Mongolia summary

Learn about the rich mineral resources and history of Mongolia from the 3rd century BCE to the establishment of a Republic in 1924

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Mongolia.

Mongolia, or Outer Mongolia, Country, north-central Asia, between Russia and China. Area: 603,953 sq mi (1,564,241 sq km). Population: (2024 est.) 3,530,000. Capital: Ulaanbaatar (Ulan Bator). Some four-fifths of the population are Mongols; minorities consist of Kazakhs, Russians, and Chinese. Languages: Khalkha Mongolian, Turkic languages, Russian, Chinese. Religions: traditional beliefs, Buddhism, Islam. Currency: tugrik (Tug). Mongolia has an average elevation of about 5,200 ft (1,580 m) above sea level. Three mountain ranges stretch across the north and west: the Altai, the Hangayn (Khangai), and the Hentiyn (Khentei). The south and east are occupied by the Gobi Desert. Livestock raising, especially sheepherding, accounts for nearly three-fourths of the total value of agricultural production; wheat is the major crop. Mongolia’s rich mineral resources include coal, iron ore, and copper. Mongolia is a unitary multiparty republic with one legislative house; its head of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. In Neolithic times it was inhabited by small groups of hunters and nomads. During the 3rd century bce it became the centre of the Xiongnu tribal league. Turkic-speaking peoples held sway in the 4th–10th centuries ce. In the early 13th century Genghis Khan united the Mongol tribes and conquered Central Asia. His successor, Ögödei, conquered the Jin dynasty of China in 1234. Kublai Khan established the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty in China in 1279. The Mongols were confined to their original homeland in the steppes after the 14th century. Ligdan Khan (ruled 1604–34) attempted to unite Mongol tribes against the Manchu, but after his death the Mongols became part of the Chinese Qing dynasty. After the fall of the Qing in 1912, Mongol princes, supported by Russia, declared Mongolia’s independence from China, and in 1921 the Soviet Red Army helped drive off Chinese and Russian forces. The Mongolian People’s Republic was established in 1924. The country adopted a new constitution in 1992 and shortened its name to Mongolia.

Mongol Summary

Mongol, member of a Central Asian ethnographic group of closely related tribal peoples who live mainly on the Mongolian Plateau and share a common language and nomadic tradition. Their homeland is now divided into the independent country of Mongolia (Outer Mongolia) and the Inner Mongolia

A map of the continent of Asia, including its countries, boundaries, and capital cities, as well as parts of Europe, Africa, and surrounding oceans.

Asia Summary

Asia, the world’s largest and most diverse continent. It occupies the eastern four-fifths of the giant Eurasian landmass. Asia is more a geographic term than a homogeneous continent, and the use of the term to describe such a vast area always carries the potential of obscuring the enormous

Genghis Khan Summary

Genghis Khan was a Mongolian warrior-ruler, one of the most famous conquerors of history, who consolidated tribes into a unified Mongolia and then extended his empire across Asia to the Adriatic Sea. Genghis Khan was a warrior and ruler of genius who, starting from obscure and insignificant