Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
Chinese : 内蒙古自治区
Nèi Měnggǔ Zìzhìqū
Mongolian : OvormonggolAR.svg,
Öbür mongγol-un öbertegen zasaqu orun[1]
Abbreviations: 内蒙古[2]  (pinyin: Nèi Měnggǔ)
Inner Mongolia is highlighted on this map. The striped area is nominally part of Inner Mongolia, but is in fact administered by neighbouring Heilongjiang province.
Origin of name From the Mongolian öbür mongγol, where öbör can mean south, inner, front, bosom, breast.
Administration type Autonomous region
Capital Hohhot
Largest city Baotou
CPC Ctte Secretary Hu Chunhua
Chairman Bagatur
Area 1,183,000 km2 (457,000 sq mi) (3rd)
 - Latitude {{{Latitude}}}
 - Longitude {{{Longitude}}}
Population (2004)
 - Density		 23,840,000 (23rd)
20.2 /km2 (52 /sq mi) (28th)
GDP (2009)
 - per capita		 CNY 972.6 billion (15th)
CNY 37,287 (7th)
HDI (2008) 0.803 (high) (13th)
Ethnic composition Han - 79%
Mongol - 17%
Manchu - 2%
Hui - 0.9%
Daur - 0.3%
Prefecture-level 12 divisions
County-level 101 divisions
Township-level* 1425 divisions
ISO 3166-2 CN-15
Official website
http://www.nmg.gov.cn
(Simplified Chinese)
Source for population and GDP data:
《中国统计年鉴—2005》 China Statistical Yearbook 2005
ISBN 7503747382
Source for nationalities data:
《2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料》 Tabulation on nationalities of 2000 population census of China
ISBN 7105054255
*As at December 31, 2004
Template ■ Discussion ■ WikiProject China

Inner Mongolia (Mongolian: Oburmonggul.svg, Öbür mongγol; Chinese: 内蒙古; pinyin: Nèi Měnggǔ; officially romanized to Nei Mongol) is a Mongol autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the Republic of Mongolia, (Outer Mongolia) and the Russian Federation. Its capital is Hohhot and the largest city is Baotou.

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 the Republic of Mongolia and Russia. It is the third-largest subdivision of China spanning about 1,200,000 km² (463,000 sq mi) or 12% of China's total land area. It has a population of about 24 million as of 2004. The autonomous region was established in 1947. The majority of the population in the region are Han Chinese, with a substantial Mongol minority. The official languages are Standard Mandarin and Mongolian, the latter written in the classical alphabet.

Contents

Name

In Chinese, the region is known as "Inner Mongolia", where the terms of "Inner/Outer" are derived 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 öbür mongγol where öbör can mean south, inner, front, bosom, breast. Some Mongolians use the name "Southern Mongolia" in English as well.

History

Throughout most of history and time, central and western Inner Mongolia, especially the Hetao region, alternated in control between Chinese agriculturalists in the south and Xiongnu, Xianbei , Khitan, Jurchen, Tujue, and Mongol nomads of the north. Eastern Inner Mongolia is properly speaking a part of Manchuria , and its historical narrative consists more of alternations between different groups there rather than the struggle between nomads and Chinese agriculturalists.

During the Zhou Dynasty, central and western Inner Mongolia (the Hetao region and surrounding areas) were inhabited by nomadic peoples such as the Loufan, Linhu, and Dí, while eastern Inner Mongolia was inhabited by the Donghu. During the Warring States Period, King Wuling (340–295 BC) of the state of Zhao based in what is now Hebei and Shanxi provinces pursued an expansionist policy towards the region. After destroying the Dí state of Zhongshan in what is now Hebei province, he defeated the Linhu and Loufan and created the commandery of Yunzhong near modern Hohhot. King Wuling of Zhao also built a long wall stretching through the Hetao region. After Qin Shihuang created the first unified Chinese empire in 221 BC, he sent the general Meng Tian to drive the Xiongnu from the region, and incorporated the old Zhao wall into the Qin Dynasty Great Wall of China. He also maintained two commanderies in the region: Jiuyuan and Yunzhong, and moved 30,000 households there to solidify the region. After the Qin Dynasty collapsed in 206 BC, these efforts were abandoned.

During the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu sent the general Wei Qing to reconquer the Hetao region from the Xiongnu in 127 BC. After the conquest, Emperor Wu continued the policy of building settlements in Hetao to defend against the Xiong-Nu. In that same year he established the commanderies of Shuofang and Wuyuan in Hetao. At the same time, what is now eastern Inner Mongolia was controlled by the Xianbei, who would later on eclipse the Xiongnu in power and influence.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 AD), Xiongnu who surrendered to the Han Dynasty began to be settled in Hetao, and intermingled with the Han immigrants in the area. Later on during the Western Jin Dynasty, it was a Xiongnu noble from Hetao, Liu Yuan, who established the Han Zhao kingdom in the region, thereby beginning the Sixteen Kingdoms period that saw the disintegration of northern China under a variety of Han and non-Han (including Xiongnu and Xianbei) regimes.

The Sui Dynasty (581–618) and Tang Dynasty (618–907) re-established a unified Chinese empire, and like their predecessors they conquered and settled people into Hetao, though once again these efforts were aborted when the Tang empire began to collapse. Hetao (along with the rest of what now consists Inner Mongolia) was then taken over by the Khitan Empire (Liao Dynasty), founded by the Khitans, a nomadic people originally from what is now the southern part of Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia. They were followed by the Western Xia of the Tanguts, who took control of what is now the western part of Inner Mongolia (including western Hetao) . The Khitans were later replaced by the Jurchens, precursors to the modern Manchus, who established the Jin Dynasty over Manchuria and northern China.

Inner Mongolian desert

After Genghis Khan unified the Mongol tribes in 1206 and founded the Mongol Empire, the Tangut Western Xia empire was ultimately conquered in 1227, and the Jurchen Jin Dynasty fell in 1234. In 1271, Genghis grandson Khubilai established the Yuan Dynasty. Khubilai's summer capital Shangdu (aka Xanadu) was located near present-day Dolonnor. During that time Ongud and Khunggirad peoples dominated the area of Inner Mongolia. After the Yuan Dynasty was evicted by the Han -led Ming Dynasty in 1368, the Ming rebuilt the Great Wall of China at its present location, which roughly follows the southern border of the modern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (though it deviates significantly at the Hebei- Inner Mongolia border). The Ming established the Three Guards composed of the Mongols there. After the Tumu incident in 1450, Mongols flooded south from Northern Mongolia to Southern Mongolia. Thus from then on until 1635, Inner Mongolia was the center of the Northern Yuan Dynasty.[3]

The Manchus gained control of the Inner Mongolian tribes in the early 17th century, then invaded Ming Dynasty in 1644, bringing it under the control of their Qing Empire. Under the Manchu Qing Empire ( 1636–1912), Mongolia was administered in a different way for each region:

Ordinary Mongols were not allowed to travel outside their own leagues. While there had been Han Chinese farmers in what is now Inner Mongolia since the time of Altan Khan, mass settlement began in the late nineteenth century. The Manchus were becoming increasingly sinicized, and faced with the Russian threat, they began to encourage Han Chinese farmers to settle in both Mongolia and Manchuria. This policy has been followed by subsequent governments. The railroads that were being built in these regions were especially useful to the Han Chinese settlers. Land was either sold by Mongol Princes, or leased to Han Chinese farmers, or simply taken away from the nomads and given to Han Chinese farmers.

During the Republic of China era, Outer Mongolia regained independence. At the same time, Inner Mongolia was reorganized into provinces:

Some Republic of China maps still show this structure.

Manchuria came under the control of the Japanese puppet state Manchukuo in 1931, taking the Mongol areas in the Manchurian provinces (i.e. Hulunbuir and Jirim leagues) along. Rehe was also incorporated into Manchukuo in 1933, taking Juu Uda and Josutu leagues along with it. These areas were administered by Manchukuo until the end of World War II in 1945.

In 1937, open war broke out between the Republic of China and Japan. On December 8, 1937, Mongolian Prince De Wang declared the independence of the remaining parts of Inner Mongolia (i.e. the Suiyuan and Chahar provinces) as Mengkiang or Mengkukuo, and signed close agreements with Manchukuo and Japan, thereby turning Inner Mongolia into a puppet state of the Japanese Empire. The capital was established at Zhangbei (now in Hebei province), with the puppet government's control extending as far west as the Hohhot region. In August 1945, Mengkiang was taken by Soviet and Outer Mongolian troops during Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation.

Following the end of World War II, the Chinese Communists gained control of Manchuria with some Soviet support, and established the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 1947, following the Soviet model of nationalities policy. Initially the autonomous region included just the Hulunbuir region. Over the next decade, as the communists established the People's Republic of China and consolidated control over mainland China, Inner Mongolia was expanded westwards to include five of the six original leagues (except Josutu League, which remains in Liaoning province), the northern part of the Chahar region, by then a league as well (southern Chahar remains in Hebei province), the Hetao region, and the Alashan and Ejine banners. Eventually, near all areas with sizeable Mongol populations were incorporated into the region, giving present-day Inner Mongolia its elongated shape. The leader of Inner Mongolia during that time, as both regional CPC secretary and head of regional government, was Ulanhu.

During the Cultural Revolution, the administration of Ulanhu was purged, and a wave of repressions against the Mongol population of the autonomous region was initiated[4]. In 1969 much of Inner Mongolia was distributed among surrounding provinces, with Hulunbuir divided between Heilongjiang and Jilin, Jirim going to Jilin, Juu Uda to Liaoning, and the Alashan and Ejine region divided among Gansu and Ningxia. This was reversed in 1979.

Geography

Administrative divisions

Inner Mongolia is divided into 12 prefecture-level divisions. Until the late 1990s, most of Inner Mongolia's prefectural regions were known as Leagues (Chinese: 盟), a usage retained from Mongol divisions of the Qing Dynasty. Similarly, county-level divisions are often known as Banners (Chinese: 旗). Since the 1990s, numerous Leagues have converted into prefecture-level cities, although Banners remain. The restructuring led to the conversion of primate cities in most leagues to convert to districts administratively (Hailar, Jining, and Dongsheng). Some newly founded prefecture-level cities have chosen to retain the original name of League (Hulunbuir, Bayan Nur, and Ulanqab), some have adopted the Chinese name of their primate city (Chifeng, Tongliao), and one League, Ikh Juu, simply renamed itself Ordos. Despite these recent administrative changes, there is no indication that the Alxa, Hinggan, and Xilin Gol Leagues will convert to prefecture-level cities in the near future.

Map # Name Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin Mongolian Transcription from Mongolian Administrative Seat
Nei Mongol prfc map.png
— Prefecture-level city —
2 Bayan Nur 巴彦淖尔市 Bāyànnào'ěr shì Bayannagur.svg Bayannaγur Linhe District
3 Wuhai 乌海市 Wūhǎi shì Uhai.svg Üqai Haibowan District
4 Ordos 鄂尔多斯市 È'ěrduōsī shì Ordus.svg Ordos qota Dongsheng District
5 Baotou 包头市 Bāotóu shì Bugutu.svg Buγutu Kundulun District
6 Hohhot 呼和浩特市 Hūhéhàotè shì Kökeqota.svg Kökeqota Huimin District
7 Ulanqab 乌兰察布市 Wūlánchábù shì Ulagancab.svg Ulaγančabu Jining District
9 Chifeng 赤峰市 Chìfēng shì Ulaganqada.svg Ulaγanqada Hongshan District
10 Tongliao 通辽市 Tōngliáo shì n/a Töngliyao Horqin District
12 Hulunbuir 呼伦贝尔市 Hūlúnbèi'ěr shì Kolun buir.svg Kölün buir Hailar District
— League —
1 Alxa 阿拉善盟 Ālāshàn méng Alasa ayimag.svg Alaša ayimaγ Alxa Left Banner
8 Xilin Gol 锡林郭勒盟 Xīlínguōlè méng Sili-yin gool ayimag.svg Sili-yin γool ayimaγ Xilinhot
11 Hinggan 兴安盟 Xīng'ān méng Kingghan ayimagh.svg Kingγan ayimaγ Ulan Hot

Many of the prefecture-level cities were converted very recently from leagues.

The twelve prefecture-level divisions of Inner Mongolia are subdivided into 101 county-level divisions, including twenty-one districts, eleven county-level cities, seventeen counties, forty-nine banners, and three autonomous banners. Those are in turn divided into 1425 township-level divisions, including 532 towns, 407 townships, 277 sumu, eighteen ethnic townships, one ethnic sumu, and 190 subdistricts.

See the List of administrative divisions of Inner Mongolia for a complete list of county-level divisions.

Economy

Farming of crops such as wheat takes precedence along the river valleys. In the more arid grasslands, herding of goats, sheep and so on is a traditional method of subsistence. Forestry and hunting are somewhat important in the Greater Khingan ranges in the east. Reindeer herding is carried out by Evenks in the Evenk Autonomous Banner. More recently, growing grapes and winemaking have become an economic factor in the Wuhai area.

Inner Mongolian Theater

Inner Mongolia has abundance of resources especially coal, cashmere, natural gas, rare earth elements, and has more deposits of naturally occurring niobium, zirconium and beryllium than any other province-level region in China. However in the past, the exploitation and utilisation of resources were rather inefficient, which resulted in poor returns from rich resources. Inner Mongolia is also an important coal production base in north China. It plans to double annual coal output by 2010 (from the 2005 volume of 260 million tons) to 500 million tons of coal a year.[5]

Inner Mongolian Gym

Industry in Inner Mongolia has grown up mainly around coal, power generation, forestry-related industries, and so forth. Inner Mongolia now laid emphasis on six competitive industries, namely energy, chemicals, metallurgy, equipment manufacturing, processing of farm (including dairy) produce as well as hi-tech products. Well-known Inner Mongolian enterprises include companies such as ERDOS, Yili, and Mengniu.

The nominal GDP of Inner Mongolia in 2009 was 970 billion yuan (US$142 billion), a growth of 16.9% from 2008, with an average annual increase of 20% from the period 2003-2007. Its per capita GDP reached 37,287 yuan (US$5,460) in 2009. In 2008, Inner Mongolia's primary, secondary, and tertiary industries were worth 90.7 billion yuan, 427.1 billion yuan, and 258.4 billion yuan respectively. The urban per capita disposable income and rural per capita net income were 14,431 yuan and 4,656 yuan, up 16.6% and 17.8% respectively.[6]

As with much of China, economic growth has led to a boom in construction, including new commercial development and large apartment complexes.

As the winds in the grasslands are very strong, some private companies have set up wind parks in parts of Inner Mongolia such as Bailingmiao, Hutengliang and zhouzi.

Economic and Technological Development Zones

Huhehaote Export Processing Zone was established on June, 21th 2002 by State Council, which is located in the west of the Huhehaote, with a planning area of 2.2 sqkm. Industries encouraged in the export processing zone include Electronics Assembly & Manufacturing, Telecommunications Equipment, Garment and Textiles Production, Trading and Distribution, Biotechnology/Pharmaceuticals, Food/Beverage Processing, Instruments & Industrial Equipment Production, Medical Equipment and Supplies, Shipping/Warehousing/Logistics, Heavy Industry.[8]

Government and politics

Under the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, articles 112-122, autonomous regions have limited autonomy in both the political and economic arena. In theory, autonomous regions have more discretion in administering economic policy in the region in accordance with "national guidelines". In practice, however, the Chairman — who legally must be an ethnic minority and is usually ethnic Mongolian — is always kept in check by the more powerful Communist Party Regional Committee Secretary, who is usually from a different part of China and Han Chinese. The current party secretary is Chu Bo, a native of Anhui province.[9] The Inner Mongolian government and its subsidiaries follow roughly the same structure as that of a Chinese province. With regards to economic policy, as a part of increased federalism characteristics in China, Inner Mongolia has become more independent in implementing its own economic roadmap.

Demographics

See also: List of Chinese ethnic groups
Muslim-themed Street in Hohhot

Han Chinese are the largest ethnic group, constituting about 80% of the population. While the Hetao region along the Yellow River has always alternated between farmers from the south and nomads from the north, the most recent episode of Han Chinese migration began in the early 18th century with encouragement from the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and continued into the 20th century. Han Chinese live mostly in the Hetao region as well as various population centres in central and eastern Inner Mongolia.

Mongols are the second largest ethnic group, comprising about 17% of the population. They include many diverse Mongolian-speaking groups; groups such as the Buryats and the Oirats are also officially considered to be Mongols in China. Many of the traditionally nomadic Mongols have settled in permanent homes as their pastoral economy was collectivized during the Maoist Era.

Other ethnic groups include the Daur, the Evenks, the Oroqin, the Hui, the Manchus, and the Koreans.

Ethnic groups in Inner Mongolia, 2000 census[10]
Ethnicity 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.

Culture

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

The Han Chinese of Inner Mongolia speak a variety of dialects, depending on the region. The eastern parts tend to speak Northeastern Mandarin, which belong to the Mandarin group of dialects; those in the central parts, such as the Huang He valley, speak varieties of Jin, another subdivision of Chinese, due to its proximity to other Jin-speaking areas in China such as the Shanxi province. Cities such as Hohhot and Baotou both have their unique brand of Jin Chinese which are sometimes incomprehensible with dialects spoken in northeastern regions such as Hailar.

Mongols in Inner Mongolia speak a variety of dialects of the Mongolian language, including Chahar, Bairin, Ordos, Ejin-Alxa, Barghu-Buryat, etc.; the standard pronunciation of Mongolian in China is based on the Chahar dialect of the Plain Blue Banner, located in central Inner Mongolia. This is different from independent Mongolia, where the standard pronunciation is based on the Khalkha dialect. The Daur, Evenks, and Oroqin speak their own respective languages.

By law, all street signs, commercial outlets, and government documents must be bilingual, displaying both Mongolian and Chinese. There are three Mongolian TV channels in the Inner Mongolia Satellite TV network. A recent trend has also taken place with public transportation, where all announcements are also to be bilingual. Many ethnic Mongols, especially those from the newest generation, speak fluent Chinese, as Mongolian is beginning to recede in everyday use in urban areas. Ethnic Mongols in rural areas, however, have kept their traditions. In terms of written language, Inner Mongolia has retained the classic Mongol written script as opposed to Outer Mongolia's adoption of the Cyrillic alphabet.

The vast grasslands have always been symbolic of Inner Mongolia. Mongolian art often depicts the grassland in an uplifting fashion, emphasizing on the nomadic traditions of the Mongol people. The Mongols of Inner Mongolia practice many traditional forms of art. Inner Mongolian specialty cuisine, largely derived from the tradition of ethnic Mongols, consists of dairy-related products and hand-held lamb (手扒肉). In recent years franchises based on Hot pot had sprung up from Inner Mongolia, the most famous of which is Xiaofeiyang (小肥羊). Inner Mongolia is also known commercially for the brand names Mengniu and Yili, both of which began with the production of dairy products and ice cream.

Among the Han Chinese of Inner Mongolia, Jinju (晉劇) or Shanxi Opera is a popular traditional form of entertainment. See also: Shanxi.

Siqin Gaowa, a famous actress of China, is an ethnic Mongol native to Inner Mongolia.

A popular career in Inner Mongolia is circus acrobatics. The famous Inner Mongolia Acrobatic Troupe travels and performs with the renowned Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Tourism

The Five Pagoda Temple in Höhhot, a Buddhist temple.

In the capital city Hohhot:

Elsewhere in Inner Mongolia:

Chinese space programme

One of China's space vehicle launch facilities, Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) (simplified Chinese: 酒泉卫星发射中心), is located in the extreme west of Inner Mongolia, in the Alxa League's Ejin Banner, about 1,600 km from Beijing. It was founded in 1958, making it the PRC's first launch facility. More Chinese launches have occurred at Jiuquan than anywhere else. As with all Chinese launch facilities, it is remote and generally closed to the public. It is named as such since Jiuquan is the nearest urban centre, although Jiuquan is in the nearby province of Gansu. Many space vehicles have also made their touchdowns in Inner Mongolia. For example, the crew of Shenzhou 6 landed in Siziwang Banner, near Hohhot.

Education

Colleges and universities

All of the above are under the authority of the autonomous region government. Institutions without full-time bachelor programs are not listed.

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ The Cyrillic spelling, as used in Outer Mongolia, would be Өвөр Монголын Өөртөө Засах Орон (Övör Mongolyn Öörtöö Zasakh Oron).
  2. ↑ 内蒙古自治区区情
  3. ↑ CPAtwood-Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire, p.246
  4. ↑ David Sneath, "The Impact of the Cultural Revolution in China on the Mongolians of Inner Mongolia", in Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 28, No. 2 (May, 1994), pp. 409-430
  5. ↑ Inner Mongolia to double annual coal output by 2010
  6. ↑ Inner Mongolia's economy maintains a rapid growth momentum
  7. ↑ Baotou National Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Industiral Development Zone
  8. ↑ RightSite.asia | Huhehaote Export Processing Zone
  9. ↑ china.org.cn: Chu Bo
  10. ↑ 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)
  11. ↑ Hohhot Attraction

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