Mongols
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
      B. Tserendorj • D.Sükhbaatar • B. Rinchen Yanjmaa • Genghis Khan • A. Amar |
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| Total population | |||||||||
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| ~10,000,000 (~0.16% of the world population) |
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| Regions with significant populations | |||||||||
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| Languages | |||||||||
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Predominantly Mongolic languages; |
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| Religion | |||||||||
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Tibetan Buddhism and Shamanism.[1][2] |
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| Related ethnic groups | |||||||||
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Khalkha, Daur, Buryats,Tuvans, Hazara, Dörbed, Kalmyks, Oirats, Chahar, Tümed, Moghols, Aimak, Ordos, Bayad, Dariganga, Uriankhai, Üzemchin, Zakhchin |
The name Mongol (Mongolian: 
Mongγol; Cyrillic script: 
Монгол (help·info) Mongol) specifies one or several ethnic groups, now mainly located in Mongolia, China, and Russia.
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[edit] Definition
A narrow definition includes the Mongols proper, which can be roughly divided into eastern and western Mongols. In a wider sense, the Mongol people includes all people who speak a Mongolic language, such as the Kalmyks of eastern Europe.
The name "Mongol" appeared first in 8th century records of the Chinese Tang dynasty as a tribe of Shiwei, but then only resurfaced in the 11th century during the rule of the Khitan. At first it was applied to some small and still insignificant tribes in the area of the Onon River. After the fall of Liao Dynasty in 1125, the Mongols became a leading steppe tribe. However, their wars with the Jin Dynasty and Tatars weakened them severely. In the 13th century, it grew into an umbrella term for a large group of Mongolic and Turkic tribes united under the rule of Genghis Khan under a same identity (mostly cultural).[3] With the expansion of the Mongol Empire, the Mongols ressetled almost all over Eurasia as were there Tatar-Mongol communities in Egypt and Delhi in 13-14th centuries. With the break of the Empire, the dispersed Mongols quickly adopted the cultures surrounding them and assimilated, forming parts of Tatars (not confused with a tribe in ancient Mongolia), Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Yugurs and Moghuls. However, most of the Mongols remained in their homeland Mongolia. In the 15th century, they began to split as the Four Oirads or the Western Mongols began to challenge the Eastern Mongols' rule. Soon after the death of Esen Tayisi in 1454, the Oirad alliance collapsed, and their migrations to the west began. The Eastern Mongols and Oirads revived in the late 15 century and the early 17th century respectively.
The specific origin of the Mongolic languages and associated tribes is unclear. Some researchers have proposed a link to languages like Tungusic and Turkic, which are often included alongside Mongolic in a hypothetical group called Altaic languages, but this grouping is controversial.
[edit] Geographic distribution
Today, people of Mongol origin live in Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia), Russia, and a few other central Asian countries.
The differentiation between tribes and peoples (nationalities) is handled differently depending on the country. The Tumed, Chahar, Ordos, Bargut (or Barga), Buryats, Dörböd (Dörvöd, Dörbed), Torguud, Dariganga, Üzemchin (or Üzümchin), Bayid, Khoton, Myangad (Mingad), Zakhchin (Zakchin), Darkhad, and Oirats (or Öölds or Ölöts) are all counted as tribes of the Mongols.
[edit] Mongolia
The population of Mongolia consists of 92.6% Mongols, numbering approximately 2.7 million. From the middle ages to early modern period the Khalkha, Uriankhai and Buryats were counted as eastern Mongols while the Oirats, living mainly in the Altay region, belonged to the western Mongols.
[edit] China
The Chinese census of 2000 counted 5.8 million Mongols (according to the narrow definition above). Most of them live in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, followed by Liaoning province. Small numbers can also be found in provinces near those two.
Other peoples speaking Mongolic languages are the Daur, Monguor, Dongxiang, Bonan, and parts of the Yugur. Those do not officially count as part of the Mongol nationality, but are recognized as nationalities of their own.
[edit] Russia
In Russia, the Buryats belong to the eastern Mongols. The western Mongols include the Oirats in the Russian Altay and the Kalmyks at the northern side of the Caspian Sea, where they make up 53.3% of the population of Kalmykia.[4]. The Altay people are ethnic Mongols, but speak a Turkic language. Together they amount to roughly a million people.
[edit] Gallery
 A Mongolian musician |
 Mongolian women |
 Dongxiang boys |
 Kalmyks |
 Altan Khan of the Tumed |
 Dagvadorj Dolgorsuren (Asashoryu) |
 Mongolian women |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b The Mongolian Ethnic Group (China.org.cn June 21, 2005)
- ^ China Mongolian, Mongol Ethnic Minority, Mongols History, Food
- ^ "Mongolia: Ethnography of Mongolia". Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-27420/Mongolia#394579.hook. Retrieved on 2007-07-22..
- ^ "Kalmyks". World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples. 2005. http://www.minorityrights.org/?lid=2497. Retrieved on 2008-05-18.
[edit] External links
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