Help:Categories
| Readers' FAQ |
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Categories are used in Wikipedia to link articles under a common topic and are found at the bottom of the article page. Clicking the category name displays a list of articles in that category, as well as any sub-categories. Categories allow readers to navigate through Wikipedia and find related articles.
Category tree
All of the categories form a hierarchy, although sub-categories may be a member of more than one category. An example of a small part of this hierarchical structure is shown:
| Category:History | ||
| ↓ | ||
| Category:History by location | ||
| ↓ | ||
| Category:History by country | ||
| ↓ | ↓ | ↓ |
| Category:History of Australia |
Category:History of the United States |
Category:History of Zambia |
| ↓ | ↓ | |
| New South Wales, Queensland, etc. | Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, etc. |
The actual relationship is more complex since a category may appear as a subcategory of several other categories. The actual relationship of part of the category structure looks somewhat like this:
The uppermost category in the hierarchy is Category:Contents. From here all other categories branch out, including those that are used for the maintenance of Wikipedia.
If an entry in a category is shown in italics it is a redirect to an article of a different name or a section of an article that contains information about that particular subject.