Inner Mongolia

autonomous region of China

Inner Mongolia (Mongolian: , Öbür mongɣul; Chinese: 内蒙古; pinyin: Nèi Měnggǔ; occasionally romanized to Nei Mongol) is the Mongol autonomous region of the People's Republic of China and lies in the north of the country.

Inner Mongolia in China

Inner Mongolia borders, from east to west, the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and Gansu, while to the north it borders Mongolia and Russia. It is the third-largest subdivision of China spanning almost 300 million acres or 12% of China's land area. It has a population of about 24 million. The capital is Hohhot.

The majority of the population in the region are Han Chinese, with a large Mongol minority. The official languages are Standard Mandarin and Mongolian, the latter written in the classical alphabet.

Inner Mongolian desert

Name change

In Chinese, the region is known as "Inner Mongolia", where the terms of "Inner/Outer" come from Manchu dorgi/tulergi. Inner Mongolia is distinct from Outer Mongolia, which was a term used by the Republic of China and previous governments to refer to what is now the independent state of Mongolia plus the Republic of Tuva in Russia. In Mongolian, the region is known as öbör mongγol where öbör can mean south, inner, front, bosom, breast.

Demography change

 
A KFC in Hohhot, the capital; All street signs must be bilingual with Mongol and Chinese

Han Chinese are the largest ethnic group, about 80% of the population. Mongols are the second largest ethnic group, about 17% of the population. There are more Mongols living in Inner Mongolia than in the independent nation of Outer Mongolia.

Ethnic groups in Inner Mongolia, 2000 census[1]
Nationality Population Percentage
Han Chinese 18,465,586 79.17%
Mongol 3,995,349 17.13%
Manchu 499,911 2.14%
Hui 209,850 0.900%
Daur 77,188 0.331%
Evenks 26,201 0.112%
Koreans 21,859 0.094%
Russians 5,020 0.022%

Excludes members of the People's Liberation Army in active service.

Tourism change

 
The Five Pagoda Temple in Höhhot, a Buddhist temple.

In the capital city Hohhot:

Elsewhere in Inner Mongolia:

Notes and references change

  1. Department of Population, Social, Science and Technology Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of China (国家统计局人口和社会科技统计司) and Department of Economic Development of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission of China (国家民族事务委员会经济发展司), eds. Tabulation on Nationalities of 2000 Population Census of China (《2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料》). 2 vols. Beijing: Nationalities Publishing House (民族出版社), 2003. (ISBN 7-105-05425-5)
  2. Hohhot Attraction

Other websites change

  Inner Mongolia travel guide from Wikivoyage