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The China–Mongolia border is the international border between
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
and
Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
. It runs from west to east between the two tripoints with
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
for , with most of the boundary area lying in the
Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert (, , ; ) is a large, cold desert and grassland region in North China and southern Mongolia. It is the sixth-largest desert in the world. The name of the desert comes from the Mongolian word ''gobi'', used to refer to all of th ...
. It is the world's fourth longest international border.


Description

The border starts in the west at the western tripoint with Russia in the
Altai Mountains The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The ...
, located just 100 kilometres (62 miles) east of the China-Kazakhstan-Russia tripoint. From there it runs overland in a generally south-eastwards direction, with straight line sections predominant in the Gobi Desert section, down to the southernmost point of Mongolia just north of the 40°30 line of latitude. From there it proceeds overland in a north-eastwards direction, over to the
Greater Khingan The Greater Khingan Range or Da Hinggan Range ( zh, s=大兴安岭, t=大興安嶺, p=Dà Xīng'ān Lǐng; IPA: ) is a volcanic mountain range in the Inner Mongolia region of Northeast China. It was originally called the Xianbei Mountains, whi ...
mountains near Mongolia's easternmost point. From there the border veers to the north-west and then west, utilising the Khalkhyn Gol river for a stretch before running through Buir Lake, and then turning sharply to the north-east up to the eastern Russian tripoint.


History

Russia had expanded far into
Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
during the course of the 17th century, bringing it into conflict with
Qing China The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty ...
, which at that time ruled over
Outer Mongolia Outer Mongolia was the name of a territory in the Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China from 1691 to 1911. It corresponds to the modern-day independent state of Mongolia and the Russian republic of Tuva. The historical region gained ''de facto'' ...
. Much of the line of the today's Mongolia–Russia border line was set by the Treaty of Kyakhta between Russia and China. With China engulfed in chaos during the
Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). The revolution was the culmination of a decade ...
, Mongolian nationalists seized the opportunity to declare Outer Mongolia independent from China, with the support of Russia. In 1915 the Second Treaty of Kyakhta was signed, by which Russia acknowledged formal Chinese
suzerainty A suzerain (, from Old French "above" + "supreme, chief") is a person, state (polity)">state or polity who has supremacy and dominant influence over the foreign policy">polity.html" ;"title="state (polity)">state or polity">state (polity)">st ...
over Mongolia, albeit with Russia maintaining significant influence, leaving the country in effect as a semi-autonomous condominium. Following the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...
in 1917 China invaded Mongolia in an attempt to re-assert full control, however they were ultimately repulsed by Mongolian and Soviet Russian forces, with Mongolia once again declaring independence from China in 1921. China's refusal to recognise Mongolian independence meant that no formal border delimitation was conducted, though the remoteness and inhospitable, scarcely populated boundary terrain meant that this was in practice not a pressing issue. However, following
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
's
invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...
of
Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...
in 1931 and
disputes Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an oppo ...
over the Nomonhan region, Mongolia and the Japanese puppet-state of
Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...
delimited a small section of their eastern frontier in 1935–39 in the vicinity of Buir Lake, though Japan was defeated in the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
leaving the status of this agreement in doubt. Following a
plebiscite A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or adv ...
, and assurances from the USSR that they would not interfere in China's restive
Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...
province, China agreed to recognise Mongolia's independence in 1946. Disputes soon arose over the border, notably over the gold-rich Baytik Mountains in 1947, and further work on boundary delimitation was hampered by the
Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...
. With the Communists in power in China from 1949, relations with Mongolia steadily improved, and the two countries signed a treaty on 26 December 1962 delimiting their common frontier. A full border demarcation then occurred from 1963 to 1964 and a final treaty with a detailed set of maps agreed upon on 30 June 1964. Though relations have at times been tense since then, notably during the 1960s
Sino-Soviet split The Sino-Soviet split was the gradual worsening of relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during the Cold War. This was primarily caused by divergences that arose from their ...
in which Mongolia sided with the USSR, the border has remained where it is and relations between the two states have remained generally cordial.


Sex trafficking

Mongolian and Chinese women and girls are sex trafficked across the border. There are large mines and other heavy industrial operations located in the border region containing large workforces of isolated men; these sites, including the ones in Tavan Tolgoi coal deposits, have been a focal point for prostitution and sex trafficking.


Border crossings

There are several official border crossings: * Bulgan – Takashiken * Bichigt – Zuun Khatavch * Khangi – Mandula * Zamin Uud – Erlian * Sheveekhuren – Sekhee * Sumber – Arxa/Aershan


Settlements near the border


China

* Çağaan Ğol * Erenxot * Narın Bulag * Ärşan * Yirşi * Xandğay * Asır


Mongolia

* Jarğalant * Mandal Sum * Eñger Xulasaa * Cağaan Ovoo * Ulaan-Uul * Senterbanşan * Xavaaxaxaro * Xalxyn Ğol * Monğolrıba * Şavarta


Historical maps

Historical maps of the border from west to east from the International Map of the World, middle 20th century (partial): File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nm-45-3rd-ed.jpg, File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nl-46-1st-ed.jpg, File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nk-46-3rd-ed.jpg, File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nk-47-1st-ed.jpg, File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nk-48-1st-ed.jpg, File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nk-49-2nd-ed.jpg, File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nl-49.jpg, File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nm-50-3rd-ed.jpg,


See also

* Ports of entry of China * China–Mongolia relations


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:China-Mongolia border
border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...
Borders of China Borders of Mongolia International borders