Mongols in China


Mongols in China, also known as Mongolian Chinese or Chinese Mongols, are ethnic Mongols who live in China. They are one of the 56 ethnic groups recognized by the Chinese government.
As of 2020, there are 6,290,204 Mongols in China, a 0.45% increase from the 2010 national census. Most of them live in Inner Mongolia, Northeast China, Xinjiang and Qinghai. The Mongol population in China is nearly twice as much as that of the sovereign state of Mongolia.

Distribution

The Mongols in China are divided between autonomous regions and provinces as follows:
Besides the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, there are other Mongol autonomous administrative subdivisions in China.
Prefecture level:
County level:
China classifies various Mongolic groups, such as the Buryats and Oirats, together with the Inner Mongols under a single category of "Mongol." The Chinese government also classifies the Tuvans as Mongols, despite Tuvans being a Turkic, non-Mongolic ethnic group. The official language used for all of these Mongols in China is a literary standard based on the Chahar dialect of Mongol.
The ethnic classification might be inaccurate due to lack of information regarding the registering policy.
Some populations officially classified as Mongols by the government of the People's Republic of China do not currently speak any form of Mongolic language. Such populations include the Sichuan Mongols, the Yunnan Mongols, and the Mongols of Henan Mongol Autonomous County in Qinghai.
, official publications have avoided references to Mongolians in China and instead used the term "northern frontier culture".

Genetics

Among the Mongols of China, mitochondrial haplogroup D was in first place, followed by mitochondrial haplogroups B, F, Z, G, C, A, N and M7. Other mitochondrial haplogroups were sporadically distributed among the studied Mongols of China with frequencies of no more than 1.66%.
Guang-Lin He et al. examined a sample of current Mongols of China and found different haplogroup O subclades to be the most frequently observed Y-DNA haplogroup:
  • O1-F265/M1354 12.0%
  • *O1a1a-M307.1/P203.1 3.4%
  • *O1b-M268 8.6%
  • **O1b1a-M1470 5.7%
  • ***O1b1a1-PK4 2.3%
  • ***O1b1a2-Page59 3.4%
  • **O1b2a1a-F1204 2.9%
  • ***O1b2a1a1-CTS713 2.3%
  • ***O1b2a1a3a-CTS1215 0.6%
  • O2a-M324 49.1%
  • *O2a1-L127.1 21.7%
  • **O2a1a1a1b-F854 0.6%
  • **O2a1c-IMS-JST002611 21.1%
  • ***O2a1c1a1a1a1-F325 16.6%
  • ***O2a1c1a2-F449 4.6%
  • *O2a2-P201 27.4%
  • **O2a2a1a-CTS445 4.6%
  • ***O2a2a1a1a-M159 0.6%
  • ***O2a2a1a2a-F1276 2.9%
  • ****O2a2a1a2a1a2-N5 1.7%
  • **O2a2b-P164 22.9%
  • ***O2a2b1-M134 21.1%
  • ****O2a2b1a1-M117 12.0%
  • ****O2a2b1a2-F114 9.1%
  • ***O2a2b2a2-AM01845/F706 1.7%
The second most frequently observed Y-DNA haplogroup among the sampled Mongols from China was C2, followed by N1-CTS3750, Q, R1a1a1b2a-Z94, and D-M533. Y-chromosomal haplogroup E1b1b1a1b2 was observed in one Mongol individual from Hohhot, G2a2b2a1a1a2a1a was observed in one Mongol individual from Alxa League, and I2a1b2a1a1a1 was observed in one Mongol individual from Hinggan League.

Subgroups

Not all groups of people related to the medieval Mongols are officially classified as Mongols under the current system. Other official ethnic groups in China which speak Mongolic languages include:
Mongols in China face discrimination by the current Chinese government on the goal of assimilating the Mongolian population into the Han population.

Schooling

The NPC declared "minority language-medium education is unconstitutional," enforcing this within Inner Mongolian schools, banning the teaching of the Mongolian language, along with riding of different kinds of Mongolian material that are deemed to de-emphasize Chinese nationality and common identity.In 2023, a book on the history of the Mongols was banned for "historical nihilism."

Climate change and poverty relief

The Chinese government alleges that Mongol herders/nomads are responsible for inciting climate change due to pastoralist practices. However, this was due to the Household Responsibility System that encouraged industrialized agriculture as opposed to shared grasslands. Under the ecological migration policy, the Chinese government has moved thousands of Mongols into urban areas on the basis that the Mongolian nomadic lifestyle has resulted in desertification and sandstorms. In support of the "Go West" campaign, the Chinese government relocated Mongolian people in masses in favor of ecosystem recovery. This movement has resulted in disparities in language, and thus income. Consequently, this process has resulted in Mongolian impoverishment. However, this gap has recently been closing as a result of Mongolian language assimilation.

Notable people