Cotton is a kind of soft, fluffy short fiber, which can grow in the cotton boll or protective cover around the seeds of cotton trees of Malvaceae family. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. Under natural conditions, cotton bolls increase seed dispersal.

The plant is a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, Africa and India. In Mexico, the diversity of wild cotton species is the largest, followed by Australia and Africa. In the old world and the new world, cotton was domesticated independently.

Fibers are most often spun into yarns or threads and are used to make soft, breathable textiles. So far, cotton has been used for fabrics in prehistoric times. Both Mexico and the Indus Valley civilization sites between 6000 and 5000 B.C. have collected fragments of cotton fabric, which can be traced back to 5000 B.C. Although it has been planted since ancient times, the invention of cotton rolling machine has reduced the production cost, resulting in its widespread use, and it is the most widely used natural fiber cloth in today's clothing.

At present, the world output is estimated to be 25 million tons per year, or 110 million bales, accounting for 2.5% of the world's cultivated land. China is the world's largest cotton producer, but most of it is used domestically. For many years, the United States has been the largest exporter. In the United States, cotton is usually measured in large bales, about 0.48 cubic meters (17 cubic feet), weighing 226.8 kilograms (500 pounds).