The country Mongolia is in Northern Asia, .
It is 46 degrees north, and 105 degrees east.
Its climate is desert, with large daily and seasonal .
temperature ranges. The terrain of Mongolia is mainly vast semidesert and desert .
plains, grasslands, and mountains in the west and southwest. The famous Gobi Desert .
is in south-central Mongolia .
In 1203 AD, a single Mongolian state was formed, based on nomadic tribal .
groupings under the leadership of Genghis Khan. He and his successors conquered .
nearly all of Asia and European Russia and sent armies as far as central Europe and .
Southeast Asia. Genghis Khan's grandson Kublai Khan conquered China and .
established the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368 AD), and gained fame in Europe through the .
writings of Marco Polo. .
Although Mongol-led confederations sometimes showed wide political power .
over their conquered territories, their strength declined rapidly after the Mongol dynasty .
in China was overthrown in 1368. The Manchus, a tribal group which conquered China .
in 1644 and formed the Qing dynasty, were able to bring Mongolia under Manchu control .
in 1691 of Outer Mongolia, when the Khalkha Mongol nobles swore an oath of .
allegiance to the Manchu emperor. In 1727, Russia and Manchu China concluded the .
Treaty of Khiakta, delimiting the border between China and Mongolia that exists in a .
large part today.
Outer Mongolia was a Chinese province from 1691 to 1911, a self ruled state .
under Russian protection through 1912-1919, and again a Chinese province .
through 1919-1921. As Manchu authority in China declined, and as Russia and Japan .
confronted each other, Russia gave arms and diplomatic support to nationalists among .
the Mongol religious leaders and nobles. The Mongols accepted Russian support and .
proclaimed their independence of Chinese rule in 1911, shortly after a successful .
Chinese rebellion against the Manchus. By agreements signed in 1913 and 1915, the .
