To further clarify, we usually don't use the definite article with proper names of places, for example "China." However, once we use a common noun as part of a place name, the definite article is required with it, e.g. "the republic." So it is "The Peoples' Republic of China", "The United States" (from "the states"), but just "China"--"I'm from China". China would never be referred to as "The China" for a country name. In fact, if you used that phrase, it would mean "the dishes" because the common noun "china" is a synonym for "dishes." We don't use the definite article with place names unless a common noun is part of the place name phrase.