China

Zhongguo or Zhōnghuá (as in Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó), 中国, "Central State", known in English as China (as in People's Republic of) from the Indo-Portuguese, formerly referred to variously as Cathay, the Middle Kingdom, etc., including territories held and divided between various dynastic states in East Asia from approximately 2000 B.C. to modernity. It is presently divided into twenty-three provinces — Anhui (安徽), Fujian (福建), Gansu (甘肃), Guangdong (广东), Guizhou (贵州), Hainan (海南), Hebei (河北), Heilongjiang (黑龙江), Henan (河南), Hubei (湖北), Hunan (湖南), Jiangsu (江苏), Jiangxi (江西), Jilin (吉林), Liaoning (辽宁), Qinghai (青海), Shaanxi (陕西), Shandong (山东), Shanxi (山西), Sichuan (四川), Yunnan (云南), and Zhejiang (浙江) — five autonomous regions — Guangxi Zhuang (广西壮族), Inner Mongolia (内蒙古), Ningxia Hui (宁夏回族), Xinjiang Uighur (新疆维吾尔族), and Tibet (西藏) — four municipalities — Beijing Municipality (北京), Chongqing Municipality (重庆), Shanghai Municipality (上海), and Tianjin Municipality (天津) — and two special administrative regions of Hong Kong (香港) and Macau (澳门).