Mongolia, an Asiatic country, now a part of China, situated between lat. 35° and 52° N. and long. 82° and 123° E., is bounded by the Russian government of Ir- kutsk in Siberia, N.E. by Mantchuria, S. by the Chinese provinces of Chili and Shan-si and the Yellow River, S.W. by Kansu, and W. by Cobdo and Hi, and has an area of 1,400,000 square miles, with a population of 2,000,000. See China.
Geographical Features. — It is chiefly a high plain, 3000 feet above the sea, almost destitute of wood and water. In the central part is the great sandy desert of Gobi, which stretches from N.E. to S.W., with an area estimated at 600,000 square miles. The chief moun- tain ranges of Mongolia are the Altai and its various subordinate chains, which extend eastward, under the names of Tangnu, Khangai, and Kenteh, as far as the Amur; and the Alashan and Inshan ranges, which commence in lat. 42° N. and long. 107° E., and run N.E. and N. to the Amur, in lat. 53° N. The rivers of Mon- golia are chiefly in the north. The Selenga, Orkhon, and Tula unite their streams and flow into Lake Bai- kal. The Kerlon and Onon rise near each other, on opposite sides of the Kenteh range, and flow in a N.E. direction to the Amur. In the south, the Siramuren and its branches unite in the Lian River. Lakes are numerous, and some of them are large. South of the desert of Gobi are the Oling and Dzaring, and the Ko- ko-nor or Blue Sea, which, according to the Chinese ac- counts, is 190 miles in length and 60 in breadth. In the N.W. part of the country lakes abound, the largest of which are the Upsa-nor, Altai-nor, Alak-nor, and the Iki-ural. Mongolia is divided into four principal re-
gions : 1, Inner Mongolia, lying between the great wall and the desert of Gobi ; 2, Outer Mongolia, between the desert and the Altai mountains, and reaching from the Inner Hingan to the Tien-shan ; 3, the country about Koko-nor; 4, Uliassutai and its dependencies. Inner jMongolia is divided into 6 corps and 24 tribes, which are again divided into 49 standards, each comprising about 2000 families and commanded by hereditary princes. The Kortchin and the Ortus are the princi- pal tribes. Another large tribe, the Tsakhars, occupy the region immediately north of the great wall. Outer ]\Iongolia is divided into 4 circles, each of which is gov- erned by a khan, or prince, who claims descent from Genghis Khan. The Khalkas is the principal tribe, and their 4 khanates are divided into 86 standards, each of which is restricted to a particular territory, from which it is not allowed to wander. The country about Lake Koko-nor is occupied by Turguths, Hoshoits, Khal- kas, and other tribes, arranged under 29 standards. Uli- assutai is a town of 2000 houses, in the western part of Mongolia, and lies in a well-cultivated valley upon the River Iro. Its dependent territories comprise 1 1 tribes of Khalkas, divided into 31 standards {Amer. Cjjclop.).
But little is accurately known of the natural history of Mongolia, except that its immense plains and gloomy forests are inhabited by multitudes of wild animals. The camel, double-humped or Bactrian, exists in both the wild and domesticated state. In the latter condi- tion it is the cow and horse of that region. It gives milk excellent in qualitj', and from it butter and cheese are prepared, and at the same time it is the camel which serves the Mongolian frequently as a beast of burden, etc. Very little of Mongolian soil is fit for culti- vation, rain or snow rareh' falling in sufficient quanti- ties, except on the acclivities of the mountain ranges. It is noticed, however, that Avherever agriculture has been attempted the climate has been more or less in- fluenced, and changes have been wrought ; as e. g. iu Southern Mongolia, where the Ghinese, far advanced beyond the Mongols proper in culture, introduced agri- culture, Avith the cultivation of cereals, which formerly did not grow. As a rule, the winter lasts nine months, and is suddenly succeeded by three months of intense heat.
Inhabitants. — The natives of Mongolia are a part of the Mongolian race, a division of mankind numerous and widely spread— according to Prof. Dieterici's esti- mate, in 1859, counting as many as 528,000,000 souls, or about half the human race ; the second in the classifica- tion of Blumenbach, and corresponding in almost every respect with the branch designated as Turanian by more recent ethnologists. See Origin of Man. Under the designation of Mongolians are included not only the Mongols proper, but the Chinese and Indo-Chinese, Thi- betans, Tartars of all kinds, Burmese, Siamese, Japanese, Esquimaux, Samoieds, Finns, Lapps, Turks, and even Magyars. Collectively, they are the great nomadic people of the earth, as distinguished from the Arj-ans, Shemites, and Karaites. The physical characteristics of the Mongolians in their primitive state are thus de- scribed by Dr. Latham in his Bescn'jjtive Ethnohgy : " The face of the Mongolian is broad and flat. This is because the nasal bones are depressed and the cheek- bones stand out laterally ; they are not merely project- ing, for this thej"- might be without giving much breadth to the face, inasmuch as they might stand for;vard. . . . The distance between the eyes is great, the eyes them- selves being oblique, and their carunculai being concealed. The eyebrows form a low and imperfect arch, black and scanty. The iris is dark, the cornea yellow. The com- plexion is tawny, the stature low. The ears are large, standing out from the head; the hps thick and fleshy rather than thin, the teeth somewhat oblique in their insertion, the forehead low and flat, and the hair lank and thin." Of course, such a description as this cannot be understood as applying to the more civilized nations of Mongol origin, such as the Turks and Magyars, es-