Signs of human habitation in Mongolia date back to the Stone Age. By the third century BC, tribal alliances had been formed which were looking to move south into China. Chinese historians record the repulsion of an invasion from the north by people known as the Xiongnu. Over the next 300 years, a series of fortifications – which eventually became the Great Wall of China – was built to repel the Xiongnu’s repeated incursions. By the middle of the first century AD, the Han Chinese had finally suppressed the invaders. A series of dynasties held sway over the Mongolian region during the next 1000 years, without ever truly dominating what was now a disparate group of nomadic tribes. The better-organised Chinese, such as the Tang dynasty, exerted a considerable influence over the region. The first Mongolian state was established in the early 13th century under the leadership of Temujin (Genghis Khan) who managed to unite the Mongol tribes. His armies, and those of his successors, swept through and occupied Asia and Eastern Europe and threatened to engulf Western Europe as well. At its zenith, the empire stretched from Vietnam to Hungary. Genghis Khan – ‘the man of the millennium’ to many Mongolians – will now be celebrated by a vast monument complex in Ulan Bator.

Genghis Khan’s grandson, Kublai Khan, became the first emperor of the Yuan dynasty in China in 1279. Mongol control of China lasted until 1367; from 1380 its possessions to the West were gradually reconquered and, by the end of the 14th century, the empire had disintegrated. Despite brief periods of resurgence under some of the great Khans (Altan, Dayan, Galdan) who forged temporary unity, the Mongol tribes generally reverted to their traditional fractiousness. Mongolia then became a regional pawn squeezed between the two rising superpowers on the Asian continent: Russia and China.

At the end of the 17th century, during which the Russians were preoccupied with developments in Europe, the Manchu dynasty in China took control of the whole of the historic Mongol territory, comprising what became known as Inner and Outer Mongolia. The former is now an autonomous region within the People’s Republic of China; the latter became the independent state of Mongolia. Mongolian independence was achieved, with Russian support, in 1911 under the leadership of the so-called ‘Living Buddha’ Jebsten Damba Khutukhtu. China attempted to reassert its rule following the Russian Revolution of 1917 but was beaten back in 1921, this time with Soviet help. A short-lived restoration of the traditional feudal Buddhist monarchy was followed in 1924 by the declaration of a People’s Republic, under the Mongol Ardyn Khuvsgatt Nam (MAKN, Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party).

China finally recognised Mongolian independence in 1946. During the Cold War, Mongolia was essentially a buffer state between the two great antagonists of the communist world. Though allied to Russia, the Mongolians were careful to maintain good relations with the Chinese. Early in 1990, following developments in the USSR, the MAKN ceded its monopoly of political power and promised multi-party elections within months. The MAKN has held power continuously ever since, with the exception of a brief hiatus in 1996-97 when an alliance of opposition parties took power under the banner of the Democratic Alliance. Infighting brought its tenure to a swift end. At the most recent polls in 2001, the MAKN’s Natsigiyn Bagabandi comfortably won the presidency while the party took all but four seats in the Great Hural. Nambaryn Enkhbayar was appointed Prime Minister.

Irrespective of the individual premier or party in power, domestic policy remains fixed on a course of gradual reform: this covers social policy as well as economic matters. Mongolia is undergoing dramatic change with the demise of a traditional nomadic lifestyle that, a generation ago, was lived by a third of the population. Animal herding was always a marginal occupation given the rough terrain and unforgiving climate; recent natural disasters and low agricultural prices have made it less viable than ever. Mongolia’s cities are growing rapidly as people leave the land. Another important change has been the resurgence of Buddhism, which was largely suppressed under Communism; Mongolians are adherents of the Dalai Lama, although this is handled with great caution by the country’s leadership for fear of upsetting the Chinese.

Mongolia’s foreign relations are necessarily dominated by its giant neighbours, China and Russia, and based on bilateral friendship treaties. However, the Mongolians have also quietly developed closer links with the West; in September 2003, a small but symbolically significant contingent of Mongolian troops was despatched to support the US-led military operation in Iraq.

Under the new constitution, which took effect in February 1992, Mongolia has a unicameral legislature, the 76-member Great Hural, which is elected for a four-year term and appoints ministers who hold executive power. The President, who is also elected for a four-year term, is head of state. Since May 1994, Mongolia has been divided into 21 provinces and one municipality (Ulaan Baatar), with appointed Governors and elected local assemblies.