Mongolia
Life in sparsely populated Mongolia has recently become more
urbanized. Nearly half of the people live in urban centers,
including the capital, Ulaanbaatar. Semi-nomadic life still
predominates in the countryside, but settled agricultural
communities are becoming more common. Mongolia's birth rate is
estimated at 21.2 births/1000 people (2007 est.). About two-thirds
of the total population is under age 30, 28.5% of whom are under 14.
Ethnic Mongols account for about 85% of Mongolia's population and
consist of Khalkha and other groups, all distinguished primarily by
dialects of the Mongol language. Mongol is an Altaic language--from
the Altaic Mountains of Central Asia, a language family comprising
the Turkic, Tungusic, and Mongolic subfamilies--and is related to
Turkic (Uzbek, Turkish, and Kazakh), Korean, and, possibly,
Japanese. Among ethnic Mongols, the Khalkha comprise 90% and the
remaining 10% include Dorvod, Tuvan, and Buriat Mongols in the north
and Dariganga Mongols in the east. Turkic speakers (Kazakhs, Turvins,
and Khotans) constitute 7% of Mongolia's population, and the rest
are Tungusic-speakers, Chinese, and Russians. Most Russians left the
country following the withdrawal of economic aid and collapse of the
Soviet Union in 1991.
Traditionally, Tibetan Buddhist Lamaism was the predominant
religion. However, it was suppressed under the communist regime
until 1990, with only one showcase monastery allowed to remain.
Since 1990, as liberalization began, Buddhism has enjoyed a
resurgence. About 4 million ethnic Mongols live outside Mongolia;
about 3.4 million live in China, mainly in the Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region, and some 500,000 live in Russia, primarily in
Buryatia and Kalmykia. |
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In 1206 AD, a single Mongolian state was formed based on nomadic
tribal groupings under the leadership of Chinggis ("Genghis") Khan.
He and his immediate successors conquered nearly all of Asia and
European Russia and sent armies as far as central Europe and
Southeast Asia. Chinggis Khan's grandson Kublai Khan, who conquered
China and established the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368 AD), gained fame
in Europe through the writings of Marco Polo.
Although Mongol-led confederations sometimes exercised wide
political power over their conquered territories, their strength
declined rapidly after the Mongol dynasty in China was overthrown in
1368. The Manchus, a tribal group which conquered China in 1644 and
formed the Qing dynasty, were able to bring Mongolia under Manchu
control in 1691 as Outer Mongolia when the Khalkha Mongol nobles
swore an oath of allegiance to the Manchu emperor. The Mongol rulers
of Outer Mongolia enjoyed considerable autonomy under the Manchus,
and all Chinese claims to Outer Mongolia following the establishment
of the republic have rested on this oath. In 1727, Russia and Manchu
China concluded the Treaty of Khiakta, delimiting the border between
China and Mongolia that exists in large part today.
Outer Mongolia was a Chinese province (1691-1911), an autonomous
state under Russian protection (1912-19), and again a Chinese
province (1919-21). As Manchu authority in China waned, and as
Russia and Japan confronted each other, Russia gave arms and
diplomatic support to nationalists among the Mongol religious
leaders and nobles. The Mongols accepted Russian aid and proclaimed
their independence of Chinese rule in 1911, shortly after a
successful Chinese revolt against the Manchus. By agreements signed
in 1913 and 1915, the Russian Government forced the new Chinese
Republican Government to accept Mongolian autonomy under continued
Chinese control, presumably to discourage other foreign powers from
approaching a newly independent Mongolian state that might seek
support from as many foreign sources as possible.
The Russian revolution and civil war afforded Chinese warlords an
opportunity to re-establish their rule in Outer Mongolia, and
Chinese troops were dispatched there in 1919. Following Soviet
military victories over White Russian forces in the early 1920s and
the occupation of the Mongolian capital Urga in July 1921, Moscow
again became the major outside influence on Mongolia. The Mongolian
People's Republic was proclaimed on November 25, 1924.
Between 1925 and 1928, power under the communist regime was
consolidated by the Mongolian Peoples Revolutionary Party (MPRP).
The MPRP left gradually undermined rightist elements, seizing
control of the party and the government. Several factors
characterized the country during this period: The society was
basically nomadic and illiterate; there was no industrial
proletariat; the aristocracy and the religious establishment shared
the country's wealth; there was widespread popular obedience to
traditional authorities; the party lacked grassroots support; and
the government had little organization or experience.
In an effort at swift socioeconomic reform, the leftist government
applied extreme measures that attacked the two most dominant
institutions in the country--the aristocracy and the religious
establishment. Between 1932 and 1945, their excess zeal,
intolerance, and inexperience led to anti-communist uprisings. In
the late 1930s, purges directed at the religious institution
resulted in the desecration of hundreds of Buddhist institutions and
imprisonment of more than 10,000 people.
During World War II, because of a growing Japanese threat over the
Mongolian-Manchurian border, the Soviet Union reversed the course of
Mongolian socialism in favor of a new policy of economic gradualism
and buildup of the national defense. The Soviet-Mongolian army
defeated Japanese forces that had invaded eastern Mongolia in the
summer of 1939, and a truce was signed setting up a commission to
define the Mongolian-Manchurian border in the autumn of that year.
Following the war, the Soviet Union reasserted its influence in
Mongolia. Secure in its relations with Moscow, the Mongolian
Government shifted to postwar development, focusing on civilian
enterprise. International ties were expanded, and Mongolia
established relations with North Korea and the new communist
governments in Eastern Europe. It also increased its participation
in communist-sponsored conferences and international organizations.
Mongolia became a member of the United Nations in 1961.
In the early 1960s, Mongolia attempted to maintain a neutral
position amidst increasingly contentious Sino-Soviet polemics; this
orientation changed in the middle of the decade. Mongolia and the
Soviet Union signed an agreement in 1966 that introduced large-scale
Soviet ground forces as part of Moscow's general buildup along the
Sino-Soviet frontier.
During the period of Sino-Soviet tensions, relations between
Mongolia and China deteriorated. In 1983, Mongolia systematically
began expelling some of the 7,000 ethnic Chinese in Mongolia to
China. Many of them had lived in Mongolia since the 1950s, when they
were sent there to assist in construction projects. |
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