Sinosphere  

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Sinosphere, also known as East Asian cultural sphere, Confucian cultural sphere, Chinese world, Chinese cultural sphere or Chinese-character cultural sphere, a term coined by linguist James Matisoff, is a grouping of countries and regions that are currently inhabited with a majority Chinese population or were historically under heavy Chinese cultural influence. It is commonly used in areal linguistics to contrast with Indosphere, which refers to the cultures and languages influenced by proximity to India. James C. Bennett, founder of The Anglosphere Institute, sees it as a network commonwealth between Chinese people around the world. Bennett envisages the Sinosphere as consisting of Greater China, and to some extent, its overseas Chinese population in Southeast Asia, notable in countries like Malaysia and Singapore. One of the main unifying links is based on the Chinese language.

In East Asian commentator circles, the term Chinese cultural sphere or Chinese character cultural sphere is used interchangeably for Sinosphere but covering a broader definition. Chinese cultural sphere denotes a grouping of countries, regions, and people with Chinese cultural legacies. This includes the Sinosphere under the Bennett definition plus countries that have extensive Chinese cultural heritage including Japan, Korea (North and South), Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam. In French, the term le monde chinois (the Chinese world) is used for this concept.

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Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Sinosphere" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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