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Mongolia is located in Northern Asia, between China and Russia.

Lowest Point: Hoh Nuur 518 m 

Highest Point: Nayramadlin Orgil (Huyten Orgil) 4,374 m

Capital: Ulaanbaatar 

Religion: Buddhist Lamaist 50%, none 40%, Shamanist and Christian 6%, Muslim 4%

Languages Spoken: Khalkha Mongol 90%, Turkic, Russian

See also: Languages spoken in Asia, Languages of the world

Introduction - Brief History
The Mongols gained fame in the 13th century when under Chinggis KHAN they conquered a huge Eurasian empire. After his death the empire was divided into several powerful Mongol states, but these broke apart in the 14th century. The Mongols eventually retired to their original steppe homelands and later came under Chinese rule. Mongolia won its independence in 1921 with Soviet backing. A Communist regime was installed in 1924. During the early 1990s, the ex-Communist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) gradually yielded its monopoly on power to the Democratic Union Coalition (DUC), which defeated the MPRP in a national election in 1996. Since then, parliamentary elections returned the MPRP overwhelmingly to power in 2000 and produced a coalition government in 2004.