What is the name of China?

The names of China include the many contemporary and historical appellations given in various languages for the East Asian country known as Zhongguo (中國/中国) in its native language. China, the name in English for the country, was derived from Portuguese in the 16th century, and became popular in the mid 19th century. read more

The reason why we use the name China in the West for the country is quite surprising. Like many English names for countries it is not the name used within the country itself. ‘Greece’ ➚ is known as ‘Hellas’ to the Greeks while ‘Egypt’ ➚ is ‘Misr’ to its people. read more

In Chinese, the official name of China is Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo. Locally, people use the shorter form Zhong Guo. Internationally, the official name of China is People's Republic of China, which is abbreviated P.R.C. read more