People's Republic of China and Republic of China (Taiwan). For other meanings, see China (disambiguation).}}

China (|tp=Jhongguó}}; Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Jonggwo) is a large cultural region and civilization in East Asia. With over one-fifth of the world's population, the majority of China is governed by a state known as the People's Republic of China, with the exception of the other state known as the Republic of China which currently governs the island of Taiwan. The region has been home to a long-standing civilization comprising successive states and cultures dating back more than 6,000 years.

China has one of the world's longest periods of mostly uninterrupted civilization and one of the world's longest continuously used written language systems. The history of China has been largely characterized by repeated divisions and reunifications amid alternating periods of peace and war, and violent imperial dynastic change. The country's territorial extent expanded outwards from a core area in the North China Plain, and varied according to its changing fortunes to include multiple regions of East, Northeast, and Central Asia. (The term "China proper" is used by some historians to describe the territory historically dominated by the majority Han Chinese, as opposed to lands associated later with China).