Names of China

The names of China are expressed differently in different languages and different times. Some of these names come from ancient times, while others are from modern times. In Chinese, the name of China is Zhongguo (/, "central country") in its national language, Standard Mandarin. China, while the name in English for the country, came from Portuguese in the 16th century. This became common usage in the West in the subsequent centuries. It is believed to come from Middle Persian. Though some people thought it traced further back to Sanskrit. Some also thought that the ultimate source of the name China is the Chinese word "Qin" (), the name of the dynasty of China. However, others have different opinions.
In addition to these names, names of China also include Zhonghua (/, "central beauty"), Huaxia (/, "beautiful grandness"), Shenzhou (, "divine state") and Jiuzhou (, "nine states"). Han (/) and Tang () . The People's Republic of China () and Republic of China () are the official names for the two sovereign states now claiming sovereignty over the traditional area of China. "Mainland China" is used to refer to areas under the control of the PRC, usually not including Hong Kong and Macau.
There are also names for China used around the world. "Cathay" from the Khitan language and "Tabgach" from Tuoba are examples.
List of derived terms
Afrikaans: Sjina, spelling now obsolete and spelled as China (pronunciation is the same) ()
Albanian: Kine ()
Amharic: Chayna (from English)
Armenian: Ch`inastan ()
Assamese: (pronounced [sin])
Azeri: Cin ()
Basque: Txina ()
Bengali: ()
Burma: ttrutt ()
Catalan: Xina ()
Chinese: Zhina (obsolete and considered offensive due to historical Japanese usage; originated from early Chinese translations of Buddhist texts in Sanskrit)
Chinese: Zhendan transcription of the Sanskrit/Pali "Cinasthana" in the Buddhist texts.
Czech: Cina ()
Danish: Kina ()
Dutch: China ()
English: China
Esperanto: Cinujo or Cinio, or Hinujo (archaic)
Estonian: Hiina ()
Filipino: Tsina ()
Finnish: Kiina ()
French: Chine ()
Galician: China ()
Georgian: ch`inet`i ()
German: China ( and , in the southern part of the German-speaking area also )
Greek: Kina (Kina) ()
Gujarati: Cin (IPA )
Hindustani: Cin or (IPA ['tSi:n])
Hungarian: Kina ()
Icelandic: Kina ()
Indonesian: Cina ()
Interlingua: China
Irish: An tSin ()
Italian: Cina ()
Japanese: Shina () - considered offensive in China, now largely obsolete in Japan and avoided out of deference to China (the name Chugoku is used instead); See Shina (word) and kotobagari.
Javanese: Cina (low speech level); Cinten (high speech level)
Kapampangan: Sina
Khmer: ()
Korean: Jina (; )
Latvian: Kina ()
Lithuanian: Kinija ()
Macedonian: Kina (Kina) ()
Malay: Cina ()
Malayalam: Cheenan/Cheenathi
Maltese: Cina ()
Marathi: Cin (IPA ['tSi:n])
Nepali: Cin (IPA )
Norwegian: Kina ()
Pahlavi: Cini
Persian: Chin ()
Polish: Chiny ()
Portuguese: China ()
Romanian: China ()
Serbo-Croatian: Kina or ()
Sinhala: Chinaya ciiny
Slovak: Cina ()
Spanish: China ()
Somali: Shiinaha
Swedish: Kina ()
Tamil: Cinam ()
Thai: ( )
Tibetan: Rgya Nag ()
Turkish: Cin ()
Vietnamese: Chan Dan (Zhen Dan ) ( or Chi Na (Zhi Na ) () (in Buddhist texts).
Welsh: Tsieina ()
Yiddish: KHyn` Khine ()
References
Geographical naming disputes
CS1 German-language sources (de)
CS1: long volume value
Articles containing traditional Chinese-language text
Articles containing Japanese-language text
Articles containing Mongolian-language text
Articles containing Korean-language text
Articles containing Vietnamese-language text
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