Mongolia

Mongolia, extensive territory, Central Asia, bounded roughly by Siberia on the north, by Dongbei on the east, by the Great Wall of China on the south, and by Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Sinkiang Uighur), China, on the west. Mongolia encloses the Gobi Desert. The region includes the Chinese Autonomous Region of Nei Monggol (Inner Mongolia), located between the Gobi and the Great Wall, and Outer Mongolia, part of which is occupied by the Republic of Mongolia and part of which is located in Tuva, south-central Russia.

Mongolia has been inhabited since the 12th century by the nomadic Mongols, whose power reached its height in the 13th-century empire of Kublai Khan (see Mongol Empire). In the 17th century the tribes of what is now Inner Mongolia came under the control of the Qing dynasty in China, and, with great difficulty, the tribes of Outer Mongolia were brought under Qing control by the beginning of the 18th century. Encroachments in Mongolia were subsequently made by Japan and Russia. Fearing usurpation by foreign powers, the Qing dynasty encouraged Chinese colonization, especially in Inner Mongolia. During the Chinese Revolution of 1911, Outer Mongolia, excluding the Tuvinian (now Tuva) region, which was claimed by Russia at that time, proclaimed itself independent of China. Inner Mongolia, however, was made an integral part of China; excluding a section allocated to western Dongbei, the area was apportioned in 1928 among the Chinese provinces of Chahar, Jehol, Suiyan, and Ningsia. In 1949 the Chinese Communists organized the Nei Monggol Autonomous Region.

The region comprises the northern section of former Chahar Province together with parts of western Dongbei; Hohhot (Huhehot) is an administrative centre. The population of the region is primarily Chinese. Agriculture and stock raising are the chief occupations; wool, hides, and skins are exported.