Mongolia is a landlocked country in central Asia, located between Russia and China. It is vast and sparsely populated, with a population of 2,751,314 (according to 2004 estimates) living on territory roughly twice the size of Texas. Until the 1960s, the majority of the population was engaged in traditional nomadic herding activities, but since then there has been a shift toward urban centers, in particular the capital of Ulaanbaatar.

Brief History

Mongolia is best known for its conquests in the thirteenth century under the tribal leader Genghis Khan (c. 1167–1227), who unified the Mongol tribes in 1206 and led them in a series of conquests that established the largest land empire the world has ever known. Genghis Khan's grandson Kublai Khan (1215–1294) conquered China, and the Mongols were eventually absorbed into the Chinese system of government. Their empire disintegrated, and Mongolia was ultimately subjected to rule by China's Manchu Empire. After the Chinese...