Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia

 Chinese Nei Mongol or Nei-meng-ku

Autonomous region (pop., 2002 est.: 23,790,000), China. Stretching some 1,800 mi (2,900 km) across north-northeastern China, it has an area of 454,600 sq mi (1,177,500 sq km); its capital is Hohhot. Mongols and Chinese make up the bulk of the population, most of which is concentrated in the agricultural belt near the Huang He (Yellow River). Inner Mongolia is an inland plateau lying at an elevation of about 3,300 ft (1,000 m); it is fringed by mountains and valleys. Its northern portion lies within the Gobi Desert, and its southern border is partly marked by the Great Wall. Inner Mongolia was separated from Mongolia (Outer Mongolia) in 1912 and was established as an autonomous region in 1947. Its harsh climate restricts intensive agriculture; some industrial development has occurred there.

---

Inner Mongolia

an autonomous region of NE China: consists chiefly of the Mongolian plateau, with the Gobi Desert in the north and the Great Wall of China in the south. Capital: Hohhot. Pop.: 23 800 000 (2003 est.). Area: 1 177 500 sq. km (459 225 sq. miles)

---

Mongolia, Inner 

(Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region), an administrative region in northern China. Area, 450,000 sq km, according to Chinese sources, such as the map of the administrative divisions of the People’s Republic of China published in 1971. Formerly the area of Inner Mongolia totaled 1,177,500 sq km. Population, 6.24 million (1972). The administrative center is Huhohaote.

Economy. The mainstay of the region’s economy is agriculture. Crop farming predominates over livestock raising in terms of number of people employed (85 percent of the population) and value of agricultural output. The principal crops are drought-resistant strains of cereals, chiefly spring wheat, kaoliang, millet, buckwheat, oats, and corn. Among important industrial crops are soybeans, sunflowers, hemp, sesame, flax, cotton, and sugar beets. Livestock-raising areas, consisting of vast natural pastures, occupy almost two-thirds of the territory. Cattle, sheep, goats, horses, camels, and, in agricultural regions, hogs are raised. Each year Inner Mongolia supplies China’s domestic market with a substantial quantity of wool, wool yarn, meat, and hides.

Industry developed after the victory of the people’s revolution in 1949, particularly during the first five-year plan (1953–57). The region’s sugar refining, leather, textile, chemical, mining, woodworking, cement, and metallurgical industries are of national importance. With the aid of the Soviet Union, a metallurgical combine and a plant for the production of metallurgical equipment have been built in Paotou. The Moscow-Ulan Bator-Peking trunkline crosses Inner Mongolia. Paotou is linked by rail with Peking.

I. KH. OVDIENKO

Historical survey. Inner Mongolia was once occupied by southern Mongol principalities, which in 1636 fell under the sway of the Manchus, who became the rulers of China. As part of China the region became known as Inner Mongolia. The duguilan movement arose here in the second half of the 19th century and gathered force under the influence of the Revolution of 1905–07 in Russia. The People’s Revolutionary Party of Inner Mongolia, founded in April 1925, led the revolutionary struggle of the people of Inner Mongolia under the direction of the Communist Party of China. During the 1930’s and 1940’s the people of Inner Mongolia resisted the Japanese imperialists, who occupied a large part of the region between 1931 and 1945, and opposed the creation of Mongolian puppet governments. In August 1945 the Soviet Army, together with the forces of the Mongolian People’s Republic and local partisan bands, liberated Inner Mongolia from the Japanese invaders. On May 1, 1947, the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region was established. It was expanded’to include Suiyiian Province in 1954, and it absorbed the Mongol regions of Kansu Province in 1956. By the early 1970’s the area of Inner Mongolia had been greatly reduced.