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The zhōu (州) was a historical political division of China. First established during the Han Dynasty, zhou continued to exist until the establishment of the Republic of China — a period of over 2000 years. "Zhou" were also used in Korea, with the word borrowed into the Korean language as ju (주). See Provinces of Korea. The word was also borrowed into Japanese as shū, which is found in the names of the Japanese islands of Honshū and Kyūshū.

Han Dynasty zhou in CE 189.

The Tang Dynasty also established fǔ (府), which were zhou of special importance, such as capitals and other major cities. These are also translated as "prefectures" into English. Fu was borrowed into the Japanese language and is still used today as the designation of Osaka Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture. See Prefectures of Japan.

Zhou is usually rendered by several terms into the English language:

• Zhou before the Tang Dynasty are called provinces or regions
• Zhou during or after the Tang Dynasty are called prefectures
• Zhou of the Qing Dynasty are also called departments (either independent departments or dependent departments depending on level.)
• Ju of Korea are called provinces

As an administrative entity, zhou exist today only in the form of zìzhìzhōu, or autonomous prefectures. These were established by the People's Republic of China as administrative areas for designated minorities. These zhou are not connected to the historical zhou described in the rest of this article.

Zhou have left a huge mark on the place names of China: the province of Guizhou, as well as the major cities of Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Zhengzhou, Lanzhou, Suzhou, Liuzhou, Chuzhou, Wenzhou, Quanzhou, Xuzhou, Wuzhou, Jiangzhou, Bazhou, Bozhou, Changzhou, Cangzhou, Jinzhou, Taizhou, Chaozhou, and many more, all owe their -zhou endings to their onetime status as zhou. The same goes for the Korean province of Jeju, as well as the cities of Gwangju, Jeonju, Naju, Cheongju, Chungju, Gongju, Sinŭiju, and many more.

Zhou were first mentioned in several ancient texts, notably the Yugong. All of these texts divided China into nine zhou, though they differed as to what the zhou specifically were. These zhou were geographical concepts, not administrative entities.

The Han Dynasty was the first to formalize the zhou into actual administrative divisions, by establishing 14 zhou all across China. Because these zhou were the largest divisions of the China at the time, they are translated as "provinces". After the Han Dynasty, however, the number of zhou began to increase. By the time the Sui Dynasty began, there were over a hundred zhou all across China.

(See History of the political divisions of China#Ancient times for a table of zhou under the Western Jin Dynasty.)

The Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty merged zhou with the next level down, the jun, or commanderies. The Tang Dynasty also added another level on top: the circuits; from here onwards zhou were lowered to second-level status, and they are therefore translated into English as "prefectures". Zhou then continued to survive as a second- or third-level political division all the way until the Qing Dynasty.

The Republic of China abolished zhou altogether, leaving the word zhou to survive only as a fossil in the names of cities such as Guangzhou and Hangzhou. The People's Republic of China, on the other hand, has recycled the name, and now use it to refer to autonomous prefectures, or zìzhìzhōu, a prefecture-level division.

• Province (China)
• Political divisions of China