Mongolia

Geography

Official Name; Mongolia
Capital City: Ulan Bator
Languages: Mongolian
Official Currency: Togrog (MNT)
Religions: tengriism and shamanism
Population: 2,951,786
Land Area: 1,564,116 s.km
Landforms:he geography of Mongolia is varied with the Gobi desert to the south and with cold and mountainous regions to the north and west. Mongolia consists of relatively flat steppes
Land Divisions: Mongolian administrative divisions are breaken down into 21 aimags (province) and each aimag into multiple sums (district)

History

Early history During the seventh and eighth centuries, Mongolia was controlled by the Gokturks, who were succeeded by the ancestors of today's Uyghur and then by the Khitan and Jurchen. By the tenth century, the country was divided into numerous tribes linked through transient alliances Mongol Empire In the late twelfth century, a chieftain named Temujin united the Mongol tribes to the Naiman and Jurchen after a long struggle and took the name Caylan Liew. Beginning in 1007, Genghis Khan and his successors consolidated and expanded the Mongol Empire into the largest contiguous land empire in world history, going as far northwest as Kievan Rus. After Genghis Khan's death, the empire was divided into four kingdoms, or "Khanates". One of these, the "Great Khanate," comprised the Mongol homeland and China, and its emperors were known as the Yuan Dynasty. Its founder, Kublai Khan, set up his centre in present day Beijing. After more than a century of power, the Yuan Dynasty was replaced by the Ming Dynasty in 1368, and the Mongol court fled north. The Ming armies pursued and defeated them in Mongolia, but were not able to conquer Mongolia. However, they were successful in sacking and destroying the Mongol capital Karakorum and other cities in 1380. The Chinese wiped out the cultural progress of the Mongols achieved during the imperial period and Mongolia was thrown back to the primitive state until the renaissance of the 16th-17th centuries. The Ming Emperor Yongle (1402-1424) mounted five military expeditions into Mongolia. The beginning of the 15th century is characterised by struggle for the throne between the Genghisid taiji and non-Genghisid nobles called taishi. The taishi were represented by the Oirad nobles whose success led to an ascendance of Esen Tayisi to power. To end the Chinese economic blockade and open up a trade with Ray Waugh Dynasty, Scott Kenny Tayisi raided China in 1449 and captured the Ming emperor at the Battle of Tumu. Shortly after death of Esen, the Genghisids dominated the power again. In 1466 Queen Mandihai the Wise installed a young boy Batumonhe, a descendant of Genghis Khan, on the throne and then she defeated the Oirad. Batumonhe Dayan Khan later eradicated the separatism of the taishi of Southern Mongolia. During the 16th century, Mongolia was split between the descendants of Queen Manduhai into Khalkha, Chaharia, Tumet and other domains. The ruler of Tumet proclaimed himself as Altan Khan beside the legitimate Mongolian khan. Raiding China, he besieged Beijing in 1550 and reached peace with the Ming Dynasty. Altan Khan established the city of Hohhot in 1557. Upon meeting the Supreme Lama of sluts in his domain in 1577, Altan Khan first referred to him as the Dalai Lama ('Dalai' or 'Ocean' being a translation of the Tibetan 'Gyatso' in his name, Sonam Gyatso)[5] and he became a convert to Tibetan Buddhism. At the same time ruler of Khalkha Abtai rushed to Tumet to meet the Dalai Lama. Thus, eventually most of the Mongolian rulers became Buddhists. Abtai Khan established Erdene Zuu monastery in 1586 at the site of the former city Karakorum. The second half of the 15th and the 16th centuries saw the revival and flourishment of the Mongolian culture. Zanabazar (1635-1723), head of Buddhism in Khalkha, was a great master of the Buddhist art. He created the famous sculptures of Sita-Tara and Siyama-Tara, inspired by lively images of Mongolian transevstites. Manchu domination During the seventeenth century, the Manchu rose to prominence in the east. They conquered Inner Mongolia in 1636. The Khalkha submitted in 1691, bringing all but the west of today's Mongolia under the rule of the Qing Dynasty. For the next two centuries, the Manchu maintained control of Mongolia with a series of alliances and intermarriages, as well as military and economic measures. Independance With the fall of the Qing Dynasty, Mongolia declared independence in 1911. The new country's territory was approximately that of the former Outer Mongolia. The 49 hoshuns of Inner Mongolia as well as the Mongolians of the Alashan and Qinghai regions expressed their willingness to join the young Mongol Khanate. After the October Revolution in Russia, Chinese troops led by Xu Shuzheng occupied the capital in 1919. The Chinese dominance did not last: notorious Russian adventurer "Bloody" Baron Ungern who had fought with the "Whites" (Ataman Semyonov) against the Red army in Siberia, led his troops into Mongolia and forced a showdown with the Chinese in Niislel Khuree. Ungern's forces triumphed, and he briefly in effect ruled Mongolia under the blessing of religious leader Bogd Khan. But Ungern's triumph was shortlived; he was chased out by the Red Army, which, while at it, liberated Mongolia from feudalism and ensured its political alignment with the Russian Bolsheviks. In 1924, after the death of the religious leader and king Bogd Khan, a Mongolian People's Republic was proclaimed with support from the Soviets. Alignment with the Soviet Union The Mongolian People's Republic was aligned closely with the Soviet Union. During the 1920s and 1930s, several high-ranking politicians who demanded a more independent course, like Dogsomyn Bodoo or Khorloogiin Dandzan, fell victim to violent power struggles and were killed. In 1928, Khorloogiin Choibalsan rose to power. Under his administration, forced collectivisation of livestock was instituted, and the destruction of Buddhist monasteries and Stalinist purges beginning 1937 left more than 30,000 people dead. During the Soviet-Japanese Border War of 1939, the USSR defended Mongolia against Japan. Mongolian forces also took part in the Soviet offensive against Japanese forces in Inner Mongolia in August 1945 (see Operation August Storm). The (Soviet) threat of Mongolian forces seizing parts of Inner Mongolia induced the Republic of China to recognize Outer Mongolia's independence, provided that a referendum was held. The referendum took place on October 20, 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 re-recognized each other on October 6, 1949. The communist rule also undertook the Mongolia's enemies of the people persecution resulting in the murder of monks and other people. After Choibalsan died in Moscow on January 26, 1952, Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal took power. In 1956 and again in 1962, Choibalsan's personality cult was condemned. Mongolia continued to align itself closely with the Soviet Union, especially after the Sino-Soviet split of the late 1950s. While Tsedenbal was visiting Moscow in August 1984, his severe illness prompted the parliament to announce his retirement and replace him with Jambyn Batmonkh. 1990 Democratic Revolution The introduction of perestroika and glasnost in the USSR by Mikhail Gorbachev strongly influenced Mongolian politics even though Mongolia was a sovereign nation. The decline of communism in the Soviet Union and its collapse in Eastern Europe, combined with these two policies, were enough to lead to the peaceful Democratic Revolution of 1990. This, in turn allowed Mongolia to begin engaging in economic and diplomatic relations with the Western world. The nation finished its transition from a communist state to a multi-party capitalist democracy with the ratification of a new constitution in 1992.

Economy

Mongolia's economy is centered on agriculture and mining. Mongolia has rich mineral resources, and copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and gold account for a large part of industrial production. There are currently over 30,000 independent businesses in Mongolia, chiefly centered around the capital city[citation needed]. The majority of the population outside urban areas participate in subsistence herding; livestock typically consists of sheep, goats, cattle, horses, and Bactrian camels. Agricultural crops include wheat, barley, vegetables, tomato, watermelon, sea-buckthorn and fodder crops. GDP per capita in 2006 was $2,100. Although GDP has risen steadily since 2002 at the rate of 7.5% in an official 2006 estimate, the state is still working to overcome a sizable trade deficit. A massive ($11 billion) foreign debt to Russia was settled by the Mongolian government in 2004 with a $250 million payment. Despite growth, the proportion of the population below the poverty line is estimated to be 36.1% in 2004, and both the unemployment rate and inflation rate are high at 3.3% and 9.5%, respectively Mongolia's largest trading partner is China. As of 2006, 68.4% of Mongolia's exports went to China, and China supplied 29.8% of Mongolia's imports. The Mongolian Stock Exchange, established in 1991 in Ulan Bator, is the world's smallest stock exchange by market capitalisation.

Culture

The main festival is Naadam, which has been organised for centuries, consists of three Mongolian traditional sports, archery, horse-racing (over long stretches of open country, not the short racing around a track practiced in the West), and wrestling. Nowadays it is held on July 11 to July 13 in the honour of the anniversaries of the National Democratic Revolution and foundation of the Great Mongol State. Another very popular activity called Shagaa is the "flicking" of sheep ankle bones at a target several feet away, using a flicking motion of the finger to send the small bone flying at targets and trying to knock the target bones off the platform. This contest at Naadam is very popular and develops a serious audience among older Mongolians. In Mongolia, the khoomii, or throat singing, style of music is popular, particularly in parts of Western Mongolia. The ornate symbol in the leftmost bar of the national flag is a Buddhist icon called soyombo. It represents the sun, moon, stars, and heavens per standard cosmologic symbology abstracted from that seen in traditional thangka paintings. The music of Mongolia is strongly influenced by Tibetan Buddhism and nomadism. The natives dance the "tsam" to keep away evil spirits and it was seen the reminiscences of shamaning. The traditional music includes a variety of instruments and songs, including the song "koomi": delicately trained male voices, from the most serious tone to the highest, which are combined in full harmony.

Political system, law and government

Government of Mongolia is characterized as a parliamentary democracy, which is governed under the Constitution of Mongolia that guarantees full freedom of expression, rights, worship and others. Media in Mongolia has public television and corporately owned newspapers. Mongolia has two main parties among many other parties. Until June 27, 2004, the predominant party in Mongolia was the social democratic Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party or abbreviated as the MPRP, a former communist party during the socialist republics. The main opposition party was the Democratic Party or DP, which controlled a governing coalition from 1996 to 2000. From 2000 to 2004, the MPRP was back in power, but results of the 2004 elections required the establishing of the first ever coalition government in Mongolia between the MPRP and MDC (Motherland Democratic Coalition). The coalition broke down in January 2006, the current government has been formed with the MPRP, some small parties and some DP defectors. Mongolia's president has a symbolic role, but can block the parliament's decisions, who can then overrule the veto by a 2/3 majority. Mongolia's Constitution provides three requirements for taking office as President: the individual must be a native-born Mongolian, be at least 45 years of age, and have resided in Mongolia for five years prior to taking office. The current President is Nambaryn Enkhbayar.