Visitors gather for the Naadam national festival in Mongolia. Credit

Mongolia is the largest fully landlocked country typically classified as being a part of East Asia, though it is sometimes considered as being a part of Central Asia instead. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. Mongolia's political system is parliamentary democracy and capital and largest city is Ulaanbaatar.

Mongolia was the center of the Mongol Empire in the thirteenth century and was later ruled by China during the Manchu Qing Dynasty from the end of the seventeenth century until 1911, when an independent government was formed with Russian assistance. The Mongolian People's Republic was proclaimed in 1924, leading to the adoption of communist policies and a close alignment to the Soviet Union. After the fall of communism in Mongolia in 1990, Mongolia adopted a new, democratic constitution which was ratified in 1992. This officially marked the transition of Mongolia to a democratic country, making it one of the world's youngest democracies.