collection of sacred books in Judaism and Christianity, in April 2020 the book was on the 1st place in English, on the 2nd place in Spanish, on the 3rd place in Portuguese, on the 6th place in Polish, on the 9th place in Italian, on the 10th place in Arabic, German, on the 16th place in Russian, on the 18th place in French, on the 76th place in Chinese and on the 179th place in Japanese Wikipedia.
2nd place – 1984
1984 – dystopian novel written by George Orwell, in April 2020 the book was on the 2nd place in French, on the 3rd place in English, Spanish, on the 4th place in German, Portuguese, Russian, on the 5th place in Italian, on the 11th place in Polish, on the 27th place in Arabic, on the 30th place in Japanese and on the 31st place in Chinese Wikipedia.
3rd place – My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! – Japanese light novel series, in April 2020 the book was on the 1st place in Japanese, Chinese, on the 22nd place in English, on the 66th place in Spanish, on the 567th place in French, on the 705th place in Polish and on the 821st place in German Wikipedia.
4th place – Dune
Dune – 1965 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, in April 2020 the book was on the 2nd place in English, on the 6th place in Portuguese, on the 9th place in Russian, on the 17th place in Spanish, Polish, on the 24th place in French, on the 74th place in Italian, on the 272nd place in Japanese and on the 431st place in Arabic Wikipedia.
5th place – Sword Art Online
Sword Art Online – Japanese light novel series, in April 2020 the book was on the 4th place in Chinese, on the 5th place in Japanese, on the 12th place in French, Portuguese, on the 20th place in English, on the 23rd place in Spanish, on the 47th place in Italian, on the 52nd place in German, on the 67th place in Russian, on the 93rd place in Polish and on the 125th place in Arabic Wikipedia.
6th place – Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu
Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu – Japanese light novel series, in April 2020 the book was on the 3rd place in Japanese, on the 5th place in Chinese, on the 19th place in English, on the 21st place in Portuguese, on the 42nd place in Spanish, on the 61st place in French, on the 99th place in Russian, on the 121st place in Italian, on the 155th place in Arabic, on the 174th place in German and on the 258th place in Polish Wikipedia.
7th place – KonoSuba
KonoSuba – Japanese light novel series, in April 2020 the book was on the 6th place in Japanese, Chinese, on the 13th place in English, on the 21st place in Spanish, on the 32nd place in Portuguese, on the 36th place in Russian, on the 93rd place in French, on the 184th place in German and on the 205th place in Italian Wikipedia.
8th place – Don Quixote
Don Quixote – novel by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, in April 2020 the book was on the 1st place in Spanish, on the 5th place in Portuguese, on the 10th place in French, on the 13th place in German, on the 18th place in English, on the 19th place in Italian, on the 34th place in Arabic, on the 41st place in Chinese, on the 50th place in Polish, on the 65th place in Russian and on the 108th place in Japanese Wikipedia.
9th place – The Plague
The Plague – French novel by Albert Camus, in April 2020 the book was on the 1st place in German, French, on the 9th place in Japanese, on the 10th place in Polish, on the 14th place in Italian, on the 19th place in Spanish, on the 29th place in English, on the 77th place in Russian, on the 89th place in Arabic, on the 97th place in Portuguese and on the 332nd place in Chinese Wikipedia.
10th place – The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings – 1954–1955 fantasy novel by J. R. R. Tolkien, in April 2020 the book was on the 7th place in English, Spanish, on the 9th place in German, on the 10th place in Italian, on the 13th place in Portuguese, on the 21st place in French, Polish, on the 26th place in Russian, on the 40th place in Chinese, on the 68th place in Arabic and on the 177th place in Japanese Wikipedia.
11th place – James Bond
James Bond – media franchise about a British spy, in April 2020 the book was on the 2nd place in Russian, on the 4th place in English, on the 18th place in Japanese, on the 41st place in Arabic, on the 99th place in Chinese, on the 543rd place in Portuguese and on the 1641st place in Spanish Wikipedia.
12th place – Hachinantte Sore wa Inai Deshō!
Hachinantte Sore wa Inai Deshō! – Japanese light novel series, in April 2020 the book was on the 2nd place in Japanese, Chinese, on the 47th place in English, on the 221st place in Spanish and on the 1131st place in Russian Wikipedia.
13th place – Les Misérables
Les Misérables – 1862 Victor Hugo novel, in April 2020 the book was on the 4th place in Japanese, on the 5th place in French, on the 16th place in Arabic, on the 18th place in Portuguese, on the 30th place in Spanish, Chinese, on the 32nd place in English, on the 81st place in Russian, on the 85th place in Polish, on the 109th place in Italian and on the 193rd place in German Wikipedia.
14th place – Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet – tragedy by William Shakespeare, in April 2020 the book was on the 8th place in French, on the 9th place in Spanish, on the 14th place in Polish, Portuguese, on the 17th place in Italian, Russian, on the 23rd place in English, on the 24th place in German, on the 47th place in Arabic, on the 62nd place in Chinese and on the 110th place in Japanese Wikipedia.
15th place – The Witcher
The Witcher – series of fantasy novels and short stories by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski, in April 2020 the book was on the 5th place in Polish, Russian, on the 11th place in German, on the 12th place in English, on the 41st place in French, on the 52nd place in Italian, on the 58th place in Spanish, on the 113th place in Portuguese, on the 275th place in Chinese, on the 329th place in Arabic and on the 527th place in Japanese Wikipedia.
16th place – Brave New World
Brave New World – novel by Aldous Huxley, in April 2020 the book was on the 11th place in Spanish, French, on the 14th place in English, on the 17th place in Portuguese, on the 23rd place in German, on the 27th place in Russian, on the 33rd place in Polish, on the 51st place in Italian, on the 63rd place in Chinese, on the 369th place in Arabic and on the 537th place in Japanese Wikipedia.
17th place – The Divine Comedy
The Divine Comedy – epic poem by Dante Alighieri, in April 2020 the book was on the 4th place in Italian, on the 6th place in Spanish, on the 7th place in Polish, on the 9th place in Portuguese, on the 19th place in German, Russian, on the 40th place in Arabic, on the 52nd place in English, on the 60th place in French, on the 75th place in Chinese and on the 85th place in Japanese Wikipedia.
18th place – The Decameron
The Decameron – 14th-century medieval allegory by Giovanni Boccaccio, in April 2020 the book was on the 2nd place in Italian, on the 7th place in German, on the 12th place in Spanish, on the 30th place in Russian, on the 35th place in Japanese, on the 38th place in Polish, on the 43rd place in English, on the 72nd place in Portuguese, on the 84th place in French, on the 112th place in Chinese and on the 376th place in Arabic Wikipedia.
19th place – Little Women
Little Women – novel by Louisa May Alcott, in April 2020 the book was on the 8th place in English, on the 20th place in Italian, on the 24th place in Spanish, on the 31st place in Russian, on the 33rd place in French, on the 65th place in Chinese, on the 90th place in Polish, on the 96th place in Arabic, on the 238th place in German and on the 247th place in Japanese Wikipedia.
20th place – Violet Evergarden
Violet Evergarden – Japanese light novel series, in April 2020 the book was on the 11th place in Japanese, on the 14th place in Chinese, on the 27th place in English, on the 61st place in Spanish, on the 64th place in French, on the 84th place in Portuguese, on the 109th place in Arabic, on the 119th place in Italian, on the 140th place in Russian and on the 156th place in German Wikipedia.
The most popular books in Arabic Wikipedia
- Men in the Sun – book by Ghassan Kanafani
- Quran – central religious text of Islam
- The Old Man and the Sea – novel by Ernest Hemingway
- Shams al-Ma’arif – شمس المعارف
- Sahih al-Bukhari – most famous collection of hadith in Sunni Islam
- One Thousand and One Nights – collection of west of asia stories and folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age
- Al-Bidaya wa’l-Nihaya – World history book based on Islamic themes
- Mu’allaqat
- Muqaddimah – book by Ibn Khaldun
- Bible – collection of sacred books in Judaism and Christianity
- The Forty Rules of Love – Book by Elif Şafak
- Sahih Muslim – book by Moslim ibn al-Hajjaj
- Kalila and Demna – collection of fables
- The 100 – 1978 book by Michael H. Hart
- Six Thinking Hats – book by Edward de Bono
- Les Misérables – 1862 Victor Hugo novel
- The Alchemist – novel by Paulo Coelho
- Love in the Time of Cholera – novel by Colombian Nobel prize winning author Gabriel García Márquez
- Muwatta Imam Malik – book by Malik ibn Anas
- مصحف عثمان
The most popular books in Chinese Wikipedia
- My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! – Japanese light novel series
- Hachinantte Sore wa Inai Deshō! – Japanese light novel series
- Ghost Blows Out the Light
- Sword Art Online – Japanese light novel series
- Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu – Japanese light novel series
- KonoSuba – Japanese light novel series
- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime – Japanese light novel series
- BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense. – Japanese light novel series
- Infinite Dendrogram – Japanese light novel series
- My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected – Japanese light novel series
- Ascendance of a Bookworm – Japanese light novel series
- Strike the Blood – Japanese light novel series
- A Certain Magical Index – Japanese light novel series
- Violet Evergarden – Japanese light novel series
- The Irregular at Magic High School – Japanese light novel series
- Classroom of the Elite – Japanese light novel series
- SCP Foundation – online community web-based collaborative writing project
- Seishun Buta Yarō – Japanese light novel series
- No Game No Life – Japanese light novel series
- The Hero is Overpowered but Overly Cautious – Japanese light novel, manga, and anime series
The most popular books in English Wikipedia
- Bible – collection of sacred books in Judaism and Christianity
- Dune – 1965 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert
- 1984 – dystopian novel written by George Orwell
- James Bond – media franchise about a British spy
- The Plot Against America – novel by Philip Roth
- The Last Ringbearer – book by Kirill Eskov
- The Lord of the Rings – 1954–1955 fantasy novel by J. R. R. Tolkien
- Little Women – novel by Louisa May Alcott
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – fantasy novel by J. K. Rowling
- The Handmaid’s Tale – dystopian science fiction novel
- The Great Gatsby – novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- The Witcher – series of fantasy novels and short stories by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski
- KonoSuba – Japanese light novel series
- Brave New World – novel by Aldous Huxley
- The Phantom of the Opera – 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux
- Little Fires Everywhere – book by Celeste Ng
- Tarzan – book series by Edgar Rice Burroughs
- Don Quixote – novel by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
- Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu – Japanese light novel series
- Sword Art Online – Japanese light novel series
The most popular books in French Wikipedia
- The Plague – French novel by Albert Camus
- 1984 – dystopian novel written by George Orwell
- Animal Farm – novel by George Orwell
- The Stranger – 1942 novel by Albert Camus
- Les Misérables – 1862 Victor Hugo novel
- The Red and the Black – French novel by Stendhal
- La Princesse de Clèves – 1678 novel usually attributed to Madame de La Fayette
- Romeo and Juliet – tragedy by William Shakespeare
- In Search of Lost Time – novel in seven volumes by Marcel Proust
- Don Quixote – novel by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
- Brave New World – novel by Aldous Huxley
- Sword Art Online – Japanese light novel series
- The Handmaid’s Tale – dystopian science fiction novel
- Candide – book by Voltaire
- The Princess of Montpensier – novel by Madame de Lafayette
- The Three Musketeers – novel by Alexandre Dumas
- And Then There Were None – novel by Agatha Christie
- Bible – collection of sacred books in Judaism and Christianity
- Madame Bovary – 1856 novel by Flaubert
- The Little Prince – Novella by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The most popular books in German Wikipedia
- The Plague – French novel by Albert Camus
- Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy – first part of the tragic play Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany – German constitution
- 1984 – dystopian novel written by George Orwell
- Gospel of Matthew – book of the New Testament
- The Kangaroo Chronicles
- The Decameron – 14th-century medieval allegory by Giovanni Boccaccio
- The Three Investigators – literary work
- The Lord of the Rings – 1954–1955 fantasy novel by J. R. R. Tolkien
- Bible – collection of sacred books in Judaism and Christianity
- The Witcher – series of fantasy novels and short stories by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski
- The Sorrows of Young Werther – autobiographical novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Don Quixote – novel by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
- Revelation of John – Final book of the New Testament
- Nibelungenlied – Middle High German epic poem from around 1200
- Fifty Shades – series of novels by E. L. James
- The Eyes of Darkness – American thriller novel by Dean Koontz
- Tschick – novel
- The Divine Comedy – epic poem by Dante Alighieri
- Perfume – novel by Patrick Süskind
The most popular books in Italian Wikipedia
- Storia di una gabbianella e del gatto che le insegnò a volare
- The Decameron – 14th-century medieval allegory by Giovanni Boccaccio
- The Betrothed – Italian historical novel by Alessandro Manzoni
- The Divine Comedy – epic poem by Dante Alighieri
- 1984 – dystopian novel written by George Orwell
- Zeno’s Conscience – book by Italo Svevo
- Orlando Furioso – epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto
- The Late Mattia Pascal – 1904 novel by Luigi Pirandello
- Bible – collection of sacred books in Judaism and Christianity
- The Lord of the Rings – 1954–1955 fantasy novel by J. R. R. Tolkien
- One Hundred Years of Solitude – novel by Gabriel García Márquez
- The Old Man Who Read Love Stories – novel by Luis Sepúlveda
- One, No one and One Hundred Thousand – book by Luigi Pirandello
- The Plague – French novel by Albert Camus
- The Last Letters of Jacopo Ortis – book by Ugo Foscolo
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – fantasy novel by J. K. Rowling concluding the Harry Potter series
- Romeo and Juliet – tragedy by William Shakespeare
- Animal Farm – novel by George Orwell
- Don Quixote – novel by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
- Little Women – novel by Louisa May Alcott
The most popular books in Japanese Wikipedia
- My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! – Japanese light novel series
- Hachinantte Sore wa Inai Deshō! – Japanese light novel series
- Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu – Japanese light novel series
- Les Misérables – 1862 Victor Hugo novel
- Sword Art Online – Japanese light novel series
- KonoSuba – Japanese light novel series
- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime – Japanese light novel series
- Ascendance of a Bookworm – Japanese light novel series
- The Plague – French novel by Albert Camus
- My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected – Japanese light novel series
- Violet Evergarden – Japanese light novel series
- The 8-Year Engagement – 2017 film directed by Takahisa Zeze
- BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense. – Japanese light novel series
- A Certain Magical Index – Japanese light novel series
- The Irregular at Magic High School – Japanese light novel series
- 下町ロケット
- The Girl Who Leapt Through Time – novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui
- James Bond – media franchise about a British spy
- Infinite Dendrogram – Japanese light novel series
- Strike the Blood – Japanese light novel series
The most popular books in Polish Wikipedia
- Codex Gigas – manuscript compendium from the 13th century
- Pan Tadeusz – epic poem by Adam Mickiewicz
- Bogurodzica – musical composition
- The Doll – novel by Bolesław Prus
- The Witcher – series of fantasy novels and short stories by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski
- Bible – collection of sacred books in Judaism and Christianity
- The Divine Comedy – epic poem by Dante Alighieri
- In Desert and Wilderness – book by Henryk Sienkiewicz
- Laments
- The Plague – French novel by Albert Camus
- 1984 – dystopian novel written by George Orwell
- Kamienie na szaniec – book
- Gesta principum Polonorum – medieval gesta concerned with Duke Bolesław III Wrymouth, his ancestors, and the Polish principality during and before his reign; probably completed in 1112–1118; extant in 3 manuscripts; its anonymous author is traditionally named Gallus (“Irish”)
- Romeo and Juliet – tragedy by William Shakespeare
- Latarnik (nowela)
- Felix, Net i Nika oraz Gang Niewidzialnych Ludzi
- Dune – 1965 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert
- The Little Prince – Novella by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
- The Peasants – novel by Polish author Władysław Reymont
- Dziady – literary work
The most popular books in Portuguese Wikipedia
- Os Maias – book by Eça de Queirós
- Baltasar and Blimunda – novel by José Saramago
- Bible – collection of sacred books in Judaism and Christianity
- 1984 – dystopian novel written by George Orwell
- Don Quixote – novel by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
- Dune – 1965 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert
- Anne of Green Gables – 1908 Canadian children’s novel,first in a series
- Revelation of John – Final book of the New Testament
- The Divine Comedy – epic poem by Dante Alighieri
- Book of Genesis – the first book of the Holy Bible
- Inferno – first part of Dante’s Divine Comedy
- Sword Art Online – Japanese light novel series
- The Lord of the Rings – 1954–1955 fantasy novel by J. R. R. Tolkien
- Romeo and Juliet – tragedy by William Shakespeare
- The Communist Manifesto – 1848 publication written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
- Frankenstein – 1818 novel by Mary Shelley
- Brave New World – novel by Aldous Huxley
- Les Misérables – 1862 Victor Hugo novel
- New Testament – second division of the Christian biblical canon
- The Prince – political treatise by Niccolò Machiavelli
The most popular books in Russian Wikipedia
- The Master and Margarita – novel by Mikhail Bulgakov
- James Bond – media franchise about a British spy
- War and Peace – 1869 novel by Russian author Leo Tolstoy
- 1984 – dystopian novel written by George Orwell
- The Witcher – series of fantasy novels and short stories by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski
- Heart of a Dog – book by Mikhail Bulgakov
- Crime and Punishment – 1866 Russian-language novel by Dostoyevsky
- And Quiet Flows the Don – novel by Michail Sholokhov
- Dune – 1965 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert
- Robinson Crusoe – novel by Daniel Defoe
- The 100 – 1978 book by Michael H. Hart
- Dead Souls – literary work by Nikolay Gogol
- Doctor Zhivago – novel
- The Russian Primary Chronicle – literary work
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – work by Lewis Carroll
- Bible – collection of sacred books in Judaism and Christianity
- Romeo and Juliet – tragedy by William Shakespeare
- One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich – novel by the Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
- The Divine Comedy – epic poem by Dante Alighieri
- Atlas Shrugged – 1957 novel by Ayn Rand
The most popular books in Spanish Wikipedia
- Don Quixote – novel by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
- Bible – collection of sacred books in Judaism and Christianity
- 1984 – dystopian novel written by George Orwell
- One Hundred Years of Solitude – novel by Gabriel García Márquez
- The Little Prince – Novella by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
- The Divine Comedy – epic poem by Dante Alighieri
- The Lord of the Rings – 1954–1955 fantasy novel by J. R. R. Tolkien
- Lazarillo – Spanish novella
- Romeo and Juliet – tragedy by William Shakespeare
- Revelation of John – Final book of the New Testament
- Brave New World – novel by Aldous Huxley
- The Decameron – 14th-century medieval allegory by Giovanni Boccaccio
- On the Origin of Species – 1859 book by Charles Darwin
- Diary of Anne Frank – the various published editions of Anne Frank’s diaries. For the manuscripts, use Q29571913
- Love in the Time of Cholera – novel by Colombian Nobel prize winning author Gabriel García Márquez
- Old Testament – part of the Bible written before Jesus
- Dune – 1965 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert
- New Testament – second division of the Christian biblical canon
- The Plague – French novel by Albert Camus
- Chronicle of a Death Foretold – novella by Gabriel García
Die beliebtesten books der anderen Monate sind auf der Website verfügbar: https://wikirank.net/top/book