Until the birth of their great leader, Genghis Khan, the Mongols of northern Asia were an obscure nomadic people who lived on the fringes of the Gobi Desert. Temujin was the son of a poor noble in his tribe. Born sometime in the 1160's CE, he gradually unified the Mongol tribes and was elected Genghis Khan, or "Universal Ruler" (also spelled Chingghis or Jenghiz Khan) in 1206. At this time, he declared the city of Kharakhorum on the river Orkhon as his capital and began to vigorously organize the Mongols into a military force through conscription and taxes on the tribes. With his small army of 120,000 men, he managed to conquer most of Asia and Europe.

The Mongol Empire was separated into four khanates, each ruled by a separate khan and overruled by a Great Khan. The Kipchak Khanate, or Golden Horde, ruled Russia; the Il-khanate ruled Persia and the Middle East, the Chagatai Khanate ruled over western Asia, and the Great Khanate controlled Mongolia and China. In 1260, Kublai Khan, a grandson of Genghis, became Great Khan. By 1267 he relocated his capital from Mongolia to Khanbaliq (Beijing) in northern China, and in 1271 he adopted a Chinese dynastic name, the Yuan. Kublai Khan had decided to become the emperor of China and start a new dynasty. Within a few short years, the Mongols had conquered all of southern China.

Physical Features: Mongolia is a mountainous country. Though the high mountain zone, which includes the highest elevations of these ranges, makes up only about 5 percent of the territory. The average elevation is quite high, at 5,184 feet (1,580 m.) above sea level. The forest steppe zone covers about 25 percent of the territory, and is one of the most heavily populated areas in Mongolia.

Climatic Features: Mongolia is known to the world as country of "Blue Sky". Along with Southern Siberia this part of Asia has a continental climate, with long, cold, dry winters and brief, mild, and relatively wet summers. Temperatures average 68° F (-20° C) to 95° F (-35° C. Annual precipitation averages from 24 inches in the mountain ranges to less than 4 inches in the Gobi Desert.