Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and some other Asian languages. In Standard Chinese, they are called hanzi (simplified Chinese: 汉字; traditional Chinese: 漢字, lit "Han characters"). They have been adapted to write a number of other languages, including Japanese, where they are known as kanji (漢字); Korean, where they are known as hanja (漢字); and Vietnamese, in a system known as chữ Nôm. Chinese characters constitute the oldest continuously used system of writing in the world. By virtue of their widespread current use in East Asia, and historic use throughout the Sinosphere, Chinese characters are among the most widely adopted writing systems in the world by number of users.-----  Wikipedia