Mongolia is the world's largest landlocked country. It is typically classified as being a part of East Asia. Alternatively, it is sometimes considered to be part of Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. Mongolia's political system is parliamentary democracy. Its capital and largest city is Ulaanbaatar. ************************************* Mongolia was the centre of the Mongol Empire in the thirteenth century and was later ruled by the Manchu Qing Dynasty from the end of the seventeenth century until 1911, when an independant 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. ********************************** At 1,564,116 square kilometres, Mongolia is the nineteenth largest country in the world. However, the country contains very little arable land as much of its area is covered by arid and unproductive steppes with mountains to the north and west and the Gobi Desert to the south. Approximately 30 percent of the country's 2.8 million people are nomadic or semi-nomadic. The predominant religion in Mongolia is Tibetan Buddhism, and the majority of the state's citizens are of the Mongol ethnicity, Buriats, Kazakhs and Tuvans also live in the country, especially in the west. About one-third of the population lives in Ulaanbaatar.