How did China get its foreign names? China is well understood of originated from Sanskrit China, which gradually traveled west through Persian, Qin, Old French, Qin, and Portuguese, China. The Sanskrit name most likely came from Qin, the name of an ancient Chinese kingdom that was located in the west and thus relatively close to India. Qin would later unify the various Chinese kingdoms and establish the first Chinese empire. The name was pronounced Zin in the Old Chinese language. Words like Sino and Sino referring to China come from Latin Sina, which probably also comes from the Sanskrit source. Meanwhile, China is called Gitae in Russian, and similar names are used throughout Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Mongolia. This name comes from the Ketans, a nomadic people who ruled northern China in medieval times. The final An became Aai due to Central Asian Turkic influence.