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(mŏn-gō`lēə, mŏng–), republic (2015 est. pop. 2,977,000), 604,247 sq mi (1,565,000 sq km), N central Asia; historically known as Outer Mongolia. Bordered on the west, south, and east by China and on the north by Russia, it comprises more than half the historical region of MongoliaMongolia
, Asian region (c.906,000 sq mi/2,346,540 sq km), bordered roughly by Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, on the west; the Manchurian provinces of China on the east; Siberia on the north; and the Great Wall of China on the south.
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; the other part forms China's Inner Mongolian Autonomous RegionInner Mongolian Autonomous Region,
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. The capital and largest city is UlaanbaatarUlaanbaatar
or Ulan Bator
[Mongolian,=red hero], Chinese Kulun, city (2010 est. pop. 1,500,000), capital of the Republic of Mongolia, E central Mongolia, on the Tola River.
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Land and People


The country's climate is dry continental, with little rain or snow and great extremes in temperature. Winters are severe, with low temperatures and high winds that blow away the light snow cover, causing the ground to freeze deeply; summers can be very hot.




Hunting is a source of revenue; the country abounds in wildlife, and sable, fox, lynx, marmot, snow leopard, squirrel, and wolf are all trapped for their furs. Mongolia has valuable timberlands, especially in the northern mountainous area; logs are shipped down the Selenga, Orkhon, and Kerulen rivers. Mineral resources are abundant. The extensive coal deposits have been exploited since 1913. Copper, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, gold, iron ore, fluorspar, uranium, zinc, lead, silver, and salt are also mined. Chinese demand for minerals spurred Mongolia's economic growth in the early 21st cent., but a slowing Chinese economy in the 2010s combined with increased government spending led to an economic crisis by 2016.



Mongolia's main exports are copper, apparel, livestock, animal products, cashmere, wool, hides, fluorspar, and nonferrous metals; imports include machinery and equipment, cars, fuel, foodstuffs, consumer goods, chemicals, building materials, sugar, and tea. Most of its foreign trade is with China (its most significant export market), Russia, the United States, Canada, and South Korea.


Mongolia is governed under the constitution of 1992. The president, who is head of state, is popularly elected for a four-year term and is eligible for a second term. The government is headed by the prime minister. The unicameral legislature consists of the 76-seat State Great Hural, whose members are popularly elected for four-year terms. Following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition is usually elected prime minister by the legislature. Administratively, the country is divided into 21 provinces and the capital district.

Modern History

For the early history of Mongolia, see MongolsMongols
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In the 2005 presidential elections, MPRP candidate Nambaryn Enkhbayar won; Enkhbayar had served as prime minister in the early 1990s. In Jan., 2006, the unity government collapsed when the MPRP withdrew. The MPRP formed a new government with support from minor parties and some Democrats; Miyeegombo Enkhbold, the former mayor of Ulaanbaatar, was named prime minister. Enkhbold resigned in Nov., 2007, and was succeeded by fellow MPRP member Sanjaagin Bayar. Parliamentary elections in June, 2008, resulted in a majority for the MPRP. Although international observers called the vote free and fair, the opposition alleged that there had been electoral fraud, and a riot in the capital led to a brief state of emergency.

In the May, 2009, presidential election, former prime minister Elbegdorj defeated Enkhbayar. Bayar resigned as prime minister in Oct., 2009, and was succeeded in the post by Sukhbaatar Batbold, the foreign minister and a wealthy businessman. A severe winter in 2009–10 killed more than a sixth of Mongolia's livestock, with more than 30,000 families losing half or more of their animals. In the June, 2012, parliamentary elections the Democratic party won a plurality, and the Mongolian People's party (MPP; the main body of the former MPRP) placed second. The Democrats formed a coalition government with Enkhbayar's splinter MPRP and other small parties, and Democrat Norov Altankhuyag became prime minister. In Aug., 2012, Enkhbayer was convicted of corruption, on charges that he asserted were politically motivated; the manner of his arrest in April and his subsequent jailing was questioned by Amnesty International, and he was pardoned a year later.

Elbegdorj was reelected president in 2013. Economic issues and corruption charges contributed to Altankhuyag's dismissal as prime minister in 2014; Chimed Saikhanbileg succeeded him. The MPP won a landslide victory in the June, 2016, parliamentary elections, and Jargaltulga Erdenebat, a former finance minister, became prime minister. In the 2017 presidential election, Khaltmaa Battulga, a businessman and the Democratic party candidate, was elected after a runoff in July.

Erdenebat was ousted as prime minister in Sept., 2017, for alleged corruption and incompetence; Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, also from the MPP, succeeded him in October. Constitutional amendments adopted in 2019 increased the powers of the prime minister at the expense of the president and, beginning in 2025, limited the president to one six-year term. Parliamentary elections in June, 2020, gave the MPP a landslide victory, and marked the first time a party had won a majority two elections in a row. In Jan., 2021, after antigovernment protests that Khurelsukh accused the president of orchestrating, he resigned as prime minister.


See O. Lattimore, Nomads and Commissars: Mongolia Revisited (1962); R. A. Rupen, The Mongolian People's Republic (1966); A. M. Pozdneev, Mongolia and the Mongols (Vol. I tr. 1971); S. Akiner, ed., Mongolia Today (1989); C. R. Bawden, The Modern History of Mongolia (1989).


(mŏn-gō`lēə, mŏng–), Asian region (c.906,000 sq mi/2,346,540 sq km), bordered roughly by Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, on the west; the Manchurian provinces of China on the east; Siberia on the north; and the Great Wall of ChinaGreat Wall of China,
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 on the south. It now comprises the country of MongoliaMongolia
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 (traditionally known as Outer Mongolia) and the Inner Mongolian Autonomous RegionInner Mongolian Autonomous Region,
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 of China.

Mongolia is chiefly a region of desert and of steppe plateau from c.3,000 to 5,000 ft (910–1,520 m) high. Winters are cold and dry and summers are warm and brief. The Gobi desert, which is entirely wasteland, is in the central section. To the west are the Altai Mts., which rise to 15,266 ft (4,653 m). Rivers include a section of the Huang He (Yellow River) in the south and the Selenga, Orkhon, and Kerulen in the north. Rainfall averages less than 15 in. (38.1 cm) a year.


Mongolia has traditionally been a land of pastoral nomadism; livestock raising and the processing of animal products are the main industries. Wool, hides, meat, cloth, and leather goods are exported. Irrigation has made some agriculture possible; wheat and oats are the chief crops. Coal, iron ore, copper, gold, and oil are important mineral resources. Mongolia is crossed north to south by a railroad linking Beijing with Russia. The region has an adequate system of roadways, although most roads are unpaved. Camels and yaks are often used in desert and mountain areas. Trade traditionally has been greater with Russia than with China but, with the growth of the Chinese economy since the late 20th cent. and greatly increased Chinese demand for minerals, China now is more important economically.


Great hordes of horsemen have repeatedly swept down from Mongolia into N China, establishing vast, although generally short-lived, empires. In the 1st cent. A.D. Mongolia was inhabited by various Turkic tribes who dwelt mainly along the upper course of the Orkhon River. It was also the home of the Hsiung-nu who ravaged (1st–5th cent.) N China. The Uigur Turks founded their first empire (744–856) with its capital near Karakorum in W Mongolia. The Khitan, who founded the Liao dynasty (947–1125) in N China, were from Mongolia. Many smaller territorial states followed until (c.1205) Jenghiz Khan conquered all Mongolia, united its tribes, and from his capital at Karakorum led the Mongols in creating one of the greatest empires of all time. His successors established the Golden Horde in SE Russia and founded the Hulagid dynasty of Persia and the Yuan dynasty (1260–1368) of China.

After the decline of the Mongol empire, Mongolia intruded less in world affairs. China, which earlier had gained control of Inner Mongolia, subjugated Outer Mongolia in the late 17th cent., but in the succeeding years struggled with Russia for control. Outer Mongolia finally broke away in 1921 to form the Mongolian People's Republic (now Mongolia). Inner Mongolia remained under Chinese control, although the Japanese conquered Rehe (1933), which they included in Manchukuo, and Chahar and Suiyuan (1937), which they formed into Mengjiang (Mongol Border Land). These areas were returned to China after World War II. In 1944, Tannu Tuva (see Tuva RepublicTuva Republic
or Tyva Republic
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), long recognized as part of Mongolia but under Russian influence since 1911, was incorporated within the USSR (now Russia). The Chinese Communists joined most of Inner Mongolia to N Rehe prov. and W Heilongjiang prov. to form the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region in 1949.




a historical region inhabited by the Mongols and first mentioned in historical sources in the eighth century. It was a Mongol ulus until the 13th century, when it became an early feudal state. The Mongol feudal empire, which included subjugated countries, was formed during the Mongol conquests of the 13th century.

During the feudal disintegration between the 15th and 17th centuries, Mongolia became a region of independent feudal domains.

It was divided into Eastern and Western Mongolia in the 15th century, Northern and Southern Mongolia in the 16th century, and Inner and Outer Mongolia under the Manchus, who ruled from the 17th to early 20th centuries. An independent Mongolian people’s state emerged in Outer Mongolia as a result of the Mongolian People’s Revolution of 1921; the Mongolian People’s Republic was created in 1924. After the creation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, Inner Mongolia became an autonomous region of China (its autonomy had been proclaimed in 1947).



Official name: Mongolia

Capital city: Ulaanbaatar

Internet country code: .mn

Flag description: Three equal, vertical bands of red (hoist side), blue, and red; centered on the hoist-side red band in yellow is the national emblem (soyombo - a columnar arrangement of abstract and geometric representation for fire, sun, moon, earth, water, and the yin-yang symbol)

Geographical description: Northern Asia, between China and Russia

Total area: 604,103 sq. mi. (1,566,500 sq. km.)

Climate: Desert; continental (large daily and seasonal tem­perature ranges)

Nationality: noun: Mongolian(s); adjective: Mongolian

Population: 2,951,786 (July 2007 CIA est.)

Ethnic groups: Mongol (mostly Khalkha) 85%, Turkic (mostly Kazakh) 7%, Tungusic 4.6%, other (including Chi­nese and Russian) 3.4%

Languages spoken: Mongolian, Kazakh, Russian, and Eng­lish

Religions: Tibetan Buddhist Lamaism 94%, Christian, Mus­lim, Shamanism 6%

Legal Holidays:

Independence DayNov 26
International Women's DayMar 8
Mother and Child DayJun 1
New Year's DayJan 1


1. a republic in E central Asia: made a Chinese province in 1691; became autonomous in 1911 and a republic in 1924; multiparty democracy introduced in 1990. It consists chiefly of a high plateau, with the Gobi Desert in the south, a large lake district in the northwest, and the Altai and Khangai Mountains in the west. Official language: Khalkha. Religion: nonreligious majority. Currency: tugrik. Capital: Ulan Bator. Pop.: 2 630 000 (2004 est.). Area: 1 565 000 sq. km (604 095 sq. miles)
2. a vast region of central Asia, inhabited chiefly by Mongols: now divided into the republic of Mongolia, the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region of China, and the Tuva Republic of S Russia; at its height during the 13th century under Genghis Khan
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005