Mongolia

Mongolia is located in eastern-central Asia, bordered by China and Russia. It is the second largest land locked country in the world, the first being Kyrgyzstan. At over 971,896 square miles in area and with a population of only 2.9 million people, Mongolia is the nineteenth largest and most sparsely populated country in the world. With very little arable land, Mongolia has traditionally been dominated by a pastoral economy and nomadic population. Though mining and industry have increased considerably in recent years, up to a third of the population remains nomadic. The predominant religion is Tibetan Buddhism, which has seen a resurgence in popularity since religious worship was legalized again after the fall of the communist government in 1991. Today, Mongolia has a unicameral parliamentary democracy. In 2005 George W. Bush became the first sitting United States president to visit Mongolia.

During the Middle Ages in Europe, Mongolia became the largest contiguous land empire in the world. Temujin Genghis Khan united the warring tribes of Mongolia and expanded it in all directions, conquering China, Russia, most of central Asia, half of the Middle East and some of Eastern Europe through the effective use of archers on horseback.

Contrary to what was believed in the Eurocentric previous century, Mongolia was not totally a barbaric state. Instead, it advanced military science, law and governance and international trade. Genghis Khan was known to murder whole communities who opposed him, but that was his last recourse. He would spare those who surrendered. Sure, his brutality sounds like terrorism in our day and age, but it was not necessarily less heinous than the Spanish Inquisition and the Holocaust. Genghis Khan practiced diplomacy, promoted international cooperation and respected religions.http://altaica.ru/shengl.htm