Where is Mongolia?

Where is Mongolia? It's not an uncommon question, as during the Communist years many considered Mongolia to be part of the Soviet Union when, in fact, it was a officically an independent state (albeit dominated by the Russians).

Mongolia is a landlocked country which lies between the southern border of Russia, and the northern border of China. While both these large countries 'swallowed' up a lot of smaller nations over the past 200 years, somehow Mongolia has managed to remain it's own country, and is now a free and independent country.

On the Russian side are the Siberian provinces of Buryatia and Tuva. Both the Buryat and the Tuvans are ethnic tribes similar to the Mongols, they once had their own countries but are now part of the Russian Federation.

On the Chinese side, Mongolia is bordered by Xinjiang province, and Chinese Inner Mongolia. The Mongols in Chinese Inner Mongolia have the same ethnicity as the Mongols in Mongolia, but Inner Mongolia is a part of China. Xinjiang provice was originally the soveriegnty of the Uighur people (a Muslim people who speak a Turkic language), but is now also part of China.

While Kazakhstan lies very close to Mongolia's western border, the two nations are over 30 miles away, and separated by Russia and China.

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