Paper is a thin sheet material made by physically or chemically processing cellulose fibers from wood, rags, grasses, or other vegetable sources in water, then draining the water through the tiny mesh to leave the fiber equally dispersed on the surface, pressing and drying. Although the paper was once created by hand in single sheets, it is now almost entirely produced by enormous machines, some of which produce reels 10 meters wide, operate at 2,000 meters per minute, and produce up to 600,000 tonnes per year. Printing, packing, decorating, writing, cleaning, filter paper, wallpaper, book endpaper, conservation paper, laminated worktops, toilet tissue, money, and security paper, and a variety of industrial and construction operations all utilize it.

Although the first archaeological bits of paper date from the 2nd century BCE in China, the papermaking technique was invented in East Asia, most likely China, at least as early as 105 CE by the Han court eunuch Cai Lun. The contemporary pulp and paper business is a worldwide sector, with China leading the way in terms of output and the United States following closely after.

The first known archaeological remnants of the immediate predecessor to modern paper were discovered in China in the 2nd century BCE. Cai Lun, a Han court eunuch in the 2nd century CE, is credited with inventing the pulp papermaking technique.

After the Battle of Talas in 751 CE, when two Chinese papermakers were captured as prisoners, it is believed that knowledge of papermaking was transferred to the Islamic world. Although the authenticity of this narrative is debatable, paper production in Samarkand began shortly after. The knowledge and applications of paper moved from the Middle East to medieval Europe in the 13th century, when the first water-powered paper mills were established. Bagdatikos was the name given to paper when it was first brought to the West through Baghdad. The cost of producing paper was substantially lowered throughout the nineteenth century as a result of industrialization. Charles Fenerty, a Canadian innovator, and Friedrich Gottlob Keller, a German, separately invented techniques for pulping wood fibers in 1844.

The term paper is taken from the Latin papyrus, which is derived from the Greek o (pápros), which is the name for the Cyperus papyrus plant. Papyrus is a thick, paper-like substance made from the pith of the Cyperus papyrus plant that was used for writing before the advent of paper in ancient Egypt and other Mediterranean cultures. Despite the fact that the term paper is etymologically related to papyrus, the two are created extremely differently, and the evolution of the first differs from that of the second. Papyrus is a natural plant fiber lamination, whereas paper is made from fibers that have had their characteristics altered by maceration.

A chemical pulping method removes lignin from cellulose fiber to create pulp from wood. The lignin is dissolved in a cooking liquid and then washed away from the cellulose, preserving the length of the cellulose fibers. Wood-free papers (not to be confused with tree-free paper) are manufactured from chemical pulps and do not include lignin, which causes the paper to degrade over time. The white paper may be made from the pulp by bleaching it, although this consumes 5% of the fibers. Paper manufactured from cotton, which is already 90% cellulose, does not need chemical pulping procedures.

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