I have to admit I have never thought much about Mongolia. However, a few years ago there was a very interesting TV programme where Julia Roberst went to live with some Mongolian herdsmen, and it was very good, she really seemed to enjoy herself, living in tents and riding horses etc.

It seems that first of all Mongolia became a vast empire under Ghengis Khan, conquering China etc, and then in the late 17th century they were conquered by China and became a Chinese province. Then they became independent in 1911. The chinese conquered them again in 1915, and then in 1921 the Soviet Union helped them to overthrow Chinese rule. In 1924 They became a people's republic, and in 1946 China recognised them as independent. They seem to have become more democratic in the 1990s.

One cannot help feeling that they've never really recovered from being conquered by the Chinese though, they seem to have been eclipsed since then.