Kucha, or Kuche (also: Kuçar, Kuchar; Uighur: كۇچار, Кучар; Chinese: 龜茲; pinyin: Qiūcí also Chinese: 库车; pinyin: Kùchē; Sanskrit: Kucina), was an ancient Buddhist kingdom located on the branch of the Silk Road that ran along the northern edge of the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin and south of the Muzat River.
The area lies in present-day Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, China; Kuqa town is the county seat of that prefecture's Kuqa County. Its population was given as 74,632 in 1990.
