The Han Chinese (alternatively Han people,[a] or colloquially simply Chinese[17]) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 17.5% of the global population. The Han Chinese represent 92% of the population in mainland China and 97% of the population in Taiwan.[18][19] Han Chinese form large diaspora populations throughout Southeast Asia, comprising large minorities in countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. In Singapore, Han Chinese Singaporeans make up around 75 percent of the country's population.[20]
The Han Chinese have exerted the primary formative influence in shaping the development and growth of Chinese civilization.[21][22][23] Originating from the Central Plains, the Han Chinese trace their ancestry to the Huaxia people, a confederation of agricultural tribes that lived along the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River[24][25][26][27] in northern China. The Huaxia are the progenitors of Chinese civilization and the ancestors of modern Han Chinese.[28][29]
The lands of southern China were acquired through conquest and colonization during the Qin and Han dynasty. Han Chinese people and culture then spread south from the northern heartland in the Yellow River valley, driven by large and sustained waves of migration during successive periods of Chinese history, leading to a demographic and economic tilt towards the south, and to the absorption of various non-Han ethnic groups over the centuries at various points in Chinese history.[26][30][31]
^中華民國國情簡介 [ROC Vital Information] (in Chinese). Executive Yuan. 2016. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2016. 臺灣住民以漢人為最大族群,約占總人口97%
^Liu, Xingwu (2004). "Han". In Ember, Carol R.; Ember, Melvin (eds.). Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology. Springer. pp. 703–17. doi:10.1007/0-387-29905-X_73. ISBN978-0-306-47754-6. The name "Han" was derived from the Han River, an upper tributary of the Yangtze River. It was further strengthened by the famous Han Empire (206 BC–220 AD) which lasted for several hundred years when the people began active interactions with the outside world.
^Cioffi-Revilla, Claudio; Lai, David (September 1995). "War And Politics in Ancient China, 2700 B.C. to 722 B.C.: Measurement and Comparative Analysis". Journal of Conflict Resolution. 39 (3): 467–494. doi:10.1177/0022002795039003004. JSTOR174577. S2CID156043981.
^Liu, Hong (2017). Chinese Business: Landscapes and Strategies. Routledge. p. 34. ISBN978-1-138-91825-2.
^ abWilkinson, Endymion Porter (2015). Chinese History: A New Manual. Harvard University Asia Center. p. 709. ISBN978-0-674-08846-7.
^Yuan, Haiwang (2006). The Magic Lotus Lantern and Other Tales from the Han Chinesen. Libraries Unlimited. p. 6. ISBN978-1-59158-294-6.
^Minahan, James B. (2015). Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 89–90. ISBN978-1-61069-017-1.
^Duara, Prasenjit (2003). Sovereignty and authenticity: Manchukuo and the East Asian modern. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 7. ISBN0-7425-2577-5.
^Dingming, Wu (2014). A Panoramic View of Chinese Culture. Simon & Schuster.
^Minahan, James B. (2015). Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 91. ISBN978-1-61069-017-1.
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