China , officially the People's Republic of China (PRC),is a country in East Asia. It has a population exceeding 1.4 billion. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land, the most of any country in the world. With an area of approximately 9.6 million square kilometres (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the world's third largest country by total land area.The country consists of 22 provinces,five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). The national capital is Beijing, and the most populous city and largest financial center is Shanghai.
The word "China" has been used in English since the 16th century; however, it was not a word used by the Chinese themselves during this period. Its origin has been traced through Portuguese, Malay, and Persian back to the Sanskrit word Cīna, used in ancient India. "China" appears in Richard Eden's 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa.[Barbosa's usage was derived from Persian Chīn , which was in turn derived from Sanskrit Cīna.Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata (5th century BCE) and the Laws of Manu (2nd century BCE).In 1655, Martino Martini suggested that the word China is derived ultimately from the name of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE).Although usage in Indian sources precedes this dynasty, this derivation is still given in various sources. The origin of the Sanskrit word is a matter of debate, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
More information in:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chin
