The area of Mongolia is much larger than that of Inner Mongolia. Why is the population not as large as Hohhot?

Speaking of Mongolia, most people will think of the blue sky and grassland. It seems that the population of Mongolia is never so dense, and it seems that there are many more cattle and sheep in Mongolia than people.

Indeed, in terms of population density, the population on the Mongolian plateau is not dense, but the differences between regions are still very obvious. At present, the population of Inner Mongolia in China exceeds 24 million, while the population of Mongolia in the north is only 3.3 million. You know, Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia, has a permanent population of more than 3.4 million.

Nomadic life in Mongolian grassland

Moreover, the area of Mongolia is more than 6.5438+0.5 million square kilometers, which is much larger than the 654.38+0.65438+0.8 million square kilometers in Inner Mongolia. It stands to reason that Mongolia's various conditions are not much worse than that of Inner Mongolia, but its population is only a fraction of that of Inner Mongolia, making Mongolia one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world, with an average of only two people per square kilometer.

Because of its high altitude and low dimensions, the Mongolian Plateau really could not carry so many people in the past when the level of science and technology was not high. Most people on the Mongolian plateau live by nomadism. When Genghis Khan unified the ministries of Mongolia in the 13th century, the population of Mongolia only reached one million. By the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, the population of Mongolia was not very large.

The scenery of Mongolian plateau

During the two hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, Mongolia was generally peaceful. By the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the total population of various ministries in the Mongolian Plateau had reached10 million, which became an important basis for the alliance with the Qing Dynasty.

As we all know, the alliance with Mongolia was a key factor for the Qing Dynasty to defeat the Ming Dynasty and finally enter the customs to seize the mountains and rivers of the Central Plains. In fact, the so-called Manchu-Mongolian family was stabbed in the back by the Qing Dynasty: from beginning to end, the Qing Dynasty did not relax its vigilance against Mongolia and kept cutting Mongolia with a soft knife.

Mongolian aristocratic women in the late Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty carried out three policies towards Mongolia, namely, the marriage between Manchu and Mongolia, the strong enfeoffment system and the worship of Buddhism.

The marriage between Manchu and Mongolian is easy to understand. At that time, a large number of imperial women in the Qing Dynasty married Mongolia, and Mongolian women continued to marry into the Qing court as empresses. Fencing to control its strength, that is, the flag system is implemented in Mongolia, and Mongolian nobles are enfeoffed on a large scale, so that Mongolian ministries are fixed in their own fiefs and are not allowed to exchange with each other or change pastures at will. As a result, Mongolian ministries gradually became fragmented, and it was no longer difficult to confront the court.

Mongolian Lama in Beiyang period

The most powerful thing to say is to worship Buddha and control life. During the Yuan Dynasty, Tibetan Buddhism, that is, Lamaism, was introduced into the Mongolian Plateau and flourished. In the Qing Dynasty, Lamaism was strongly supported in Mongolia and a large number of temples were built. At the same time, Mongolian families are required to become monks, with a high proportion. If there are five sons in the family, three monks are needed to become lamas, and these lamas do not have to give birth or accept corvee.

Mongolian men who have become monks since childhood

On the surface, there seems to be no problem, but the key point is that a large number of young and middle-aged Mongolian men have become lamas, and the number of men who can get married and have children is rapidly decreasing. Moreover, due to the reduction of young and middle-aged labor force, a large number of coolies need to be borne by women, which makes many Mongolian women overwhelmed and their health worse and worse. The Mongolian plateau itself is economically backward, lacking medical care and medicine, and the consequences of this cycle can be imagined.

By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the population of Mongolia had decreased to less than one million, especially in Mobei Mongolia, which is now Mongolia. After two years of Xuan Tong's rule, the total population of Mobei Mongolia was even less than 300,000.

/kloc-Mongolian families at the end of 0/9

In modern times, the population of Mongolia and Inner Mongolia became quite small, but different from Mongolia, a great event happened in modern Inner Mongolia, that is, westward movement, which is called one of the three major immigration tides.

The so-called "westward advance" means that the Han residents south of the Great Wall cross the Great Wall and live in Inner Mongolia. This kind of thing has a long history, but it reached a peak in modern times, especially in the northern part of Shanxi, where the local population is dense and cultivated land is scarce. In the past, the Qing Dynasty prohibited the Han people from communicating with Mongolia in order not to introduce advanced production and living technologies. But later, the Qing dynasty could not help it, and a large number of Han Chinese entered Inner Mongolia.

Mongolian herders

For example, in today's central and western Inner Mongolia, most of the population comes from Shanxi and Shaanxi. Although Inner Mongolia has a population of more than 20 million, there are only 6 million real Mongolians, and the others are Han people who migrated in modern times.

A large number of immigrants not only enriched the population of Inner Mongolia, but also brought many advanced technologies, which made the economy of Inner Mongolia develop rapidly. Many local families who used to live as nomads gradually began to settle down, and then the population began to multiply rapidly, forming a virtuous circle.

Mongolian Life on Modern Grassland

On the other hand, in outer Mongolia, there was little population left after the Qing Dynasty. In modern times, while the Central Plains was in chaos, Russia and Japan successively infiltrated the Mongolian Plateau. At that time, the Mongolian maharaja and the supreme ruler of Lamaism, Zhebuzundanba, tried to get rid of Haitang. At that time, Mongolia did not stop and its population did not increase much. It was not until the end of World War II that Mongolia was officially born.

Until 1959, the population of Mongolia was only over 900,000, with a population of 1 million. Even if the growth rate is very fast, it is difficult to increase much in decades, and for a long time, the population growth rate of Mongolia is very slow.

On the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia

You know, the natural conditions of the Mongolian plateau itself are not so good. In temperate continental climate, it is either desert, Gobi or grassland, and the eastern part of Inner Mongolia is relatively humid. In fact, most of the Mongolian grasslands in that impression are in Inner Mongolia, while Mongolia is drier and colder, and most of the grasslands are arid deserts.

Because Mongolia was controlled by the Soviet Union at that time and did not establish its own industrial system, agriculture was mainly nomadic, with very low production capacity and poor economic development. The average life expectancy in Mongolia is also very low. Due to the superposition of multiple factors, the population growth rate in Mongolia has remained at a very low level for a long time.

Mongolian reindeer breeder

After so many years, resource-rich Mongolia is still a country with a low level of economic development. Not only that, Mongolia's large-scale uncontrolled grazing has led to more than 80% grassland degradation, accelerated desertification and continuous deterioration of Mongolia's living environment. Such an environment is certainly difficult to maintain population growth.

On the other hand, Inner Mongolia, as an important energy, industrial and agricultural base in China, has developed quite well in recent years, and its per capita GDP ranks among the top in China. Moreover, most herders in Inner Mongolia are no longer nomadic, but settle down to develop animal husbandry, which greatly improves the benefits and protects the grassland ecological environment. The development of Inner Mongolia can be said to be ahead of northern Mongolia.

Oulate, the center of Mongolia in Qing Dynasty.