Starbucks Corporation is an American coffee company and coffeehouse chain. The chain was founded in Seattle, Washington in 1971; it operates 23,450 locations worldwide, including 12,937 (-79) in the United States, 2,118 (+56) in China, 1,430 (-3) in Canada, 1,158 (+8) in Japan and 869 (+6) in the United Kingdom (Differences reflect growth since December 17, 2015).