China Information

China is called Zhongguo in Mandarin Chinese. The first character zhōng means "middle" or "central," while guó means "state". The term is commonly literally translated into English as "Middle Kingdom", but is also sometimes translated as "Central Kingdom". In ancient times the name referred to the "Central States" along the Yellow River valley and was not associated with any single political entity. The nomenclature gradually evolved to mean the lands under direct imperial rule.

English and many other languages use various forms of the name "China" and the prefix "Sino-" or "Sin-". These forms are thought to derive from the name of the Qin Dynasty that first unified the country (221–206 BCE). The pronunciation of "Qin" is similar to "Chin", which is considered the possible root of the word "China"