Mongolia is a landlocked country located in East Asia, situated between Russia and China. It has a population of around 3 million people and the official language is Mongolian. The majority of the population are Buddhists, with some other religious denominations also present.
The military of Mongolia consists of three branches; Army, Air Force and Special Forces. The total active personnel in the military are around 30,000 people. The Army has around 15,000 personnel with a focus on ground operations and border protection. It also has an Air Force with 12,000 personnel for air support operations as well as four helicopters for reconnaissance missions and logistics purposes. The Special Forces have around 3,000 personnel focusing on counter-terrorism operations within Mongolia’s borders.
Mongolia is not a member of any international military or defense organization but does maintain close ties with other countries in the region such as Russia and China. See naturegnosis to learn more about the country of Mongolia.
Defense
The defense, which is based on general military duty with an initial service of 12 months, comprises (2008) 8,600 men and has 6 regiments, 13 armed helicopters, etc. The reserves comprise a total of 137,000 men. Semi-military security and border forces amount to 7,200 men. The material is outdated and of Soviet origin.
Defense costs decreased in 1985-2006 from 9.0% to 0.8% of GDP. To see related acronyms about this country, please check ABBREVIATIONFINDER where you can see that MNG stands for Mongolia. Mongolia participates in UN peacekeeping operations in nine countries, including Iraq (MNF), Liberia (UNMIL) and Serbia (KFOR).
The name Mongol appeared for the first time in a record of the various tribes made during the T’ang dynasty. Then it disappeared again until the 11th century, when the kidan people came to rule in Manchuria and northern China. Thus, they had almost all of present-day Mongolia under their control.
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The Kidan people created the Chinese Liao Dynasty (907-1125) and ruled Mongolia by keeping various tribes divided. The historical sources speak of the existence of a nation made up of all the Mongols, though it did not include all the peoples who spoke this language.
Kidan was followed by the Juchen people, who were again followed by the Tartars before the era of Genghis Khan’s (Temujin) era. He was born in 1162 in a clan with long traditions of power as the grandson of Qabul (Kublai Khan), who was the supreme ruler of the Mongols at the time. Due to his political and military capabilities, Temujin was appointed chief of all Mongols in 1206 with the title of Genghis Khan. From this point, his armies invaded northern China and reached Beijing. In 1215, the Mongol empire extended to Tibet and Turkestan.
At the death of Genghis Khan in 1227, the Mongol empire fell apart due to conflicts between his successors. The process of dissolution continued until China’s throne in 1368 came into the hands of the Ming dynasty. China invaded Mongolia and set fire to the ancient capital, Karakorum, but without being able to bring the territory under its control.
In order to establish control over the territories outside the Great Great Wall in the 15th and 16th centuries, military mobility was required among the nomads and occupation of the cities that attracted trade as well as supplies of food from the local peasants.
From the far western corner of Mongolia, the oyrat people began to gain control of the country. They conquered some oases in Sinkian and Tibet, where the Chinese central power was weakest. At the same time, they brought trade and administrative experience to the tribal organization of the Mongols.
During the same period, the separation between the oyrat and the jealous people took place. The latter group was later driven in the formation of Outer Mongolia. The Khalkha people in the north and the Sajaris in the south retained a tribal league, while the succession passed to the ordo people under the rule of Altan Khan (1543-83).
In order to preserve their power, the Mongol princes recognized the advantage of exploiting a religious ideology, but occupying the Chinese religion they ran the danger of being engulfed by this empire. Therefore, they introduced Tibetan Buddhism, which did not pose the same risk, and whose written language was more accessible.
Altan Khan therefore invited a senior cleric from Tibet, whom the Mongols called the Dalai Lama. The merging of religious interests with the state was accomplished by appointing an heir to the Jalja clan as the first “reincarnation” of the Living Buddha in Urga.
After consolidating their power in Manchuria, in 1644 the Manchurians conquered the Chinese throne in alliance with Mongolian tribes from the Far East. Prior to conquering Beijing, the Manchurians had control of southern Mongolia, which has since been referred to as Inner Mongolia.