南朝在汉字文化圈中一般指一个国家政权并立的南北朝时期代指位于南方的政权，可以指：

• 南朝 (中国朝代)：中国的南北朝时期相继连续定都于建康的宋、齐、梁、陈四个王朝的合称。
• 南朝 (日本)：日本的南北朝时代大觉寺统的吉野朝廷。
• 南朝 (越南政权)：越南的南北朝时期的中兴黎朝。
• 西夏、契丹、女真人对宋朝的称呼。
• 越南封建王朝的自称。相对地，越南封建王朝称呼中国为「北朝」。（另见「小中华思想」）

The Northern and Southern dynasties (Chinese:南北朝; pinyin:Nánběicháo) was a period in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589. It is sometimes considered as the latter part of a longer period known as the Six Dynasties (220 to 589). Though an age of civil war and political chaos, it was also a time of flourishing arts and culture, advancement in technology, and the spread of Mahayana Buddhism and Daoism. The period saw large-scale migration of Han Chinese to the lands south of the Yangtze.