Which country is credited with inventing paper?

China is the country credited with inventing paper.

Paper developed in ancient China from earlier writing materials such as bamboo strips and silk. Han-dynasty court official Cai Lun is traditionally credited with formalizing an improved papermaking process in 105 CE, using materials including mulberry bark, hemp, old rags and discarded fishing nets. The lighter and cheaper material eventually became practical for writing, record-keeping and administration.

Archaeological discoveries show that paper-like material existed in China before Cai Lun’s reported innovation. Fragments from Fangmatan in Gansu have been dated to the second century BCE, suggesting that Cai Lun improved and systematized an existing craft rather than inventing every element from nothing.

Paper later spread westward through Central Asia and the Islamic world before reaching Europe. A common mix-up is papyrus: ancient Egyptians used papyrus as a writing surface, but it was made from a plant and differs from true paper, which is formed from a mat of processed fibers.