Mongolia i/moli/ (Mongolian: (helpinfo)) is a landlocked country in Central Asia.

a. It is bordered byRussia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Ulaanbaatar, the capital and also the largest city, is home to about 45% of the population. Mongolia's political system is a parliamentary republic. The area of what is now Mongolia has been ruled by various nomadic empires, including the Xiongnu, the Xianbei, the Rouran, the Gkturks, and others. In 1206, Genghis Khan founded the Mongol Empire, and his grandson Kublai Khan conquered China to establish the Yuan Dynasty. After the collapse of the Yuan, the Mongols retreated to Mongolia and resumed their earlier pattern of factional conflict and occasional raids on the Chinese borderlands. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Mongolia came under the influence of Tibetan Buddhism. At the end of the 17th century, all of Mongolia had been incorporated into the area ruled by the Manchu's Qing Dynasty. During the collapse of the Qing Dynasty the Mongols established Temporary Government of Khalkha in 30 November 1911. On 29 December 1911 Mongolia declared independence from the Qing Dynasty and this National Liberation Revolution ended the Manchu's rule that lasted 220 years (153 years after the collapse of the Zunghar Khanate). The country came under Soviet influence, resulting in the proclamation of the Mongolian People's Republic as a Sovietsatellite state in 1924.[12] After the breakdown of communist regimes in Europe in late 1989, Mongolia saw its own democratic revolution in early 1990; it led to a multi-party system, a new constitution of 1992, and transition to a market economy. At 1,564,116 square kilometres (603,909 sq mi), Mongolia is the 19th largest and the most sparsely populated independent country in the world, with a population of around 2.9 million people. It is also the world's second-largest landlocked country after Kazakhstan. The country contains very little arable land, as much of its area is covered by steppe, with mountains to the north and west and the Gobi Desert to the south. Approximately 30% of the population are nomadic or semi-nomadic. The predominant religion in Mongolia is Tibetan Buddhism, and the majority of the state's citizens are of Mongol ethnicity, although Kazakhs, Tuvans, and other minorities also live in the country, especially in the west. About 20% of the population live on less than US$1.25 per day.[13] Mongolia joined the World Trade Organization in 1997 and seeks to expand its participation in regional economic and trade regimes.[14]According to a 2011 World Health Organization survey, Mongolia has some of the worst air pollution in the world, with an annual average of 279 micrograms of "PM10" particles per cubic metre.[15]
Contents [hide] 1 History o o o 1.1 Prehistory and antiquity 1.2 Middle Ages 1.3 Modern history

2 Geography and climate 3 Demographics

o o o

3.1 Languages 3.2 Cuisine 3.3 Religion

4 Administrative divisions o 4.1 Major cities

5 Economy o o 5.1 Mineral industry 5.2 Agriculture

6 Infrastructure o o o o o 6.1 Science and technology 6.2 Energy 6.3 Transportation 6.4 Education 6.5 Health

7 Politics o o 7.1 Foreign relations 7.2 Military

8 Culture o o o o o o 8.1 Visual arts 8.2 Architecture 8.3 Music 8.4 Media 8.5 Sports 8.6 Festivals

9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 Further reading 13 External links

History[edit]
Main articles: History of Mongolia and List of Mongolian states

Prehistory and antiquity[edit]

Main articles: Prehistoric Mongolia and Proto-Mongols Homo erectus inhabited Mongolia from 850,000 years ago.[16] Modern humans reached Mongolia approximately 40,000 years ago during the Upper Paleolithic. The Khoid Tsenkher Cave[17] in Khovd Province shows lively pink, brown, and red ochre paintings (20,000 years ago) of mammoths, lynx, bactrian camels, and ostriches, earning it the nickname "the Lascaux of Mongolia". The Mal'ta

Venus (21,000 years ago) testifies to the level of Upper Paleolithic art in northern Mongolia, though Mal'ta is now part of Russia.

Deer stones in Mongolia

Neolithic agricultural settlements (c. 55003500 BC) such as those at Norovlin, Tamsagbulag, Bayanzag, and Rashaan Khad predated the introduction of horse-riding nomadism, a pivotal event in the history of Mongolia as it became the dominant lifestyle. Horse-riding nomadism was first seen in Mongolia during the Copper and Bronze Age Afanasevo culture (35002500 BC) which stretched to the Khangai Mountains in Central Mongolia. The wheeled vehicles found in the burials of the Afanasevans have been dated to before 2200 BC.[18]Pastoral nomadism and metalworking became more and more developed with the later Okunev Culture (2nd millennium BC), Andronovo culture (23001000 BC) and Karasuk culture (1500300 BC), culminating with the Iron Age Xiongnu Empire in 209 BC. Monuments of the pre-Xiongnu Bronze Age include deer stones, keregsur kurgans, square slab tombs and rock paintings. Although cultivation of crops has continued since the Neolithic, it always remained small in scale compared to pastoral nomadism, which may have first been introduced from the west or arose independently in the region. The population during the Copper Age has been described as paleomongoloid in the east of what is now Mongolia, and as europoid in the west.[17] Tocharians (Yuezhi) and Scythians inhabited western Mongolia during the Bronze Age. The mummy of a Scythian warrior, which is believed to be about 2,500 years old, was a 30-to-40 year-old man with blond hair and was found in the Altai, Mongolia.[19]As horse nomadism was introduced into Mongolia, the political center of the Eurasian Steppe also shifted to Mongolia, where it remained until the 18th century CE. The intrusions of northern pastoralists (e.g., Guifang, Shanrong, Donghu) into China during the Shang dynasty (16001046 BC) and Zhou dynasty (1046256 BC) presaged the age of nomadic empires.

7th century finds found 180km from Ulaanbaatar. Kept in Ulaanbaatar. A constant theme in Mongolian history is relations with China.

Mongolia, since prehistoric times, has been inhabited by nomads who, from time to time, formed great confederations that rose to prominence. The first of these, the Xiongnu of undetermined ethnicity, were brought together to form a confederation by Modu Shanyu in 209 BC. Soon they emerged as the greatest threat to the Qin Dynasty, forcing the latter to construct the Great Wall of China, itself being guarded by up to almost 300,000 soldiers during marshal Meng Tian's tenure, as a means of defense against the destructive Xiongnu raids. The vast Xiongnu empire (209 BC-93 AD) was followed by the Mongolic Xianbei empire (93234) which also ruled more than the entirety of present-day Mongolia. The Mongolic Rouran Khaganate (330555), of Xianbei provenance, ruled a massive empire before being defeated by the Gktrks (555745) whose empire was even bigger (laid siege to Panticapaeum, present-day Kerch, in 576). They were succeeded by the Uyghur Khaganate (745840) who were defeated by the Kyrgyz. The Mongolic Khitans, descendants of the Xianbei, ruled Mongolia during the Liao Dynasty (9071125), after which the Khamag Mongol (11251206) rose to prominence.