China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a vast East Asian nation covering 9.6 million square kilometers, making it the world's third-largest country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion (second only to India) and Beijing as its capital. Human habitation dates to the Paleolithic, but dynastic states emerged in the 2nd millennium BCE, with unification under the Qin in 221 BCE and the subsequent Han dynasty launching two millennia of imperial rule, during which the Silk Road expanded and inventions like paper, printing, gunpowder, and the compass were created. After the 1911 Revolution ended imperial rule, the Republic of China (ROC) was established, but the Warlord Era and Chinese Civil War followed, interrupted by the Second Sino-Japanese War; in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) proclaimed the PRC, forcing the ROC to retreat to Taiwan, and the 1978 reform and opening-up policy shifted the country toward a socialist market economy, spurring massive growth. Governed as a unitary state with the CCP as its sole ruling party, China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the world's largest manufacturer, and the second-largest economy by nominal GDP, though it faces international criticism over authoritarianism and human rights abuses, while its military, space program, and nuclear arsenal contribute to its status as a superpower. Culturally, China is the birthplace of Confucianism and Daoism, has a literary tradition dating back millennia, and features highly regional cuisine; it boasts 60 World Heritage Sites, including the Great Wall, and is home to the Han majority alongside 55 recognized minorities like the Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Zhuang. The English name "China" likely derives from the Sanskrit Cīna and the ancient Qin dynasty, while the official name "People's Republic of China" uses the term Zhongguo ("Central State"), first used for the Western Zhou demesne.