Mongolia country information

In the late twelfth century, a chieftain named Temujin succeeded in uniting the Mongol tribes. Hailed Genghis Khan by Mongols, Temujin founded the Mongol Empire in 1206. Forging a powerful army from the nomads, he waged a series of military campaigns sweeping through much of Asia, and forming 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 Siberia in the north to the Gulf of Oman and Vietnam in the south, covering some 33,000,000 km² or 12,741,000 sq miles (22% of Earth's total land area) and having a population of over 100 million people. Genghis Khan bequeathed to his sons portion of his empire and armies to support them. The Mongol Empire subsequently ruled by Ogodei Khan, Khuyak Khan, Mongke Khan. By Kublai’s time these lands were four autonomous khanates ruled by Genghis’ s grandsons, the Khanate of the house of Chagadai, the Ilkhanate of Hulagu, Berke’s Golden Horde and Kublai’s own eastern kingdom, ruled under the auspices of his Yuan dynasty, which lasted until peasants uprising spawned the native Ming Dynasty in 1368. The Yuan was replaced by the Ming Dynasty in 1368, with the Mongol court fleeing to the north. As the Ming armies pursued the Mongols into their homeland, they totally destroyed the Mongol capital Karakorum among other cities, wiping out the cultural progress that was achieved during the imperial period and thus throwing Mongolia back to anarchy.

Portrait of Genghis Khan, implemented in the traditions of the fine arts of the Khitan epoch.


Genghis Khan's conquests

The next centuries were marked by violent power struggles between various factions. In the mid-16th century, Altan Khan of the Tümed, a grandson of Batumöngke - but no legitimate Khan himself - became powerful. Abtai Khan of the Khalkha converted to buddhism in 1585 and founded the Erdene Zuu monastery in 1586. His grandson Zanabazar became the first Jebtsundamba Khutughtu in 1640.

The last Mongol Khan was Ligden Khan in the early 17th century. He got into conflicts with the Manchu over the looting of Chinese cities, and managed to alienate most Mongol tribes. He died in 1634 on his way to Tibet, in an attempt to evade the Manchu and destroy the Yellow Hat sect of Buddhism. By 1636, most Inner Mongolian tribes had submitted to the Manchu. The Khalkha eventually submitted to the Qing in 1691, thus bringing all but the west of today's Mongolia under Beijing's rule.

During the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, Mongolia declared independence, but had to struggle until 1921 to firmly establish de-facto independence, and until 1945 to gain international recognition. As a consequence, it came under strong Russian and Soviet influence: In 1924, the Mongolian People's Republic was declared, and Mongolian politics began to follow the same patterns as Soviet politics of the time.

After the breakdown of communist regimes in Eastern Europe in late 1989, Mongolia saw its own Democratic Revolution in early 1990, which led to a multi-party system, a new constitution in 1992, and the rather rough transition to a market economy. The new constitution embraces principles of democracy and private ownership. The country has become one of the most open economies in the region, setting free government-administered prices, exchange rates, and interest rates, as well as establishing a two-tier banking system and opening doors for private initiatives.