Mongolia is the world's largest landlocked country, location inEast Asia, it is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. Much of its area is covered by grassy steppe, with mountains to the north and west and the Gobi Desert to the south.
The territory of modern-day Mongolia has been ruled by various nomadic empires, In 1206 Genghis Khan founded the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous land empire in history. His grandson Kublai Khan conquered China proper and established the Yuan dynasty.
The empire stretched from modern day Poland in the West to Korea in the East, and Siberia in the North to Vietnam in the south. After the collapse of the Yuan, the Mongols retreated from China, returning to Mongolia.
The Manchu-founded Qing dynasty absorbed Mongolia in the 17th century. After the collapse of the Qing dynasty, Mongolia achieved independence from the Republic of China in 1921, soon becoming a satellite state of the Soviet Union. After the anti-communist revolutions of 1989, Mongolia conducted its own peaceful democratic revolution in early 1990. This led to a multi-party system, a new constitution of 1992, and transition to a market economy.