Champa, Chinese Lin-yi, ancient Indochinese kingdom lasting from the 2nd to the 17th century ad and extending over the central and southern coastal region of Vietnam from roughly the 18th parallel in the north to Point Ke Ga (Cape Varella) in the south. Established by the Cham, a people of Malayo-Polynesian stock and Indianized culture, Champa was finally absorbed by the Vietnamese, who in turn were strongly influenced by Cham culture. Champa was formed in ad 192, during the breakup of the Han dynasty of China, when the Han official in charge of the region established his own kingdom around