Mongolia

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%

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).