Mongolia - Mongolia A landlocked country sandwiched between...

Mongolia
A landlocked country sandwiched between Russia and China, Mongolia is sparsely populated,
with fewer than 3 million inhabitant spread over a territory more than twice the size of Texas. It
is home to a peaceful people, and hasn't caught the world's attention for good or ill in the past
half-millennium. And yet, Mongolia was once the center of an empire that ruled the Old World
from the Danube to the Pacific Ocean.
Because of its location in the great Eurasian steppeland, Mongolia has been inhabited by horse-
riding nomads since prehistoric times. These nomads, usually divided in rival tribes, were
sometimes unified under a strong visionary ruler, and at such times engaged in wars of conquest
against the Chinese, their sedentary neighbors to the South. It was in order to protect themselves
from such invasions that the Chinese built the Great Wall.
The various empires that arose in Mongolia include the Xiongnu Confederation (the Xiongnu are
known in Europe as the Huns), the Xianbei Empire, the Rouran Khaganate and the Liao Dynasty.