APIs

Overview

Our API features products in multiple languages serving a wide range of audiences. While the products vary in scope, depth, and reading level, all of them cover a broad, general range of topics appropriate for the target audience. By contrast, our thematic products are subsets of the main products, each focusing on a specific subject area.

The products and thematic products described below are available via the Britannica Syndication API. Once you know the product and/or thematic product that interests you, please read about how to get started using our API.

Once you have registered and created an account, you can access our API here:

Encyclopaedia Britannica's Syndication API

Products Available Through the API

Encyclopaedia Britannica

• Our premier encyclopedia, covering a world of topics with extensive articles by Britannica's expert team of professional editors. Contains the same core content featured on Britannica.com.
• Over 87,000 articles | 405 MB XML | over 47,000 images | 2,100 video and audio clips
• Offers Thematic Product subsets for the following subjects:
  • Animals: features over 2,900 articles covering broad groups such as bird and individual species like aardwolf, meerkat, and narwhal.
  • Art: over 3,100 articles on topics such as Fauvism, flamenco, metre, toccata, and Venetian glass.
  • Events: over 1,800 articles on events such as the Amistad mutiny, Chinese Civil War, Council of Trent, and partitions of Poland.
  • People: over 30,000 articles on public figures from Kofi Annan to Leonardo da Vinci.
  • Places: over 17,000 geographical articles from Agra to Dnieper River to Zambia.
  • Plants: around 1,600 articles on topics such as ash, foxglove, rhododendron, and rice.
  • Science: around 8,000 articles on topics such as saltpetre, silver nitrate, thalamus, and unified field theory.
  • Sports: around 400 articles on topics such as judo and rodeo.
  • Technology: over 2,500 articles on topics such as fire prevention, operating system, and virtual reality.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia

• Covers a broad range of subjects in concise articles that quickly summarize the key information you need to grasp a topic. Ideal for use cases where you need to convey the essentials in limited space or supplement other information.
• Over 25,000 articles | 29 MB XML data
• Offers Thematic Product subsets for the following subjects:
  • Animals: over 1,070 articles on animals such as egret, gibbon, red panda, and snow leopard.
  • Art: over 820 articles on topics such as Arts and Crafts movement, bildungsroman, French horn, and ikebana.
  • Events: over 720 articles on events such as Bleeding Kansas, Boxer Rebellion, and Prague Spring.
  • People: over 8,300 biographical articles such as Ashoka, Marcus Tullius Cicero, Ella Fitzgerald, Naguib Mahfouz, and Lorenzo de Medici.
  • Places: over 4,000 articles on places including Arches National Park, Dardanelles, Dar es Salaam, Vatnajökull, and Vientiane.
  • Plants: over 580 articles on topics like coriander, dogwood, and taro.
  • Science: over 3,000 science articles from anthracite to meiosis to white dwarf star.
  • Sports: over 180 sports articles including table tennis, triathlon, and Triple Crown
  • Technology: over 1,030 articles on topics such as binary code, catalytic converter, MiG, pendentive, and quantum computing.

Britannica Intermediate Encyclopedia

• Designed for middle grade and high school students, this encyclopedia combines broad coverage of topics with in-depth information suitable for classroom, homework, and research.
• Over 22,000 articles | 98 MB XML | over 23,000 images | 1,000 video and audio clips
• Offers Thematic Product subsets for the following subjects:
  • Animals: around 730 articles on animals from albatross to orangutan and salamander.
  • Art: over 370 articles on topics such as amphora, calypso music, and sonnet.
  • Events: over 320 articles on events including Louisiana Purchase, Renaissance, and Wars of the Roses.
  • People: over 8,600 articles on people including Ludwig van Beethoven, Ahmed Ben Bella, Indira Gandhi, and Adam Smith.
  • Places: over 2,200 articles on places from Lima to Liverpool to Malaysia.
  • Plants: over 360 articles on plants like anise, papaya, and redwood.
  • Science: over 1,050 science articles including asteroid, basalt, multiple sclerosis, and radon.
  • Sports: around 100 articles on topics like basketball, gymnastics, and Iditarod.
  • Technology: around 360 articles on topics such as artificial intelligence (AI), irrigation, lithography, and space station.

Britannica Elementary Encyclopedia

• Designed for elementary school students grades 3-5, this encyclopedia covers all the essential topics in an accessible style. Written in US English, this content is featured on the Britannica Kids website.
• Over 4,800 articles | 16 MB XML | 6,900 images | 550 video and audio clips
• Offers Thematic Product subsets for the following subjects:
  • Animals: over 370 articles on animals from anaconda to dolphin to peacock.
  • Art: over 70 articles on topics such as English literature, animation, and wind instrument.
  • Events: around 150 articles on topics such as Boston Tea Party, Voting Rights Act, and World War II.
  • People: over 1,000 articles on people including Crazy Horse, Elizabeth II, Michelangelo, and Steve Jobs.
  • Places: over 1,000 articles on places including Belize, Great Barrier Reef, and Nairobi.
  • Plants: around 150 articles on plants like beech and squash.
  • Science: over 430 articles on topics like plate tectonics and tornado.
  • Sports: around 50 articles on topics like marathon and swimming.
  • Technology: over 100 articles on topics like electronics and submarine.

Britannica Primary Encyclopedia

• Designed to provide primary school students with detailed information on all the essential topics. Written in British English, this encyclopedia covers the same subjects as the Elementary Encyclopedia for the US market but features more extensive articles.
• Over 4,800 articles | 19 MB XML | 6,100 images | 400 video and audio clips
• Offers Thematic Product subsets for the following subjects:
  • Animals: over 370 articles on animals from anaconda to dolphin to peacock.
  • Art: over 70 articles on topics such as English literature, animation, and wind instrument.
  • Events: around 150 articles on topics such as Battle of Trafalgar, Glorious Revolution, and World War II.
  • People: over 1,000 articles on people including Crazy Horse, Elizabeth II, Michelangelo, and Steve Jobs.
  • Places: over 1,000 articles on places including Belize, Great Barrier Reef, and Nairobi.
  • Plants: around 150 articles on plants like beech and squash.
  • Science: over 430 articles on topics like plate tectonics and tornado.
  • Sports: around 50 articles on topics like marathon and swimming.
  • Technology: over 100 articles on topics like electronics and submarine.

Portuguese Primary Encyclopedia

• Portuguese-language encyclopedia for primary school students.
• Over 2,900 articles | 13 MB XML | 7,100 images | 400 video and audio clips
• Offers Thematic Product subsets for the following subjects:
  • Animals: over 300 articles on animals from albatroz to golfinho to pavão.
  • Art: over 60 articles on topics such as impressionismo and orquestra.
  • Events: around 40 articles on topics such as Renascimento and Segunda Guerra Mundial.
  • People: over 300 articles on people including Cleópatra, dom Pedro II, Johannes Kepler, and José Saramago.
  • Places: around 700 articles on places including Grande Barreira de Coral, Guiné-Bissau, and Salvador.
  • Plants: over 170 articles on plants like louro and manga.
  • Science: over 400 articles on topics like placa tectônica and tsunami.
  • Sports: around 60 articles on topics like maratona and natação.
  • Technology: over 100 articles on topics like inteligência artificial and submarino.

Getting Started with the API

To get started with the API, you need to obtain an authorization key. If you are interested in evaluating the API, please register for an account to obtain a key. When registering, select the product for which you would like to receive a key from the “Article Type” drop-down menu. If you are only interested in articles in a specific subject area, you should select a thematic product subset from the “Category” drop-down menu as well.

If you need to evaluate more than two products or thematic products, please contact us to obtain additional authorization keys.