互联网(或Internet)是使用互联网协议套件(TCP/IP)在网络和设备之间进行通信的互联计算机网络的全球系统。它是一个网络的网络，由本地到全球范围的私人、公共、学术、商业和政府网络组成，通过广泛的电子、无线和光网络技术连接起来。Internet承载着广泛的信息资源和服务，如互连的超文本文件和万维网(WWW)的应用程序、电子邮件、电话和文件共享。
因特网的起源可以追溯到20世纪60年代美国国防部委托进行的分组交换技术的发展和计算机分时技术的研究。主要的网络阿帕网(ARPANET)前身在20世纪70年代作为区域学术和军事网络互连的骨干网络。20世纪80年代，我国科学基金会网络作为新的骨干提供资金，以及私人资金用于其他商业扩展，导致全球范围内参与新网络技术的发展，并合并了许多网络。到20世纪90年代初，商业网络和企业之间的连接标志着向现代互联网过渡的开始，并随着一代又一代的机构电脑、个人电脑和移动电脑连接到网络，产生了持续的指数级增长。虽然互联网在20世纪80年代被学术界广泛使用，但商业化将其服务和技术几乎融入了现代生活的方方面面。
大多数传统的传播媒体，包括电话、广播、电视、纸质邮件和报纸，都被互联网重塑、重新定义，甚至绕过，催生了电子邮件、互联网电话、互联网电视、在线音乐、数字报纸和视频流媒体网站等新服务。报纸、书籍和其他印刷出版正在适应网站技术。
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a network of networks that consists of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries a vast range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents and applications of the World Wide Web (WWW), electronic mail, telephony, and file sharing.
The origins of the Internet date back to the development of packet switching and research commissioned by the United States Department of Defense in the 1960s to enable time-sharing of computers. The primary precursor network, the ARPANET, initially served as a backbone for interconnection of regional academic and military networks in the 1970s. The funding of the National Science Foundation Network as a new backbone in the 1980s, as well as private funding for other commercial extensions, led to worldwide participation in the development of new networking technologies, and the merger of many networks. The linking of commercial networks and enterprises by the early 1990s marked the beginning of the transition to the modern Internet, and generated a sustained exponential growth as generations of institutional, personal, and mobile computers were connected to the network. Although the Internet was widely used by academia in the 1980s, commercialization incorporated its services and technologies into virtually every aspect of mode
rn life.
Most traditional communication media, including telephone, radio, television, paper mail and newspapers are reshaped, redefined, or even bypassed by the Internet, giving birth to new services such as email, Internet telephone, Internet television, online music, digital newspapers, and video streaming websites. Newspaper, book, and other print publishing are adapting to website technology, or are reshaped into blogging, web feeds and online news aggregators. The Internet has enabled and accelerated new forms of personal interactions through instant messaging, Internet forums, and social networking services. Online shopping has grown exponentially for major retailers, small businesses, and entrepreneurs, as it enables firms to extend their "brick and mortar" presence to serve a larger market or even sell goods and services entirely online. Business-to-business and financial services on the Internet affect supply chains across entire industries.