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A website is a collection of web pages. These pages share a single domain name. They are stored on a computer called a web server.

NASA Website Homepage - April 25, 2015
NASA Website Homepage - April 25, 2015

Most sites focus on one topic. Some sites share news or help with learning. Other sites are for shopping or social media. You can visit them using a web browser. This app works on phones, tablets, or laptops. All public websites together make the World Wide Web.

United States Antarctic Program website from 2018 02 22
United States Antarctic Program website from 2018 02 22

Websites work in two main ways. Static websites are like a printed brochure. They show the same information to every visitor. The owner must manually change the text or photos. Dynamic websites are different because they change automatically. They use computer code to build pages on the fly. This allows a site to show personal info. For example, a store site might show search results for the Beatles. This changes the page based on what you type.

The World Wide Web has a famous history. Tim Berners-Lee created it in 1989. He was a computer scientist at CERN. In 1993, CERN made the Web free for everyone. This choice helped the Web grow very fast. Before the current system, people used other ways to find files. They used things like the gopher protocol. These older ways used simple lists of files. They did not have the fancy layouts we see today.

There are many huge numbers to know about the Web. In 1995, there were only about 19,000 websites. By 2009, that number grew to over 215 million. The Web reached 1 billion sites in 2014. By March 2016, it passed 1 billion again. In 2021, there were over 1.2 billion websites. These sites live on millions of different computers. However, about 85 percent of all websites are now inactive. This means they are not being used anymore.

Websites connect to many things you use every day. You might use a site for e-commerce to buy goods. Some sites use a freemium model for their work. This means basic parts are free to use. You must pay for the premium parts. You can also find sites that require a subscription. These are used for news or special gaming. Many people visit Google, YouTube, or Facebook every single day. These sites help us stay connected to the whole world.

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File:United States Antarctic Program website from 2018 02 22.png
United States Antarctic Program website...
File:NASA Website Homepage - April 25, 2015.png
NASA Website Homepage - April 25, 2015.png
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