Mongolia was part of China for 500 years, until December 1911, two months after the end of the Qing dynasty, when Outer Mongolia declared its independence.
Talks in 1915 between China, Russia and Outer Mongolia produced an agreement under which the region became autonomous, China maintained suzerainty and Russia gained economic rights and trained a Mongolian army.
On November 26, 1924, the region proclaimed a Soviet-backed Mongolian People's Republic (MPR). In June 1945, Joseph Stalin made the Soviet Union's attack on Japan conditional on Kuomintang president Chiang Kai-shek recognising the MPR and abiding by the result of a referendum on independence, which 98 per cent of the republic's 490,000-strong population voted for, four months later. On May 1, 1946, Chiang's government recognised the MPR, but later annulled the decision in Taiwan, saying that it was a matter of great regret. 'I took the decision myself. It was my sin,' he said. Thereafter, maps in Taiwan showed Outer Mongolia as part of the Republic of China.
Chairman Mao Zedong began eight weeks of talks in Moscow over Mongolia in December 1949. He recognised the MPR in exchange for a security treaty in the event of an attack by Japan and US$300 million in credit.
In contrast to the MPR, Inner Mongolia is under Chinese control. It's the mainland's third-biggest province, with 1.1 million sq km of land. Of its 24 million people, about four million are of Mongolian race, one of 58 recognised national minorities on
the mainland.