Wikipedia wins the award for ‘International cooperation’
King Felipe VI of Spain awarded online encyclopedia Wikipedia, a non-profit organization, the country’s Princes of Asturias award for international cooperation, at the northern city of the Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo on Friday 23rd October 2015, hailing it a “universal symbol of teamwork”. Jimmy Wales US entrepreneur who founded Wikipedia in 2001, received the award with five other from the Wikipedia team of contributors including Jeevan Jose from Kerala, India, Ravan Al-Tale, Lila Tretikov, Patricio Llorente and Lourdes Cardenal receive the prize from Spain’s King Felipe VI. King Felipe VI said “Wikipedia wants to put culture within reach of greatest number of people possible. Millions of volunteers around the world each day add to Wikipedia content in a labour which since 2001 is an innovative example of international cooperation.”
Wikipedia receives about 500 million single visits a month making it one of the 10 most visited websites of the world. The € 50,000 £ 36,000 award is one of the eight prizes handed out yearly by a foundation named after Spain’s Princes Leonor. Other categories include arts, literature and sports.
Jeevan Jose from Kadavoor, Ernakulam contributed to Wikipedia in the past with several rare photos of flora and fauna from the Western Ghats.