国 (guó) is a Chinese character meaning “country”. It is written from 囗 (enclosure, surrounding frame) and 玉 (jade), one enclosing the other, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “country”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
囗 + 玉
Enclosing structure
Structure from: studyhanzi 现代字形核验（囗 3 画 + 玉 5 画 = 8 画，与 hanzi-writer-data 笔顺一致）
Memory aid
A piece of jade (玉) kept inside a walled border (囗). Both parts are really in this character — a country is what a border keeps safe inside it.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 中国zhōng guóChina国 = guóHSK 1
- 国王guó wángking国 = guó
- 亡国wáng guóto lose one's country; a fallen state国 = guó
- 吴国wú guóthe State of Wu, an ancient Chinese state国 = guó
- 国内guó nèidomestic; within the country国 = guóHSK 4
- 国君guó jūnthe ruler of a state; monarch国 = guó
- 国庆guó qìngNational Day国 = guó
- 国际guó jìinternational国 = guó
- 俄国é guóRussia国 = guó
- 国务卿guó wù qīngSecretary of State (e.g. of the United States)国 = guó
- 泰国Tài guóThailand国 = guó
- 祖国zǔ guómotherland; homeland国 = guó
- 美国měi guóthe United States; America国 = guó
- 赵国Zhào guóthe State of Zhao (a Warring States kingdom)国 = guó
- 韩国Hán guóSouth Korea; Korea国 = guó
Go deeper
All readings
country
country; nation; state; national
国家；也表示属于本国的。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 中国zhōng guóChina国 = guóHSK 1
- 国王guó wángking国 = guó
- 亡国wáng guóto lose one's country; a fallen state国 = guó
- 吴国wú guóthe State of Wu, an ancient Chinese state国 = guó
- 国内guó nèidomestic; within the country国 = guóHSK 4
- 国君guó jūnthe ruler of a state; monarch国 = guó
- 国庆guó qìngNational Day国 = guó
- 国际guó jìinternational国 = guó
- 俄国é guóRussia国 = guó
- 国务卿guó wù qīngSecretary of State (e.g. of the United States)国 = guó
- 泰国Tài guóThailand国 = guó
- 祖国zǔ guómotherland; homeland国 = guó
- 美国měi guóthe United States; America国 = guó
- 赵国Zhào guóthe State of Zhao (a Warring States kingdom)国 = guó
- 韩国Hán guóSouth Korea; Korea国 = guó
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 国 mean?
国 (guó) means country; nation; state; national.
How do you pronounce 国?
It is pronounced guó.
What parts is 国 made of?
囗 (enclosure, surrounding frame) and 玉 (jade), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: studyhanzi 现代字形核验（囗 3 画 + 玉 5 画 = 8 画，与 hanzi-writer-data 笔顺一致）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 国 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 国?
囗. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 国?
Common ones are 中国 and 国王. The reading of 国 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.