The Execution of Stoddart and Conolly in Bukhara

The Execution of Stoddart and Conolly in Bukhara Two gaunt, ragged men kneeled beside the graves they had just dug in the square before Bukharas Ark Fortress. Their hands were bound behind their backs, and their hair and beards crawled with lice. In front of a small crowd, the Emir of Bukhara, Nasrullah Khan, gave the signal. A sword flashed in the sun, severing the head of Colonel Charles Stoddart of the British East India Company (BEI). The sword fell a second time, decapitating Stoddarts would-be rescuer, Captain Arthur Conolly of the BEIs Sixth Bengal Light Cavalry. With these two strokes, Nasrullah Khan ended Stoddart and Conollys roles in The Great Game, a term that Conolly himself coined to describe the competition between Britain and Russia for influence in Central Asia. But the Emir could not have known that his actions in 1842 would help shape the fate of his entire region well into the twentieth century. Charles Stoddart and the Emir Colonel Charles Stoddart arrived in Bukhara (now in Uzbekistan) on December 17, 1838, sent to try to arrange an alliance between Nasrullah Khan and the British East India Company against the Russian Empire, which was expanding its influence south. Russia had its eye on the khanates of Khiva, Bukhara, and Khokand, all important cities along the ancient Silk Road. From there, Russia could threaten Britains hold on its crown jewel - British India. Unfortunately for the BEI and especially for Colonel Stoddart, he offended Nasrullah Khan constantly from the moment he arrived. In Bukhara, it was customary for visiting dignitaries to dismount, lead their horses into the square or leave them with servants outside, and bow before the Emir. Stoddart instead followed British military protocol, which called for him to remain seated on his horse and salute the Emir from the saddle. Nasrullah Khan reportedly stared pointedly at Stoddart for some time after this salute  and then stalked off without a word. The Bug Pit Ever the supremely self-confident representative of imperial Britain, Colonel Stoddart continued to commit gaffe after gaffe during his audiences with the Emir. Finally, Nasrullah Khan could bear the affronts to his dignity no more and had Stoddart thrown into the Bug Pit - a vermin-infested dungeon under the Ark Fortress. Months and months went by, and despite the desperate notes that Stoddarts accomplices smuggled out of the pit for him, notes that made their way to Stoddarts colleagues in India as well as his family in England, no sign of a rescue appeared. Finally, one day the citys official executioner climbed down into the pit with orders to behead Stoddart on the spot unless he converted to Islam. In desperation, Stoddart agreed. Pleasantly surprised by this concession, the Emir had Stoddart brought out of the pit and placed into a much more comfortable house arrest in the chief of polices home. During this period, Stoddart met with the Emir on several occasions, and Nasrullah Khan began to consider allying himself with the British against the Russians. Arthur Conolly to the Rescue Busy propping up an unpopular puppet ruler in Afghanistan, the British East India Company had neither the troops nor the will to launch a military force into Bukhara and rescue Colonel Stoddart. The Home Government in London also had no attention to spare a lone imprisoned emissary, since it was embroiled in the First Opium War against Qing China. The rescue mission, which arrived in November of 1841, ended up being just one man - Captain Arthur Conolly of the cavalry. Conolly was an evangelical Protestant from Dublin, whose stated goals were to unite Central Asia under British rule, Christianize the region, and abolish the slave trade. A year earlier, he had set out for Khiva on a mission to convince the Khan to stop trading slaves; trade in Russian captives gave St. Petersburg a potential excuse for conquering the khanate, which would disadvantage the British. The Khan received Conolly politely but was not interested in his message. Conolly moved on to Khokand, with the same result. While there, he received a letter from Stoddart, who was just under house arrest at that particular time, stating that the Emir of Bukhara was interested in Conollys message. Neither Briton knew that Nasrullah Khan was really using Stoddart to lay a trap for Conolly. Despite a warning from the Khan of Khokand about his treacherous neighbor, Conolly set out to try to free Stoddart. Incarceration The Emir of Bukhara initially treated Conolly well, although the BEI captain was shocked at the emaciated and haggard appearance of his fellow countryman, Colonel Stoddart. When Nasrullah Khan realized, however, that Conolly did not bring a reply from Queen Victoria to his own earlier letter, he grew enraged. The Britons situation grew even more dire after January 5, 1842, when Afghan militants massacred the BEIs Kabul garrison during the First Anglo-Afghan War. Just one British doctor escaped death or capture, returning to India to tell the story. Nasrullah immediately lost all interest in aligning Bukhara with the British. He tossed Stoddart and Conolly into prison - a regular cell this time, though, rather than the pit. Execution of Stoddart and Conolly On June 17, 1842, Nasrullah Khan ordered Stoddart and Conolly brought to the square in front of the Ark Fortress. The crowd stood quietly while the two men dug their own graves. Then their hands were tied behind them, and the executioner forced them to kneel. Colonel Stoddart called out that the Emir was a tyrant. The executioner sliced off his head. The executioner offered Conolly the chance to convert to Islam in order to save his own life, but the evangelical Conolly refused. He too was beheaded. Stoddart was 36 years old; Conolly was 34. Aftermath When word of Stoddart and Conollys fate reached the British press, it rushed to lionize the men. The papers praised Stoddart for his sense of honor and duty, as well as his fiery temper (hardly a recommendation for diplomatic work), and emphasized Conollys deeply-held Christian faith. Outraged that the ruler of an obscure Central Asian city-state would dare execute these sons of the British Empire, the public called for a punitive mission against Bukhara, but the military and political authorities had no interest in such a move. The two officers deaths went unavenged. In the longer term, the British lack of interest in pushing their line of control into what is now Uzbekistan had a profound effect on the history of Central Asia. Over the next forty years, Russia subdued the entire area that is now Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Central Asia would remain under Russian control until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Sources Hopkirk, Peter. The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Lee, Jonathan. The Ancient Supremacy: Bukhara, Afghanistan, and the Battle for Balkh, 1731-1901, Leiden: BRILL, 1996. Van Gorder, Christian. Muslim-Christian Relations in Central Asia, New York: Taylor Francis US, 2008. Wolff, Joseph. Narrative of a Mission to Bokhara: In the Years 1843-1845, Volume I, London: J.W. Parker, 1845.

Pablo Picasso's Illustrations of Balzac's The Unknown Masterpiece Essay

Pablo Picasso's Illustrations of Balzac's The Unknown Masterpiece - Essay Example The essay "Pablo Picasso's Illustrations of Balzac's The Unknown Masterpiece" explores Pablo Picasso’s illustration of Balzac’s â€Å"The unknown masterpiece†. It is an edition of a short story by Honore de Balzac. This perception is dependent on the point from which the painting is viewed. The painter is obsessed with his work in which he has considerably spent a long time struggling to complete. Surprisingly, two painters who have been secretly admiring this painter’s work are dumbfounded as they cannot get a clear picture of what the work is. Pablo Picasso, a widely known Spanish painter and sculptor, is fascinated by the mystery behind this art work rendering homage to this kind of creativity. And as part of his printmaking etchings, he writes an accompaniment illustrating the Balzac’s work â€Å"The unknown masterpiece.† Studies done by various scholars reveal that Picasso’s works have had great impacts on the styles of many artis ts even to date. This paper discusses Pablo Picasso’s illustrations of Balzac’s â€Å"The Unknown Masterpiece† of 1931. Honore de Balzac’s â€Å"the unknown masterpiece† featured in the seventeenth century at a French studio in Paris. First published in 1831 by Balzac in a Parisian newspaper â€Å"L’Artiste†, the story reveals a lesson expounding on the statement â€Å"beneath the lines of every book is a face†. In this story, a young artist by the name Nicolas Poussin and his guide Francoise Porbus arrive in the studio of the era’s renowned painter, Master Frenhofer.

From Englightenment to Romantisicm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

From Englightenment to Romantisicm - Essay Example Mozart’s oeuvre often focuses on these subjects – he revolutionised traditional operas by making a member of the serving class the hero of one of his masterpieces in â€Å"Le Nozze di Figaro†, where the popular figure of Figaro (a barber) triumphs over his social superiors because of his higher moral values, and because of his wit. The play by Beaumarchais on which the opera libretto was based was banned in Vienna in the times just before the French Revolution, as the content was deemed too inflammatory. The opera â€Å"Don Giovanni† remains to this day one of the most often performed operas worldwide. This paper will explain the particular fascination this opera still holds today by demonstrating the complexity of two of the main characters of the libretto, Leporello, Don Giovanni’s valet, and Don Ottavio, the fiancà © of Donna Anna, one of the women Don Giovanni tried to seduce. As in the comic opera â€Å"Le Nozze di Figaro† Mozart and Da Ponte sketch a two-tier society and the characters in Don Giovanni are either members of the aristocracy or the serving class comprised of servants and peasants. Again, moral values are not identical with class and rank, but low morals can be found in the aristocracy (Don Giovanni) and high morals can be found in the peasant class (Zerlina, Masetto). Leporello appears to be a case of his own - in the first Act we find Leporello in the garden owned by the Commendatore whilst his master, Don Giovanni, is attempting to seduce Donna Anna, the Commendatore’s daughter and fiancà ©e of Don Ottavio. Leporello, although a loyal servant, is dissatisfied with his employment and with his master. He complains that he is kept busy day and night, as expressed in his aria â€Å"Notte e giorno faticar† which could be translated as â€Å"day and night nothing but work†. The close proximity to his master and the knowledge he has therefore gathered about his master’s life

A Study About Data Warehouse Components Computer Science Essay

A Study About Data Warehouse Components Computer Science Essay A data warehouse is collection of resources that can be accessed to retrieve information of an organizations electronically stored data, designed to facilitate reporting and analysis. Definition of the data warehouse focuses on data storage. However, the means to retrieve and analyze data, to extract, transform and load data, and to manage the data dictionary are also considered essential components of a data warehousing system. Many references to data warehousing use this broader context. Thus, an expanded definition for data warehousing includes business intelligence tools, tools to extract, transform and load data into the repository, and tools to manage and retrieve metadata. Data warehousing arises in an organizations need for reliable, consolidated, unique and integrated analysis and reporting of its data, at different levels of aggregation. Data warehouse is an essential element of decision support. It aims at enabling the knowledge user to make better faster daily business decision. In order to supply a decisional database meta- data is need to enable communication between various function areas of the warehouse an ETL Tool is needed to define the warehousing process. Data Warehouse Components: The construction of a data warehouse is divided in to two stages Known as back room front room. The first ensures the building up of the warehouse database. The second provides the restitution of data from data mart in order to fulfill analystà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s demand. According to standard data warehouse architecture, the data warehouse systems are composed of : ETL or Warehousing tools Restitution Tools Meta Data ETL Tools (Extract-Transform-Load) Extract, transform, and load (ETL) is a process in database usage and especially in data warehousing that involves: Extracting data from outside sources Transforming it to fit operational needs (which can include quality levels) Loading it into the end target (database or data warehouse) Stocking the data warehouse with data is often the most time consuming task needed to make data warehousing and business intelligence a success. Extracting data for the data warehouse includes: Making ETL Architecture Choices Data Mapping Extracting data to staging area Applying data cleansing transformations Applying data consistency transformations Loading data The extract, transformation and loading process includes a number of steps: Extract The first part of an ETL process involves extracting the data from the source systems. Most data warehousing projects consolidate data from different source systems. Each separate system may also use a different data format. Common data source formats are relational databases and flat files. But sometime it includes non-relational database structures as an eg: Information Management System (IMS) Virtual Storage Access Method (VSAM) Indexed Sequential Access Method (ISAM) The streaming of extracted data source and load on-the-fly to the destination database is another way of performing ETL when no intermediate data storage is required. In general, the goal of the extraction phase is to convert the data into a single format which is appropriate for transformation processing. Transform The transform stage applies a series of rules or functions to the extracted data from the source to derive the data for loading into the end target. Some data sources will require very little or even no manipulation of data. In other cases, one or more of the following transformation types may be required to meet the business and technical needs of the target database: Load The load phase loads the data into the end target, usually the data warehouse (DW). Depending on the requirements of the organization. Some data warehouses may overwrite existing information with cumulative information. Most of time updating extract data is done on daily, weekly or monthly basis. Other data warehouse may add new data in a historicized form, for example, hourly. To understand this, consider a data warehouse that is required to maintain sales record of last one year. Then the data warehouse will overwrite any data that is older than a year. More complex systems can maintain a history and audit trail of all changes to the data loaded in the data warehouse. ETL Tool Functionalities While the selection of a database and a hardware platform is a must, the selection of an ETL tool is highly recommended, but its not a must. When you evaluate ETL tools, it pays to look for the following characteristics: Functional Capability Ability to read directly from your data source Metadata support Microsoft Office Performance Point Server One of the warehouse tools is Microsoft Office Performance Point Server. It is a software product from Microsoft for the business intelligence sector. Version 1.0 was released in November 2007. But this version 1.0 product was not officially released until November 2007. The acquisition has enabled Microsoft to add deep analytics for reports created by its Performance Point Monitoring Server. Planning component of Performance Point Server 2007 is to be discontinued in April 1, 2009. Microsoft will discontinue this product as an independent product. It is folding its Dashboard, Scorecard and Analytic Reporting capabilities in to SharePoint Server, signaling a significant change in the companys business intelligence software strategy. This Microsoft Office Performance Point Server stable release is 1.0SP2/2008 and the operating system is Microsoft Windows. This product license is proprietary EULA. Performance Point Server 2007 is fully integrated with other Microsoft Office products including Excel, Visio, SQL Server, and SharePoint Server. This server provides a planning and budgeting component which is directly integrated with Microsoft Excel and SQL Server Analysis Services. And this integration allows Performance point to join the dis-jointed systems companies use to in order to keep information accurate within all of their systems. Performance Point uses data cubes to manage the information. In 2007, Business intelligence (BI), also known as Business performance management (BPM) or corporate performance management (CPM) is a rapidly growing market owing to the ever-increasing amount of data collected by businesses about their customers. There are three types of components, Monitoring Server Operation Planning Sever Operation Management Reporter The Monitoring Server Operation has lot of the monitoring and analytical features. It includes Dashboards, Scorecards, LPIs, Strategy Maps, Filters Reports. Dashboard Designer saves content and security information to a SQL Server 2005. Database is managed through Monitoring Server. Data source connections are also made through Monitoring Server. The Planning Server is built on a SQL Server stack, with extensive use of Excel for line-of-business reporting and analysis. The Performance Point Planning Server supports a variety of management processes, which include the ability to define, modify, and maintain logical business models integrated with business rules, workflows, and enterprise data. This component is specifically designed to perform Financial Reporting. It can read the PPS Planning Financial Models directly. A development kit is also available to allow this component to report off other repositories. Oracle Business Intelligence Suite Enterprise Edition Another type of warehouse tool is Oracle Business Intelligence Suite Enterprise Edition. This is also known as OBI EE Plus. This product developer is Oracle Cooperation. Stable release is 10.1.3.4 and it release in 1st September 2009. Written language is C++ and Java. Oracle Business Intelligence Suite Enterprise Edition used operating system are Windows, Linux, Solaris, HPUX, AIX and MACOSX. This Oracles set of business intelligence tools consisting two business intelligence. There are: Former Siebel business intelligence Hyperion business intelligence. The former Siebel products were initially marketed by Oracle as Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition. The Oracle Business Intelligence Suite Enterprise Edition is used inter changeably with Oracle Business Intelligence Applications. Industry counter-part and main competitors of Oracle Business Intelligence Suite Enterprise Edition are Microsoft BI, IBM Cognos, SAP Business Objects and SAS. The full deployment of OBIEE contains the following components: Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Oracle Business Intelligence Scheduler Oracle Business Intelligence Systems Management Oracle Business Intelligence Cluster Controller Oracle Business Intelligence Presentation Services Oracle Business Intelligence Server Oracle Business Intelligence Presentation Services Oracle Business Intelligence ODBC Driver Oracle Business Intelligence Scheduler Oracle Business Intelligence Administration Tool Oracle Business Intelligence Client Oracle Business Intelligence JDBC Driver Oracle Business Intelligence Catalog Manager Oracle Business Intelligence Job Manager There are lots of components in this product. Some of major components are; Oracle Business Intelligence Admin Tool Oracle Business Intelligence Answers Oracle Business Intelligence Server Oracle Business Intelligence Marketing Oracle Business Intelligence Interactive Dashboards Hyperion Web Analysis In this project these major components describe in detail. According to that Oracle BI Admin Tool is an administrator tool used to construct repositories consisting of a Physical Layer, Business Model and Mapping Layer, and an abstracted end-user Presentation Layer subsequently visible in BI Answers. Oracle BI Answers are an ad-hoc query and analysis tool it processes the data from multiple data sources in a pure Web environment. Users can remote from data structure complexity and they view and work with a logical view of the information. An analysis server providing a calculation and aggregation engine that integrates data from multiple relational, unstructured, OLAP, and other sources are called as Oracle BI Server. Oracle BI Marketing is which marketing needs, formerly known as Segmentation Server. And the last major component is Hyperion Web Analysis. This mean is delivers out-of-the-box presentation and reporting for Oracle multi-dimensional sources and Essbase.

The ambiguity in “My Papa’s Waltz”

Theodore Roethk’s â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† is a poetry of the twentieth century. When discussed, the poem instigates again and again some very interesting and conflicting opinions. Often examination of this brief and seemingly accessible poem inspires animated debates on the possibility of messages of child abuse and alcoholism. â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz†, recounts the treasured childhood memories of the poet. The structure of the poem, the iambic trimetric quatrains has the rhythmic romp of the waltz. The poem should be read within the context of its time frame.This poem was authored in 1948, an era when readers would not have shared the same emotional response about these issues that are displayed by contemporary readers. The meaning of many phrases and words in the poem can be misinterpreted as an indication of child abuse. A close reading and analysis of the poem help us avoid such misconstruction. According to Karl Malkoff, Roethke had a deep almost religious respect for his father, Otto Roethke. He had admiration for his father’s ability and fear for his strength. Otto Roethke owned greenhouses and worked in them as well.Roethke saw his father with his labor helped the flowers grow. His love combined with his awe-inspired dependency that a son has for his father can be clearly seen in the poem. The poem consists of four iambic trimetric quatrains. The rhythmic style and the rime patter of the quatrains (‘breath’, ‘death’ and ‘easy’, ‘dizzy’,) make us feel the rhythm of the waltz. It shows the good time the boy is having with his father. As the readers of the last decade of 20th century, we are very much aware of the issues of child abuse and alcoholism.We are conditioned to think even the slightest hints of abuse and alcoholism as glaring sigs of problems. These subjects were not heard at the time when it was written. Moreover his use of the word ‘papa’ sh ows his affection towards his father. The first line of the first stanza, â€Å"The whisky on your breath†, does not necessary mean that his father is drunk. He may enjoy a drink before going to bed. He hung on to his father like death while dancing because it is a rowdy waltz. The use of the word ‘death’ can mean that he was enjoying the dance and he has a tight grip on his father so that he did not fall.In the next stanza we find that the dancing pair makes a mess of the cans in the kitchen and her mother frown at their behavior. Other than frowning, she does not take any actions to stop her father which can only mean that it is not a case of child abuse but a father spending some time his son before the child goes to bed. In the third stanza he says that his father’s hand was battered on one knuckle. The reason can be the hard labor his father put to maintain the greenhouses.If we imagine a situation in which the boy is standing on his father’s f eet while dancing, each time his father misses a step; his ear will come in contact with the buckle. This is what he means by â€Å"My ear scraped a buckle†. The first line of the last stanza, â€Å"You beat time on my head† may mean the father lovingly putting his hand on the boy’s head with the beat of the waltz. The last line â€Å"Still clinging to your shirt† reveals the boy’s wish to stay with his father and not go to bed. The analysis of the poem asserts that it is a recollection of the happy days of his childhood.The autobiographical elements, the structure, the poem in context of the era in which it was written and a close study of the poem show that is a reminiscence of the loving memories of author’s childhood which had shared with his father. Though the poem seems to be a positive memory, there are lines, ‘The whisky on your breath’ and ‘But I hung on to like death’, which shows the violence and underlin ing danger in such a dance. The activity is exhilarating, as often with children, they are impressed by things that scare and thrill them.

Comparing the Open Window and the Tell-Tale Heart

Using the Ideas of Northrup Frye to Compare The Open Window and The Tell-Tale Heart Brett Eiffes According to Northrup Frye’s book, The Anatomy of Criticism, there are two different modes of prose: the romance and the novel. In the case of shorter prose he calls them the tale and the short story. The short story, The Open Window by Saki, and the tale, The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe, demonstrate these two modes of prose fiction. While reading The Open Window I found it a more realistic and extroverted story while the Tell-Tale Heart was more of an unlikely and introverted story.These two different stories each show different aspects of the tale and the short story. Both of these stories were set in a house however, we know that The Tell-Tale Heart is set in a house in the past as result of a few details Edgar Allan Poe reveals. For example, the speaker uses a lantern and he also states, â€Å"the shutters were close fastened† (2). We are also not entirely sure wh y the speaker is in the Old Man’s house or why he belongs there. This tale is set in the past in a mysterious location, both of which are characteristics of the tale.In contrast, The Open Window is set in a lavish, early twentieth century English home. The story has a more contemporary setting compared to that of The Tell-Tale Heart. Although the stories both take place in a house, the time in which they are set is different. These two stories also have two different viewpoints. The Tell-Tale Heart is a first-person narrative, which relies on the narrator, while The Open Window has an omniscient third-person viewpoint. These viewpoints reflect the ideas, developed by Northrup Frye, of the tale and of the short story.The types of characters introduced in each of these stories is different, in that Saki presents us with believable, everyday people while Edgar Allan Poe presents us with characters who are larger than life. The main character of Vera in The Open Window has a mix of good and bad characteristics. She is introduced as â€Å"a very self-possessed young lady of fifteen† (140). However, we then learn that Vera lied to Mr. Nuttel about the passing of the Sappleton family.We see two different sides of this character, the cool and collected fifteen-year-old girl and the story telling liar. Vera is seen as a typical teenage girl, messing with people and putting on a nice smile. She is a believable everyday person. We are never told who the main character presented in The Tell-Tale Heart is; however, we do know he is narrating the story. This mysterious character is larger than life and he convinces the readers that he is mentally insane. This is proven when he shrieks, â€Å"’Villains! ’†¦ ‘dissemble no more!I admit the deed! – tear up the planks! -here, here! – it is the beating of his hideous heart! ’† (6). This is often a common characteristic of characters in tales. Both of the main char acters present in these stories fit the ideas of Northrup Frye. The different plots demonstrated in these stories also reflect the ideas presented by Northrup Frye. The Open Window is a possible story in which the characters maneuver around a central situation. The central situation is the idea of the Sappleton family dying in a shooting accident.This is different compared to the plot demonstrated in The Tale-Tell Heart, which allows for the suggestion of unrealistic forces or powers, for example supernatural elements. The plot of this story leans towards fantasy. The plot in The Open Window reflects the characteristics of the short story, while the plot in The Tell-Tale Heart reflects the characteristics of the tale. When compared, these two stories are tragically different. They are both classic examples of the two different types of prose fiction.The Open Window perfectly exemplifies the short story, a contemporary, realistic setting and plot with believable, everyday characters. In contrast The Tell-Tale Heart reflects the ideas of the tale by presenting a supernatural plot occurring in the past. These two stories reflect the ideas of prose of Northrup Frye. As a member of Moorestown Friends School, I affirm my honesty, academic integrity, and responsibility to the school community by neither giving nor receiving unpermitted aid during this assessment. ______________________________________________

Mongolia Facts, Religion, Language, and History

Mongolia takes pride in its nomadic roots. Befitting this tradition, there are no major cities in the country other than Ulaan Baatar, the Mongolian capital. Government Since 1990, Mongolia has had a multi-party parliamentary democracy. All citizens over the age of 18 can vote.  The head of state is the President, but executive power is shared with the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister nominates the Cabinet, which is approved by the legislature. The legislative body is called the Great Hural, which is made up of 76 deputies. Mongolia has a civil law system that is based on the laws of Russia and continental Europe.  The highest court is the Constitutional Court, which primarily hears questions of constitutional law. Population Mongolias population rose above three million in the 2010s. An additional four million ethnic Mongols live in Inner Mongolia, which is part of China. Approximately 94 percent of the population of Mongolia are ethnic Mongols, mainly from the Khalkha clan. About nine percent of the ethnic Mongols come from the Durbet, Dariganga, and other clans.  An estimated five percent of Mongolian citizens are members of Turkic peoples, primarily Kazakhs and Uzbeks. There are also tiny populations of other minorities, including Tuvans, Tungus, Chinese, and Russians, which number at less than one percent each. Languages Khalkha Mongol is the official language of Mongolia and the primary language of 90 percent of Mongolians. Other tongues used in Mongolia include different dialects of Mongolian, Turkic languages (such as Kazakh, Tuvan, and Uzbek), and Russian. Khalkha is written with the Cyrillic alphabet. Russian is the most common foreign language spoken in Mongolia, although both English and Korean are used as well. Mongolian Religion The vast majority of Mongolians, around 94 percent of the population, practice Tibetan Buddhism. The Gelugpa, or Yellow Hat, school of Tibetan Buddhism gained prominence in Mongolia during the 16th century. Six percent of the Mongolian population are Sunni Muslim, mainly members of the Turkic minorities.  Two percent of Mongolians are Shamanist, following the traditional belief system of the region. Mongolian Shamanists worship their ancestors and the clear blue sky. The total makeup of Mongolias religions is above 100 percent because some Mongolians practice both Buddhism and Shamanism. Geography Mongolia is a land-locked country sandwiched between Russia and China. It covers an area of about 1,564,000 square kilometers, making it roughly the size of Alaska. Mongolia is known for its steppe lands. These are the dry, grassy plains that support the traditional Mongolian herding lifestyle. Some areas of Mongolia are mountainous, however, while others are desert. The highest point in Mongolia is Nayramadlin Orgil, at 4,374 meters (14,350 feet) tall. The lowest point is Hoh Nuur, at 518 meters (1,700 feet) tall. Climate Mongolia has a harsh continental climate with very little rainfall and wide seasonal temperature variations. Winters are long and bitterly cold in Mongolia, with average temperatures in January hovering around -30 C (-22 F). Capital Ulaan Bataar is the coldest and windiest nation capital on Earth. Summers are short and hot, and most precipitation falls during the summer months. Rain and snowfall totals are only 20-35 cm (8-14 inches) per year in the north and 10-20 cm (4-8 inches) in the south. Nevertheless, freak snowstorms sometimes drop more than a meter (3 feet) of snow, burying livestock. Economy The economy of Mongolia depends upon mineral mining, livestock and animal products, and textiles. Minerals are a primary export, including copper, tin, gold, molybdenum, and tungsten. The currency of Mongolia is the tugrik. History Mongolias nomadic people have at times hungered for goods from settled cultures — items such as fine metal-work, silk cloth, and weapons. To get these items, the Mongols would unite and raid surrounding peoples. The first great confederation was the Xiongnu, organized in 209 B.C. The Xiongnu were such a persistent threat to Chinas Qin Dynasty that the Chinese began work on a massive fortification: the Great Wall of China. In 89 A.D., the Chinese defeated the Northern Xiongnu at the Battle of Ikh Bayan. The Xiongnu fled west, eventually making their way to Europe. There, they became known as the Huns. Other tribes soon took their place. First the Gokturks, then the Uighurs, the Khitans, and the Jurchens gained ascendancy in the region. Mongolias fractious tribes were united in 1206 A.D. by a warrior named Temujin, who became known as Genghis Khan. He and his successors conquered most of Asia, including the Middle East, and Russia. The Mongol Empires strength waned after the overthrow of their centerpiece, the Yuan Dynasty rulers of China, in 1368. In 1691, the Manchus, founders of Chinas Qing Dynasty, conquered Mongolia. Although the Mongols of Outer Mongolia retained some autonomy, their leaders had to swear an oath of allegiance to the Chinese emperor.  Mongolia was a province of China between 1691 and 1911, and again from 1919 to 1921. The present-day border between Inner (Chinese) Mongolia and Outer (independent) Mongolia was drawn in 1727 when Russia and China signed the Treaty of Khiakta.  As the Manchu Qing Dynasty grew weaker in China, Russia began to encourage Mongolian nationalism. Mongolia declared its independence from China in 1911 when the Qing Dynasty fell. Chinese troops recaptured Outer Mongolia in 1919, while the Russians were distracted by their revolution. However, Moscow occupied Mongolias capital at Urga in 1921, and Outer Mongolia became a Peoples Republic under Russian influence in 1924.  Japan invaded Mongolia in 1939 but was thrown back by Soviet-Mongolian troops. Mongolia joined the UN in 1961. At that time, relations between the Soviets and Chinese were souring rapidly. Caught in the middle, Mongolia tried to remain neutral.  In 1966, the Soviet Union sent a large number of ground forces into Mongolia to face down the Chinese. Mongolia began to expel its ethnic Chinese citizens in 1983. In 1987, Mongolia began to pull away from the USSR. It established diplomatic relations with the U.S. and saw large-scale pro-democracy protests in 1989 and 1990. The first democratic elections for the Great Hural were held in 1990, and the first presidential election in 1993.  In the decades after Mongolias peaceful transition to democracy began, the country developed slowly but steadily. Source Mongolia Population. WorldOMeters, 2019.