If you wish to import data from another wiki running MediaWiki or for that matter from one or several wiki’s on wikipedia then there is a quick way to import page by page.

This functionality is in MediaWiki by default, but needs to be initiated. This is done by adding the following in LocalSettings.php

$wgImportSources = array(
      'wikinews',
      'wikiquote',
      'wikipedia',
);

The ImportSources are interwiki links from the database.