The Han Chinese, Han people or simply Han are an East Asian ethnic group and nation. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population. The estimated 1.3 billion Han Chinese are mostly concentrated in mainland China and in Taiwan . Han Chinese also makes up three quarters of the total population of Singapore.The Han Chinese trace a common ancestry to the Huaxia, a name for the initial confederation of agricultural tribes living along the Yellow River. The term Huaxia represents the collective neolithic confederation of agricultural tribes Hua and Xia who settled along the Central Plains around the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in northern China. The two tribes were the ancestors of the modern Han Chinese that gave birth to Chinese civilisation. In addition, the Huaxia was distinctively used to represent the Huaxia as a civilised ethnic group in contrast to what was perceived of different ethnic groups as barbaric peoples around them. In many overseas Chinese communities, the term Huaren may be used for people of Chinese ethnicity as distinct from Zhongguoren which refers to citizens of China. The term Zhongguoren also includes people of non-Han nationality. Han people may also be used for people of Han Chinese descent around the world.The Han Chinese are bound together with a common genetic stock and a shared history inhabiting an ancient ancestral territory spanning more than four thousand years, deeply rooted with many different cultural traditions and customs. The Huaxia tribes in northern China experienced a continuous expansion into southern China over the past two millennia. Huaxia culture spread from its heartland from the Yellow River Basin southward, absorbing various non-Chinese ethnic groups that became sinicised over the centuries at various points in China's history. The Han dynasty is considered to be the one of the first great eras in Chinese history as it made China the major regional power in East Asia and projected much of its influence on its neighbours while rivalling the Roman Empire in population size and geographical reach. The Han dynasty's prestige and prominence influenced many of the ancient Huaxia to begin identifying themselves as The People of Han. To this day, Han Chinese have since taken their ethnic name from this dynasty, and the Chinese script is referred to as Han characters.
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