In mathematics, more specifically abstract algebra, a finite ring is a ring that has a finite number of elements. Every finite field is an example of a finite ring, and the additive part of every finite ring is an example of an abelian finite group, but the concept of finite rings in their own right has a more recent history.
Although rings have more structure than groups do, the theory of finite rings is simpler than that of finite groups. For instance, the classification of finite simple groups was one of the major breakthroughs of 20th century mathematics, its proof spanning thousands of journal pages. On the other hand, it has been known since 1907 that any finite simple ring is isomorphic to the ring – the n-by-n matrices over a finite field of order q (as a consequence of Wedderburn's theorems, described below).
The number of rings with m elements, for m a natural number, is listed under OEIS: A027623 in the On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences.