CHINA INNER MONGOLIA

Inner Mongolia (Mongolian: Монгол, Öbür mongγol; Chinese: 内蒙古; pinyin: Nèi Měnggǔ; officially romanized to Nei Mongol) is a Mongol autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern side of the country. Its capital is Hohhot and the largest city is Baotou. Inner Mongolia borders, from east to west, the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and Gansu, while to the north it borders the Republic of Mongolia and Russia. It is the third-largest subdivision of China spanning about 1,200,000 km² (463,000 sq mi) or 12% of China's total land area. It has a population of about 24 million as of 2004. The autonomous region was established in 1947. The majority of the population in the region are Han Chinese, with a substantial Mongol minority. The official languages are Standard Mandarin and Mongolian, the latter written in the classical alphabet.