The Mongols[a] are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia and China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of Mongolic peoples.
Mongol, member of a Central Asian ethnographic group of closely related tribal peoples who live mainly on the Mongolian Plateau and share a common language and nomadic tradition. Their homeland is now divided into the independent country of Mongolia and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China.
Mongol leader Genghis Khan (1162-1227) rose from humble beginnings to establish the largest land empire in history.
The Mongol Empire (1206-1368) was founded by Genghis Khan (r. 1206-1227), first Great Khan or 'universal ruler' of the Mongol peoples. Genghis forged the empire by uniting nomadic tribes of the Asian steppe and creating a devastatingly effective army with fast, light, and highly coordinated cavalry.
Some isolated Mongol languages are spoken in the Chinese provinces of Heilongjiang (NE China), Gansu and Qinghai (West Central China) and Xiaxiang (Western China). Mogholi is spoken in Afghanistan by the descendants of Mongols settled there during the Mongol Empire.
Originating from the Mongolian Plateau, these nomadic warriors, led by the legendary Genghis Khan, forged one of the most expansive empires in the world – the Mongol Empire.
Ulaanbaatar is Mongolia’s capital and largest city and home to approximately 45% of the country’s population. Ethnic Mongols comprise approximately 94.9% of the population, Kazakh 5% and Turkic, Chinese and Russians make up the remaining population.
The Mongol Empire, once the largest contiguous empire in history, was not defeated by a single external enemy but gradually fragmented due to internal strife, succession disputes, and the establishment of separate Mongol states, known as khanates.