China: Great Dragon Rising - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 333

and foreign as well as Hong Kong media have been de-
nied access to Tibet.
It is clear that the Chinese are attempting to margin-
alize the Tibetans and make Tibet more livable for the
Han. Tibet' is new name is a metaphor for its relationship
with China: Xizang—Our Western Storehouse.

and 64 C) in July . Winter is long, lasting from

October to May . Ulaanbaator (Ulan Bator) is the coldest
capital in the world, with winter temperatures sinking to
as low as -50

F (18

C). Precipitation is limited, varying
between 10 and 20 inches (25-51 cm). The Chinese used
to refer to Mongolia as Han-hai : “dry sea.”

F (-45

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Cultural Mongolia is much larger than indicated by cur-
rent political boundaries. There are many Mongol tribes
speaking various dialects, and several of these live outside
Mongolia and China' s Inner Mongolia. These various war-
ring groups were unified under Genghis Khan in 1206.
Inner and Outer Mongolia are political designations
dating from the Manchu Dynasty (1644-1911). In 1622,
the tribes of South and East Mongolia allied with China.
This is why China claims legitimacy over Nei Mongol. In
1689, the T Treaty of Nerchinsk laid down the frontiers be-
tween Russia and China. At that time Mongolia was part
of China. T Two years later, the Mongols agreed to pay a
yearly tribute to the emperor known as the “Nine
Whites”—eight white horses and one white camel. Mon-
golia then became known as Outer Mongolia. These his-
toric connections provide rationale for China' s notions of
hegemony over this region.
Outer Mongolia persisted until 1911, when it be-
came an autonomous monarchy ruled by a religious
leader, a Lama-King. However, it soon fell under the in-
fluence of Soviet communism and in 1921 was taken
over by the Mongolian People' s Party . With the help of
the Russians, the People' s Republic of Mongolia was pro-
claimed in 1924, and Mongolia became the world' s sec-
ond communist nation. Mongolia remained a Soviet
satellite until the collapse of the U.S.S.R. in 1990.

Mongolia: In Range of the
Dragon's Breath

Mongolia, a landlocked country of 2.7 million and one of
the world' is most sparsely populated countries, is three
times the size of France and four times the size of Califor-
nia. Here in this remote and arid land, livestock outnumber
people 12 to 1. Mongolia, lacking in infrastructure, modern
industrial skills, and managerial knowledge, is struggling to
develop its economy in light of its 1990 freedom from
Soviet control. It was the first country in Asia to experience
a bloodless transition from communism to democracy .

THE PHYSICAL LANDSCAPE
Mongolia' is physical environment is characterized by
extremes as well as fragility . Well-watered mountains in
the west and northwest descend to steppe on the east-
ern plateau. Steppe lands graduate into the Gobi—
semidesert and desert ( gobi means “waterless place” in
Mongolian). Rivers are concentrated in northern Mongolia
but flow to the Arctic, the Pacific, or into landlocked
basins. The Gobi has no perennial rivers, therefore un-
derground wells are important. However, most of these
freeze in winter. Soviet-installed pumps have fallen apart,
and spare parts are not available. Getting water is prob-
lematic in the arid regions. At other times, dry river beds
are subject to flash floods.
During the Mesozoic Period, much of the Gobi was
swamp and favored by dinosaurs. In the early 1920s, the
world' s first known dinosaur egg was discovered here. In
1993, a 75-million-year-old fossilized embryo of a meat-
eating dinosaur was found in the western Gobi, a region
rich in vertebrate fossils.
Soil erosion is common throughout Mongolia. In
many areas, soils are only a few inches thick and overlie
granite. Dessicating winds easily whip up the earth,
thereby filling the air with dust and leaving the ground
barren. Overgrazing contributes to the problem.
Mongolia has an extreme continental climate with
sharp fluctuations in temperatures both seasonally and
diurnally . T Temperatures average 15

SOVIET IMPACTS
The Soviets' chief aim was to transform pastoral Mongo-
lia into a source of raw materials for Siberian industrial
efforts. Concerted attempts were also made to settle both
rural dwellers and urban workers out of their traditional
gers (round felt or canvas dwellings) and into multisto-
ried buildings associated with industrialization and re-
gional development. By 1981, more than half of
Mongolia' s population was classified as urban as com-
pared to less than 22 percent in 1956.
A major contribution to this rapid urbanization was
the expansion of Ulaanbaatar with multistoried suburbs
encroaching on ger communities. Second, administrative F (-9 C) in January