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112-672: The system is composed of a number of ranges aligned in an east–west direction stretching for almost 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi). Part of them are near the border with Mongolia and China, while others rise further north. To the south the South Siberian ranges merge with the Mongolian and Chinese mountain chains and plateaus. In the west lies the Dzungarian Basin and to the east the Mongolian Plateau . To

224-675: A quadripoint . The geography of Mongolia is varied, with the Gobi Desert to the south and cold, mountainous regions to the north and west. Much of Mongolia consists of the Mongolian-Manchurian grassland , with forested areas accounting for 11.2% of the total land area, a higher percentage than Ireland (10%). The whole of Mongolia is considered to be part of the Mongolian Plateau. The highest point in Mongolia

336-653: A 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 9.36/10, ranking it sixth globally out of 172 countries. Mongolia's total population as of January 2015 was estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau to be 3,000,251 people, ranking around 121st in the world. But the U.S. Department of State Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs uses the United Nations (UN) estimations instead of the U.S. Census Bureau estimations. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division estimates Mongolia's total population (mid-2007) as 2,629,000 (11% less than

448-516: A Mongol military leader with ambitions to unite the Mongols and to emulate the career of Genghis Khan , invited the 3rd Dalai Lama , the head of the rising Gelug lineage to a summit. They formed an alliance that gave Altan Khan legitimacy and religious sanction for his imperial pretensions and that provided the Buddhist school with protection and patronage. Altan Khan recognized Sonam Gyatso lama as

560-483: A Uyghur word meaning honor), quvaray (monk) and many proper names and titles like buyuruγ and külüg of 12th-century Turkic origin. Genghis Khan (c. 1162 – 1227) and his immediate successors conquered nearly all of Asia and European Russia and sent armies as far as central Europe and Southeast Asia. The emperors of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) in the 13th and 14th century converted to Tibetan Buddhism . The founder of

672-438: A campaign marked by shifts of tactics, alternating between conciliation and persecution, and a few reported uprisings led by monks and abbots, the Buddhist church was removed progressively from public administration, was subjected to confiscatory taxes, was forbidden to teach children, and was prohibited from recruiting new monks or replacing living Buddhas. The campaign's timing matched the phases of Joseph Stalin 's persecution of

784-460: A category of arid rangeland with insufficient vegetation to support marmots but with enough to support camels. Mongols distinguish Gobi from desert proper, although the distinction is not always apparent to outsiders unfamiliar with the Mongolian landscape. Gobi rangelands are fragile and easily destroyed by overgrazing, which results in expansion of the true desert, a stony waste where not even Bactrian camels can survive. The arid conditions in

896-466: A challenge to its dominance and that—because Buddhism had played so large a part in the history of Mongolia and traditional arts and culture , total extirpation of knowledge about the religion and its practices would cut modern Mongols off from much of their past to the detriment of their national identity. A few aged former monks were employed to translate Tibetan-language handbooks on herbs and traditional Tibetan medicine . Government spokesmen described

1008-592: A confederation in 209 BC. Soon they emerged as the greatest threat to the Qin dynasty , forcing the latter to construct the Great Wall of China . It was 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 (93–234 AD), which also ruled more than

1120-477: A cynical and realistic anticlericalism, sensitive to the faults and the human fallibility of individual monks or groups of monks, with a deep and unwavering concern for the transcendent values of the church. When the revolutionaries took power and formed the Mongolian People's Republic , determined to modernize and reform Mongolian society, they confronted a massive ecclesiastical structure that enrolled

1232-524: A dictatorship and organized Stalinist purges in Mongolia between 1937 and 1939, died suspiciously in the Soviet Union in 1952. Comintern leader Bohumír Šmeral said, "People of Mongolia are not important, the land is important. Mongolian land is larger than England, France and Germany". After the Japanese invasion of neighboring Manchuria in 1931, Mongolia was threatened on this front. During

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1344-742: A journal for international circulation; and maintained contacts with such groups as the Christian Peace Conference , the Soviet Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee and the Russian Orthodox Church. It sponsored the visits of the Dalai Lama to Mongolia in 1979 and 1982. The organization, headed by the abbot of then-Gandan Monastery, advanced the foreign policy goals of the Mongolian government , which were in accord with those of

1456-488: A large group of Mongolic-speaking tribes united under the rule of Genghis Khan . Since the adoption of the new Constitution of Mongolia on 13 February 1992, the official name of the state is "Mongolia" ( Mongol Uls ). The Khoit Tsenkher Cave in Khovd Province shows lively pink, brown, and red ochre paintings (dated to 20,000 years ago) of mammoths , lynx , bactrian camels , and ostriches , earning it

1568-443: A large part of the population, monopolized education and medical services, administered justice in a part of the country, and controlled a great deal of the national wealth. The Buddhist church, moreover, had no interest in reforming itself or in modernizing the country. The result was a protracted political struggle that absorbed the energies and attention of the party and its Soviet advisers for nearly twenty years. As late as 1934,

1680-507: A market economy was often rocky; during the early 1990s the country had to deal with high inflation and food shortages. The first election victories for non-communist parties came in 1993 (presidential elections) and 1996 (parliamentary elections). China has supported Mongolia's application for membership in the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and granting it observer status in

1792-415: A minor revival of the historic Mongolian script , which is still the official script used by Mongols in neighboring Inner Mongolia . Although Mongolian script has officially been declared the national script , and is taught from the sixth grade onward at schools, it remains mostly confined to ceremonial usage in daily life. In March 2020, the Mongolian government announced plans to use both Cyrillic and

1904-487: A quarter of Earth's total population at the time). The emergence of Pax Mongolica also significantly eased trade and commerce across Asia during its height. After Genghis Khan's death, the empire was subdivided into four kingdoms or Khanates . These eventually became quasi-independent after the Toluid Civil War (1260–1264), which broke out in a battle for power following Möngke Khan 's death in 1259. One of

2016-458: A reincarnation of Phagpa lama, gave the Tibetan leader the title of Dalai Lama ("Ocean Lama "), which his successors still hold. Sonam Gyatso, in turn, recognized Altan as a reincarnation of Kublai Khan. Thus, Altan added legitimacy to the title "khan" that he had assumed, while Sonam Gyatso received support for the supremacy he sought over the Tibetan sangha. Since this meeting, the heads of

2128-761: A result of the Russian Civil War , the White Russian Lieutenant General Baron Ungern led his troops into Mongolia in October 1920, defeating the Chinese forces in Niislel Khüree (now Ulaanbaatar) in early February 1921 with Mongol support. To eliminate the threat posed by Ungern, Bolshevik Russia decided to support the establishment of a communist Mongolian government and army. This Mongolian army took

2240-534: A series of alliances and intermarriages, as well as military and economic measures. Ambans , Manchu "high officials", were installed in Khüree , Uliastai , and Khovd , and the country was divided into numerous feudal and ecclesiastical fiefdoms (which also placed people in power with loyalty to the Qing). Over the course of the 19th century, the feudal lords attached more importance to representation and less importance to

2352-432: A single state. Viharas (Mongolian datsan ) were built across Mongolia, often sited at the juncture of trade and migration routes or at summer pastures where large numbers of herders would congregate for shamanistic rituals and sacrifices. Buddhist monks carried out a protracted struggle with the indigenous shamans and succeeded, to some extent, in taking over their functions and fees as healers and diviners, and in pushing

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2464-420: A year, and it is usually at the center of a region of high atmospheric pressure. Precipitation is highest in the north (average of 200 to 350 millimeters (8 to 14 in) per year) and lowest in the south, which receives 100 to 200 millimeters (4 to 8 in) annually. The highest annual precipitation of 622.297 mm (24.500 in) occurred in the forests of Bulgan Province near the border with Russia and

2576-492: Is a landlocked country in East Asia , bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of 1,564,116 square kilometres (603,909 square miles), with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's most sparsely populated sovereign state . Mongolia is the world's largest landlocked country that does not border a closed sea , and much of its area is covered by grassy steppe , with mountains to

2688-593: Is a member of the United Nations , Asia Cooperation Dialogue , G77 , Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , Non-Aligned Movement and a NATO global partner . Mongolia joined the World Trade Organization in 1997 and seeks to expand its participation in regional economic and trade groups. The name Mongolia means the "Land of the Mongols" in Latin. The Mongolian word "Mongol" ( монгол )

2800-673: Is of uncertain etymology. Sükhbataar (1992) and de la Vaissière (2021) proposed it being a derivation from Mugulü , the 4th-century founder of the Rouran Khaganate , first attested as the 'Mungu', ( Chinese : 蒙兀 , Modern Chinese Měngwù , Middle Chinese Muwngu ), a branch of the Shiwei in an 8th-century Tang dynasty list of northern tribes, presumably related to the Liao -era Mungku (Chinese: 蒙古 , Modern Chinese Měnggǔ , Middle Chinese MuwngkuX ). After

2912-692: Is the Khüiten Peak in the Tavan bogd massif in the far west at 4,374 m (14,350 ft). The basin of the Uvs Lake , shared with Tuva Republic in Russia, is a natural World Heritage Site . Mongolia is known as the "Land of the Eternal Blue Sky" or "Country of Blue Sky" (Mongolian: "Mönkh khökh tengeriin oron") because it has over 250 sunny days a year. Most of the country is hot in

3024-583: Is the largest religion in Mongolia practiced by 51.7% of Mongolia's population, according to the 2020 Mongolia census. Buddhism in Mongolia derives much of its recent characteristics from Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelug and Kagyu lineages, but is distinct and presents its own unique characteristics. Buddhism in Mongolia began with the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) emperors' conversion to Tibetan Buddhism . The Mongols returned to shamanic traditions after

3136-399: Is the majority religion (51.7%), with the nonreligious being the second-largest group (40.6%). Islam is the third-largest religious identification (3.2%), concentrated among ethnic Kazakhs . The vast majority of citizens are ethnic Mongols, with roughly 5% of the population being Kazakhs , Tuvans , and other ethnic minorities, who are especially concentrated in the western regions. Mongolia

3248-704: The Dzungars (western Mongols or Oirats) were virtually annihilated during the Qing conquest of Dzungaria in 1757 and 1758. Some scholars estimate that about 80% of the 600,000 or more Dzungar were killed by a combination of disease and warfare. Outer Mongolia was given relative autonomy, being administered by the hereditary Genghisid khanates of Tusheet Khan, Setsen Khan, Zasagt Khan and Sain Noyon Khan. The Jebtsundamba Khutuktu of Mongolia had immense de facto authority. The Manchu forbade mass Chinese immigration into

3360-532: The Manchu -founded Qing dynasty , which absorbed the country in the 17th century. By the early 20th century, almost one-third of the adult male population were Buddhist monks. After the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911, Mongolia declared independence , and achieved actual independence from the Republic of China in 1921. Shortly thereafter, the country became a satellite state of the Soviet Union . In 1924,

3472-534: The Mongol Empire , the largest contiguous land empire in world history. Under his successors it stretched from present-day Poland in the west to Korea in the east, and from parts of Siberia in the north to the Gulf of Oman and Vietnam in the south, covering some 33,000,000 square kilometres (13,000,000 sq mi), (22% of Earth's total land area) and had a population of over 100 million people (about

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3584-546: The Mongol Empire , which became the largest contiguous land empire in history. His grandson Kublai Khan conquered China proper and established the Yuan dynasty . After the collapse of the Yuan, the Mongols retreated to Mongolia and resumed their earlier pattern of factional conflict, except during the era of Dayan Khan and Tumen Zasagt Khan . In the 16th century, Tibetan Buddhism spread to Mongolia, being further led by

3696-528: The Mongolian People's Republic to prevent Mongolian reunification. All leaders of Mongolia who did not fulfill Stalin's demands to perform Red Terror against Mongolians were executed, including Peljidiin Genden and Anandyn Amar . The Stalinist purges in Mongolia , which began in 1937, killed more than 30,000 people. Under Stalinist influence in the Mongolian People's Republic , an estimated 17,000 monks were killed, official figures show. Choibalsan , who led

3808-409: The Mongolian People's Republic was founded as a socialist state . After the anti-communist revolutions of 1989 , Mongolia conducted its own peaceful democratic revolution in early 1990. This led to a multi-party system , a new constitution of 1992 , and transition to a market economy . Approximately 30% of the population is nomadic or semi-nomadic; horse culture remains integral. Buddhism

3920-634: The Mongolian part of Kyakhta from Chinese forces on 18 March 1921, and on 6 July, Russian and Mongolian troops arrived in Khüree. Mongolia declared its independence again on 11 July 1921. As a result, Mongolia was closely aligned with the Soviet Union over the next seven decades. In 1924, after the Bogd Khaan died of laryngeal cancer or, as some sources claim, at the hands of Russian spies,

4032-563: The Republic of China used its Security Council veto in 1955, to stop the admission of the Mongolian People's Republic to the United Nations on the grounds it recognized all of Mongolia —including Outer Mongolia— as part of China. This was the only time the Republic of China ever used its veto. Hence, and because of the repeated threats to veto by the ROC, Mongolia did not join the UN until 1961 when

4144-586: The Russian Orthodox Church . Robert Rupen reports that in the 1920s there were over 112,000 Mongolian Buddhist monks, representing more than 13% of Mongolia's overall population. By the 1940s, nearly every monk was either dead or had apostatized. In 1938—amid accusations that the church and monasteries were trying to cooperate with the Japanese, who were promoting a pan-Mongol puppet state—the remaining monasteries were dissolved, their property

4256-549: The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation . At 1,564,116 km (603,909 sq mi), Mongolia is the world's 18th-largest country. It is significantly larger than the next-largest country, Peru. It mostly lies between latitudes 41° and 52°N (a small area is north of 52°), and longitudes 87° and 120°E . As a point of reference the northernmost part of Mongolia is on roughly the same latitude as Berlin (Germany) and Saskatoon (Canada), while

4368-753: The Sogdian language . The rulers of the nomadic empires such as the Xiongnu (209 BC – 93 CE), Xianbei (93–234), Rouran Khaganate (late 4th c. – middle 6th c.) and the Göktürks (middle first mill. CE) received missionaries and built temples for them. Buddhism prevailed among aristocrats and was patronised by the monarchs of the Xianbei -led Northern Wei dynasty (386–535) and of the Khitan -led Liao dynasty (916–1125). The Khitans aristocracy regarded Buddhism as

4480-772: The Soviet-Japanese Border War of 1939, the Soviet Union successfully defended Mongolia against Japanese expansionism. Mongolia fought against Japan during the Battles of Khalkhin Gol in 1939 and during the Soviet–Japanese War in August 1945 to liberate Inner Mongolia from Japan and Mengjiang . The February 1945 Yalta Conference provided for the Soviet Union's participation in the Pacific War . One of

4592-643: The Yuan dynasty , Kublai Khan , invited lama Drogön Chögyal Phagpa of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism to spread Buddhism throughout his realm (the second introduction of Buddhism among the Mongols). Around this time, influence from the Church of the East was noted to be a major cultural factor for Mongols that indirectly spread and altered Mongolian Buddhism, and therefore Chinese Buddhism . However, Church of

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4704-477: The de facto state religion of the Yuan dynasty. In 1269, Kublai Khan commissioned Phagpa lama to design a new writing system to unify the writing systems of the multilingual empire. The 'Phags-pa script , also known as the "Square script", was based on the Tibetan script and written vertically from top was designed to write in Mongolian , Tibetan , Chinese , Uighur and Sanskrit languages and served as

4816-568: The Buddhist canon. He supported the Yellow Church (the Tibetan Buddhist Gelukpa sect) to "maintain peace among the Mongols" since the Mongols were followers of the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama of the Yellow Church. Mark Elliott concludes that these actions delivered political benefits but "meshed seamlessly with his personal faith." The Khalkha nobles' power was deliberately undermined by Qianlong , when he appointed

4928-478: The East Christianity was a minority religion among Mongols. Some Mongolian Buddhist institutions borrowed large amounts of doctrine from Nestorian Christians . Other religions such as Manichaeism , Islam , and Zoroastrianism also influenced Mongolian Buddhism. Catholic Church elements and even Roman Catholic believers also contributed to the syncretic practices of the time. Buddhism became

5040-518: The Gelugpa school became known as Dalai Lamas . Altan Khan also bestowed the title Ochirdara (Очирдар, from Sanskr. Vajradhara) to Sonam Gyatso. Altan Khan died soon after, but in the next century the Gelug spread throughout Mongolia, aided in part by the efforts of contending Mongol aristocrats to win religious sanction and mass support for their ultimately unsuccessful efforts to unite all Mongols in

5152-744: The Genghisids. In the mid-16th century, Altan Khan of the Tümed, a grandson of Dayan Khan – but not a hereditary or legitimate Khan – became powerful. He founded Hohhot in 1557. After he met with the Dalai Lama in 1578, he ordered the introduction of Tibetan Buddhism to Mongolia. (It was the second time this had occurred.) Abtai Khan of the Khalkha converted to Buddhism and founded the Erdene Zuu monastery in 1585. His grandson Zanabazar became

5264-696: The Gobi are attributed to the rain shadow effect caused by the Himalayas. Before the Himalayas were formed by the collision of the Indo-Australian plate with the Eurasian plate 10 million years ago, Mongolia was a flourishing habitat for major fauna but still somewhat arid and cold due to distance from sources of evaporation. Sea turtle and mollusk fossils have been found in the Gobi, apart from well-known dinosaur fossils. Tadpole shrimps are still found in

5376-764: The Gobi today. The eastern part of Mongolia including the Onon and Kherlen rivers and Lake Buir form part of the Amur river basin draining to the Pacific Ocean. It hosts some unique species like the Eastern brook lamprey, Daurian crayfish ( cambaroides dauricus ) and Daurian pearl oyster ( dahurinaia dahurica ) in the Onon/Kherlen rivers as well as Siberian prawn ( exopalaemon modestus ) in Lake Buir. Mongolia had

5488-479: The Kyrgyz. The Mongolic Khitans , descendants of the Xianbei, ruled Mongolia during the Liao dynasty (907–1125), after which the Khamag Mongol (1125–1206) rose to prominence. Lines 3–5 of the memorial inscription of Bilge Khagan (684–737) in central Mongolia summarizes the time of the Khagans : In battles they subdued the nations of all four sides of the world and suppressed them. They made those who had heads bow their heads, and who had knees genuflect them. In

5600-412: The Ming armies pursued the Mongols into their homeland, they successfully sacked and destroyed the Mongol capital Karakorum and other cities. Some of these attacks were repelled by the Mongols under Ayushridar and his general Köke Temür . After the expulsion of the Yuan rulers from China proper , the Mongols continued to rule their homeland, known in historiography as the Northern Yuan dynasty. With

5712-404: The Qing, and after the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, the contract of Mongolian submission to the Manchu had become invalid. The area controlled by the Bogd Khaan was approximately that of the former Outer Mongolia during the Qing period. In 1919, after the October Revolution in Russia, Chinese troops led by warlord Xu Shuzheng occupied Mongolia. Warfare erupted on the northern border. As

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5824-413: The South Siberian mountain system, such as the Lena , Irtysh , the Yenisei and the Ob River . Other rivers of the area are the Argun , Tom , Shilka , Selenga , Katun and the Biya River . The great Lake Baikal is the most well-known lake of the region. Other much smaller lakes are Lake Teletskoye , Lake Markakol , Lake Todzha (Azas), Baunt and Noyon-Khol . Mongolia Mongolia

5936-427: The Soviet Union . After the 1990 overthrow of communism , there has been a resurgence of Buddhism in the country, with about 200 temples now in existence and a monastic sangha of around 300 to 500 Mongolian monks and nuns. According to Vesna Wallace, a professor of religious studies at UC Santa Barbara: "Now more people are coming to temples and visiting monasteries. There is also a new interest in meditation among

6048-447: The Soviet Union agreed to lift its veto on the admission of Mauritania (and any other newly independent African state), in return for the admission of Mongolia. Faced with pressure from nearly all the other African countries, the ROC relented under protest. Mongolia and Mauritania were both admitted to the UN on 27 October 1961. (see China and the United Nations ) On 26 January 1952, Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal took power in Mongolia after

6160-420: The Soviet Union to the West, and English has become the dominant foreign language, aided by liberalized media, international aid agencies, the rise of private education and tutoring, as well as official government policy. In the 2014–2015 academic year, 59% of the overall student population studied English at public secondary schools. In 2023, English was declared the "first foreign language", and to be taught from

6272-410: The Soviet conditions for its participation, put forward at Yalta, was that after the war Outer Mongolia would retain its independence. The referendum took place on 20 October 1945, with (according to official numbers) 100% of the electorate voting for independence. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China , both countries confirmed their mutual recognition on 6 October 1949. However,

6384-411: The Tibetan Ishi-damba-nima of the Lithang royal family of the eastern Tibetans as the 3rd reincarnated Jebtsundamba , instead of the Khalkha Mongol which they wanted to be appointed. The decision was first protested against by the Outer Mongol Khalkha nobles, and then the Khalkhas sought to have him placed at a distance from them at Dolonnor. Nevertheless, Qianlong snubbed both of their requests, sending

6496-413: The U.S. Census Bureau figure). UN estimates resemble those made by the Mongolian National Statistical Office (2,612,900, end of June 2007). Mongolia's population growth rate is estimated at 1.2% (2007 est.). About 59% of the total population is under age 30, 27% of whom are under 14. This relatively young and growing population has placed strains on Mongolia's economy. The first census in the 20th century

6608-447: The ancient North Asian practices of shamanism , in which human intermediaries went into trance and spoke to and for some of the numberless infinities of spirits responsible for human luck or misfortune. The earliest introduction of Buddhism into the Mongolian steppes took place during the periods of the nomadic empires. Buddhism penetrated Mongolia from Nepal via Central Asia . Many Buddhist terms of Sanskrit origin were adopted via

6720-418: The area, which allowed the Mongols to keep their culture. The Oirats who migrated to the Volga steppes in Russia became known as Kalmyks . The main trade route during this period was the Tea Road through Siberia; it had permanent stations located every 25 to 30 kilometres (16 to 19 mi), each of which was staffed by 5–30 chosen families. Until 1911, the Qing dynasty maintained control of Mongolia with

6832-400: The collapse of the Mongol Empire , but Buddhism reemerged in the 16th and 17th centuries. Buddhism in Mongolia derives many of its recent characteristics from Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelug and Kagyu lineages, but is distinct and presents its own unique characteristics. Traditionally, the Mongolian ethnic religions involved worship of Heaven (the "eternal blue sky") and ancestors and

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6944-429: The collapse of the Yuan dynasty in 1368. Hutuhtai Secen Hongtaiji of Ordos and his two brothers invaded Tibet in 1566. He sent an ultimatum to some of the ruling clergy of Tibet demanding their submission. The Tibetan supreme monks decided to surrender and Hutuhtai Secen Hongtaiji returned to Ordos with three high ranking monks. Tumen Jasaghtu Khan invited a monk of the Kagyu school in 1576. In 1578 Altan Khan ,

7056-462: The country's political system was changed. The Mongolian People's Republic was established. In 1928, Khorloogiin Choibalsan rose to power. The early leaders of the Mongolian People's Republic (1921–1952) included many with Pan-Mongolist ideals. However, changing global politics and increased Soviet pressure led to the decline of Pan-Mongol aspirations in the following period. Khorloogiin Choibalsan instituted collectivization of livestock, began

7168-480: The country's livestock dying from starvation or freezing temperatures or both, resulting in economic upheaval for the largely pastoral population. The annual average temperature in Ulaanbaatar is −1.3 °C (29.7 °F), making it the world's coldest capital city. Mongolia is high, cold and windy. It has an extreme continental climate with long, cold winters and short summers, during which most of its annual precipitation falls. The country averages 257 cloudless days

7280-446: The culture of the Uyghur Khaganate that dominated the Mongolian steppes before the rise of the Liao dynasty. The monarchs of the Jurchen -led Jin dynasty (1115–1234) also regarded Buddhism as part of their culture. The oldest known Mongolian language translations of Buddhist literature were translated from the Uyghur language and contain Turkic language words like sümbür tay (Sumeru Mountain), ayaγ-wa (a dative form of ayaq,

7392-446: The death of Choibalsan. Tsedenbal was the leading political figure in Mongolia for more than 30 years. While Tsedenbal was visiting Moscow in August 1984, his severe illness prompted the parliament to announce his retirement and replace him with Jambyn Batmönkh . The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 strongly influenced Mongolian politics and youth . Its people undertook the peaceful Democratic Revolution in January 1990 and

7504-443: The destruction of the Buddhist monasteries, and carried out Stalinist purges , which resulted in the murders of numerous monks and other leaders. In Mongolia during the 1920s, approximately one-third of the male population were monks. By the beginning of the 20th century, 750 monasteries were functioning in Mongolia and by the end of the 1930s almost all had been looted or razed. In 1930, the Soviet Union stopped Buryat migration to

7616-459: The division of the Mongol tribes, it was subsequently also known as "The Forty and the Four" (Döčin dörben) among them. The next centuries were marked by violent power struggles among various factions, notably the Genghisids and the non-Genghisid Oirats , as well as by several Ming invasions (such as the five expeditions led by the Yongle Emperor ). In the early 16th century, Dayan Khan and his khatun Mandukhai reunited all Mongol groups under

7728-418: The dominant culture. Horse-riding nomadism has been documented by archeological evidence in Mongolia during the Copper and Bronze Age Afanasevo culture (3500–2500 BC); this Indo-European culture was active to the Khangai Mountains in Central Mongolia. The wheeled vehicles found in the burials of the Afanasevans have been dated to before 2200 BC. Pastoral nomadism and metalworking became more developed with

7840-520: The east up to the Kadyrkhan common people, in the west up to the Iron Gate they conquered... These Khagans were wise. These Khagans were great. Their servants were wise and great too. Officials were honest and direct with people. They ruled the nation this way. This way they held sway over them. When they died ambassadors from Bokuli Cholug (Baekje Korea), Tabgach (Tang China), Tibet (Tibetan Empire), Avar (Avar Khaganate), Rome (Byzantine Empire), Kirgiz , Uch-Kurykan, Otuz-Tatars, Khitans , Tatabis came to

7952-405: The entirety of present-day Mongolia. The Mongolic Rouran Khaganate (330–555), of Xianbei provenance was the first to use "Khagan" as an imperial title. It ruled a massive empire before being defeated by the Göktürks (555–745), an even larger empire. The Göktürks laid siege to Panticapaeum , present-day Kerch , in 576. They were succeeded by the Uyghur Khaganate (745–840) who were defeated by

8064-663: The fall of the Liao dynasty in 1125, the Khamag Mongols became a leading tribe on the Mongolian Plateau . However, their wars with the Jurchen -ruled Jin dynasty and the Tatar confederation had weakened them. The last head of the tribe was Yesügei , whose son Temüjin eventually united all the Shiwei tribes as the Mongol Empire ( Yekhe Monggol Ulus ). In the thirteenth century, the word Mongol grew into an umbrella term for

8176-519: The fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, Mongolia under the Bogd Khaan declared its independence. However, the newly established Republic of China considered Mongolia to be part of its own territory. Yuan Shikai , the President of the Republic of China , considered the new republic to be the successor of the Qing. Bogd Khaan said that both Mongolia and China had been administered by the Manchu during

8288-591: The fertility value increased to 2.8 in 2013 and stabilised afterwards at a rate of about 2.5-2.6 children per woman around 2020. The Mongols are moderately homogeneous; ethnic Mongols account for about 95% of the population and consist of Khalkha and other groups, all distinguished primarily by dialects of the Mongol language. The Khalkha make up 86% of the ethnic Mongol population. The remaining 14% include Oirats, Buryats and others. Turkic peoples ( Kazakhs and Tuvans ) constitute 4.5% of Mongolia's population, and

8400-479: The first Jebtsundamba Khutughtu in 1640. Following the leaders, the entire Mongolian population embraced Buddhism. Each family kept scriptures and Buddha statues on an altar at the north side of their yurt . Mongolian nobles donated land, money and herders to the monasteries. As was typical in states with established religions, the top religious institutions, the monasteries, wielded significant temporal power in addition to spiritual power. The last Khagan of Mongols

8512-599: The form of a weakly centralized theocracy, headed by the Jebtsundamba Khutukhtu in Yehe Kuriye. By the twentieth century, Buddhism had penetrated deeply into the culture of Mongolia , and the populace willingly supported the lamas and the monasteries. Foreign observers usually had a negative opinion of Mongolian monks, condemning them as lazy, ignorant, corrupt, and debauched, but the Mongolian people did not concur. Ordinary Mongolians apparently combined

8624-490: The funerals. So many people came to mourn over the great Khagans. They were famous Khagans. In the chaos of the late 12th century, a chieftain named Temüjin finally succeeded in uniting the Mongol tribes between Manchuria and the Altai Mountains . In 1206, he took the title Genghis Khan , and waged a series of military campaigns – renowned for their brutality and ferocity – sweeping through much of Asia, and forming

8736-415: The introduction of a multi-party system and a market economy. At the same time, the transformation of the former Marxist-Leninist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party to the current social democratic Mongolian People's Party reshaped the country's political landscape. A new constitution was introduced in 1992, and the term "People's Republic" was dropped from the country's name. The transition to

8848-523: The khanates, the "Great Khaanate", consisting of the Mongol homeland and most of modern-day China, became known as the Yuan dynasty under Kublai Khan , the grandson of Genghis Khan. He set up his capital in present-day Beijing. After more than a century of power, the Yuan dynasty was overthrown by the Ming dynasty in 1368, and the Yuan court fled to the north, thus becoming the Northern Yuan dynasty . As

8960-671: The late 1940s, one monastery, Gandan Monastery, with a community of 100 monks, was open in Ulaanbaatar. It was the country's sole monastery and was more for international display than functionality. A few of the old monasteries survived as museums, and the Gandan Monastery served as a living museum and a tourist attraction. Its monks included a few young men who had undergone a five-year training period, but whose motives and mode of selection were unknown to Western observers. The party apparently thought that Buddhism no longer posed

9072-627: The later Okunev culture (2nd millennium BC), Andronovo culture (2300–1000 BC) and Karasuk culture (1500–300 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, agriculture has always remained small in scale compared to pastoral nomadism. Agriculture may have first been introduced from

9184-473: The lowest of 41.735 mm (1.643 in) occurred in the Gobi Desert (period 1961–1990). The sparsely populated far north of Bulgan Province averages 600 mm (24 in) in annual precipitation which means it receives more precipitation than Beijing (571.8 mm or 22.51 in) or Berlin (571 mm or 22.5 in). The name "Gobi" is a Mongol term for a desert steppe, which usually refers to

9296-451: The male population, although many of these lived outside the monasteries and did not observe their vows. About 250,000 people, more than a third of the total population, either lived in territories administered by monasteries and living Buddhas or were hereditary dependents of the monasteries. With the end of Manchu rule in 1911, the Buddhist church and its clergy provided the only political structure available. The autonomous state thus took

9408-411: The message that he was putting an end to Outer Mongolian autonomy. The decision to make Tibet the only place where the reincarnation came from was intentional by the Qing to curtail the Mongols. By the beginning of the twentieth century, Outer Mongolia had 583 monasteries and temple complexes, which controlled an estimated 20 percent of the country's wealth. Almost all Mongolian cities have grown up on

9520-415: The monasteries. Some herders dedicated themselves and their families to serve the monasteries, either from piety or from the desire to escape the arbitrary exactions of the nobility. In some areas, the monasteries and their living buddhas (of whom there were a total of 140 in 1924) were also the secular authorities. In the 1920s, there were about 110,000 monks, including children, who made up about one-third of

9632-633: The monks of the Gandan Monastery as doing useful work. Today the monastery has been reinvigorated as Gandantegchinlen Monastery by the post-Communist governments of the country. Buddhism, furthermore played a role in Mongolia's foreign policy by linking Mongolia with the communist and the noncommunist states of East and Southeast Asia. Ulaanbaatar was the headquarters of the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace , which has held conferences for Buddhists from such countries as Japan , Vietnam , Cambodia , Sri Lanka , and Bhutan ; published

9744-474: The nickname "the Lascaux of Mongolia". The Venus figurines of Mal'ta (21,000 years ago) testify to the level of Upper Paleolithic art in northern Mongolia; Mal'ta is now part of Russia. Neolithic agricultural settlements (c. 5500–3500 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 which became

9856-687: The north and west and the Gobi Desert to the south. Ulaanbaatar , the capital and largest city , is home to roughly half of the country's population. The territory of modern-day Mongolia has been ruled by various nomadic empires , including the Xiongnu , the Xianbei , the Rouran , the First Turkic Khaganate , the Second Turkic Khaganate , the Uyghur Khaganate and others. In 1206, Genghis Khan founded

9968-1024: The north the South Siberian Mountains merge with the West Siberian Lowland and the Central Siberian Plateau , both on the Russian side. To the southeast the Baikal Range is separated from the Eastern Sayan by the Baikal Rift Zone and the Tunkin Depression . To the northeast of its eastern end the South Siberian mountain system merges with the East Siberian Mountains . Geologically the mountains of

10080-604: The official script of the empire. Tibetan Buddhist monasticism had an important influence on the early development of Mongolian Buddhism. Buddhist monkhood played significant political roles in Central and Southeast Asia , and the sangha in Mongolia was no exception. The activities of the Mongols were conducive to the prominency of the Sakya school and then the Gelug, and to the further development of Tibeto-Mongolian culture. The Mongols returned to shamanic traditions after

10192-399: The party counted 843 major Buddhist centers, about 3,000 temples of various sizes, and nearly 6000 associated buildings, which usually were the only fixed structures in a world of yurts . The annual income of the church was 31 million tögrögs , while that of the state was 37.5 million tögrögs. A party source claimed that, in 1935, monks constituted 48 percent of the adult male population. In

10304-434: The pre- revolutionary name of the settlement known to outsiders as Urga , Ikh Huree , means "Big Monastery". Over the centuries, the monasteries acquired riches and secular dependents, gradually increasing their wealth and power as the wealth and power of the Mongol nobility declined. Some nobles donated a portion of their dependent families—people, rather than land, were the foundation of wealth and power in old Mongolia—to

10416-533: The prehistoric times, Mongolia has been inhabited by nomads who, from time to time, formed great confederations that rose to power and prominence. Common institutions were the office of the Khan , the Kurultai (Supreme Council), left and right wings, imperial army ( Keshig ) and the decimal military system. The first of these empires, the Xiongnu of undetermined ethnicity, were brought together by Modu Shanyu to form

10528-671: The responsibilities towards their subjects. The behavior of Mongolia's nobility, together with usurious practices by Chinese traders and the collection of imperial taxes in silver instead of animals, resulted in widespread poverty among the nomads. By 1911 there were 700 large and small monasteries in Outer Mongolia; their 115,000 monks made up 21% of the population. Apart from the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, there were 13 other reincarnating high lamas, called 'seal-holding saints' ( tamgatai khutuktu ), in Outer Mongolia. With

10640-546: The rest are Russian, Chinese, Korean and American nationalities. Mongolia's official and national language is Mongolian . A member of the Mongolic language family, the standard dialect is Khalkha Mongol . It coexists with various other, largely mutually intelligible varieties of Mongolic such as Oirat , Buryat , and Khamnigan . Several dialects have been morphing to become more like the central Khalkha dialect in recent years. Most speakers of these dialects are located in

10752-533: The shamans to the fringes of Mongolian culture and religion. Church and state supported each other. Reincarnations of living Buddhas were often discovered in the families of Mongolian nobility until this practice was outlawed by the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty . During the Qing's founding emperor Hong Taiji 's (1592–1643) campaign against the last Northern Yuan ruler Ligdan Khan , he started

10864-580: The sites of monasteries. Ikh Huree , as Ulaanbaatar was then known, was the seat of the preeminent living Buddha of Mongolia (the 8th Jebtsundamba Khutuktu , also known as the Bogdo Gegen and later as the Bogd Khan ), who ranked third in the ecclesiastical hierarchy after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama . Two monasteries there contained approximately 13,000 and 7000 monks, respectively, and

10976-461: The south in addition to being more stable. The Khangai Mountains play a certain role in forming this microclimate. In Tsetserleg, the warmest town in this microclimate, nighttime January temperatures rarely go under −30 °C (−22 °F) while daytime January temperatures often reach 0 °C (32 °F) to 5 °C (41 °F). The country is subject to occasional harsh climatic conditions known as zud . It results in large proportions of

11088-561: The southernmost part is on roughly the same latitude as Rome (Italy) and Chicago (USA). The westernmost part of Mongolia is on roughly the same longitude as Kolkata in India, while the easternmost part is on the same longitude as Qinhuangdao and Hangzhou in China, as well as the western edge of Taiwan. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its westernmost point is only 36.76 kilometres (22.84 mi) from Kazakhstan, nearly making

11200-730: The sponsorship of Tibetan Buddhism to gain support. According to the Manchu historian Jin Qicong , Buddhism was used by Qing rulers to control Mongolians and Tibetans; it was of little relevance to ordinary Manchus in the Qing dynasty. The long association of the Manchu rulership with the Bodhisattva Manjusri , and his own interest in Tibetan Buddhism, gave credence to the Qianlong Emperor's patronage of Tibetan Buddhist art, and patronage of translations of

11312-401: The summer and extremely cold in the winter, with January averages dropping as low as −30 °C (−22 °F). A vast front of cold, heavy, shallow air comes in from Siberia in winter and collects in river valleys and low basins causing very cold temperatures while slopes of mountains are much warmer due to the effects of temperature inversion (temperature increases with altitude). In winter

11424-462: The system underwent a process of rejuvenation during the Alpine orogeny . Earthquakes are common all across the area of the system. Owing to the mountainous terrain, large swathes of the South Siberian system are uninhabited. The main cities of the vast region are, from west to east: Krasnoyarsk , Angarsk , Irkutsk , Ulan-Ude and Chita . Some of the main rivers of Siberia have their origin in

11536-669: The third grade. As of the 2014–2015 academic year, the most popular foreign language in specialized language courses were (ordered by popularity), English, Chinese , Russian, Japanese , and Korean . Korean in particular has gained popularity as tens of thousands of Mongolians work in South Korea , forming the largest group of Mongolians abroad . Buddhism in Mongolia New branches: Tantric techniques : Fourfold division: Twofold division: Thought forms and visualisation: Yoga : Buddhism

11648-495: The traditional Mongolian script in official documents by 2025. Since 1990, English has quickly supplanted Russian as the most popular foreign language in Mongolia. In the communist era , Russian was a vital language for mobility and professional communication, with a large number of students studying in the Soviet Union as well as a large number of Soviet professionals and soldiers located within Mongolia. Since then, however, Mongolia's education system has reoriented away from

11760-526: The warmest January temperatures in Omnogovi Province ( Dalanzadgad , Khanbogd ) and the region of the Altai mountains bordering China. A unique microclimate is the fertile grassland-forest region of central and eastern Arkhangai Province ( Tsetserleg ) and northern Ovorkhangai Province ( Arvaikheer ) where January temperatures are on average the same and often higher than the warmest desert regions to

11872-518: The west or arose independently in the region. The population during the Copper Age has been described as mongoloid in the east of what is now Mongolia, and as europoid in the west. 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; it

11984-594: The western part of the country, namely Bayan-Ölgii , Uvs , and Khovd . Kazakh , a Turkic language , is the majority language in Bayan-Ölgii, while Tuvan is another Turkic language spoken in Khövsgöl . Mongolian Sign Language is the principal language of the deaf community. Today, Mongolian is mainly written using the Cyrillic alphabet , introduced during the 1940s. Since the 1990 revolution there has been

12096-535: The whole of Mongolia comes under the influence of the Siberian Anticyclone . The localities most severely affected by this cold weather are Uvs province ( Ulaangom ), western Khovsgol ( Rinchinlhumbe ), eastern Zavkhan ( Tosontsengel ), northern Bulgan (Hutag) and eastern Dornod province (Khalkhiin Gol). Ulaanbaatar is strongly, but less severely, affected. The cold gets less severe as one goes south, reaching

12208-606: Was Ligden Khan in the early 17th century. He came into conflicts with the Manchus over the looting of Chinese cities, and also alienated most Mongol tribes. He died in 1634. By 1636, most of the Inner Mongolian tribes had submitted to the Manchus, who founded the Qing dynasty . The Khalkha eventually submitted to Qing rule in 1691, thus bringing all of today's Mongolia under Manchu rule. After several Dzungar–Qing Wars ,

12320-407: Was carried out in 1918 and recorded a population of 647,500. Since the end of socialism, Mongolia has experienced a decline of total fertility rate (children per woman) that is steeper than in any other country in the world, according to recent UN estimations: in 1970–1975, fertility was estimated to be 7.33 children per woman, dropping to about 2.1 in 2000–2005. The decline ended and in 2005–2010,

12432-588: Was found in the Altai , Mongolia. As equine 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. the Guifang, Shanrong, and Donghu ) into China during the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC) and Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) presaged the age of nomadic empires . Since

12544-464: Was seized, and their monks were secularized, interned or executed. Those monastic buildings that had not been destroyed were taken over to serve as local government offices or schools. Only then was the ruling party, which since 1921 gradually had built a cadre of politically reliable and secularly educated administrators, able to destroy the church and to mobilize the country's wealth and population for its program of modernization and social change. Since

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