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A geographic imbalance or geographical bias on Wikipedia is a disparity in which a very large number of articles exist that somehow pertain to a city, town, or region that is disproportionate with the locality's population or other factors of importance within the world. Though obtaining a mathematical percentage that the number of articles comprises out of the total number of region-based articles within all of Wikipedia is not easy, and is not attempted, in such cases, it is clear that if such a percentage were obtained, it would far exceed the percentage of the world's population that the region's population comprises.
Such articles that would be considered regional interests may include those about:
- A region's towns, villages, neighborhoods, or parks
- A city's or region's landmarks, such as office buildings, businesses (that are not part of a multi-city chain), malls, shopping centers, schools, places of worship, etc.
- A city's or region's transportation infrastructure, such as streets, roads, highways, buses, or rail lines
- People who are notable only within the region, and for whom all existing published reliable sources are local
- News events that have occurred within the city or region, and have only been reported in local newspapers or broadcasts
- The city's or region's history which has had little or no impact on the population beyond the region
There is no prohibition on writing such articles, and many of these articles that have been written fully meet Wikipedia's guidelines for inclusion. This essay is not about whether or not these should be included.