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Article: Who were the Mongols?
- Article from:
- Calliope
- Article date:
- April 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Mongol people have inhabited the vast regions of Central Asia for thousands of years. They speak a language of the Altaic family, which is related to Turkish. Modern Mongolia is the homeland of the descendants of Genghis Khan, but people related to them live today in the countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, as well as China and Russia.
Mongolia is a high plateau, averaging a mile in elevation, with the lofty Tannu-Ola Mountains to the north and the Altai range to the southwest. Most of this area is grassland, too dry for agriculture but suitable for grazing and for raising the horses that are an integral part of Mongol culture ...