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Outer Mongolia (Mongolian script:  or  ， Mongolian Cyrillic:   or  , romanization: Gadaad Mongol or  Alr Mongol; Manchu:  Tülergi Monggo; )Huhbator Borjigin.
2004.
The history and political character of the name of 'Nei Menggu' (South Mongolia).
Inner Asia 6: 61-80.
was a territory of the Qing dynasty from 1691 to 1911.
Its area was roughly equivalent to that of the modern state of Mongolia, sometimes called "Outer Mongolia" in China today, plus the Russian republic of Tuva.
While the administrative Outer Mongolia only consisted of the four Khalkha aimags (Setsen Khan Aimag, Tüsheet Khan Aimag, Sain Noyon Khan Aimag, and Zasagt Khan Aimag), in the late Qing period "Outer Mongolia" was also used to refer to Khalkha plus Oirat areas Khovd and the directly ruled Tannu Uriankhai.
Names
The name "Outer Mongolia" is contrasted with Inner Mongolia, which corresponds to the region of Inner Mongolia in China.
Inner Mongolia was given its name because it was more directly administered by the Qing court; Outer Mongolia (which is further from the capital Beijing) had a greater degree of autonomy within the Qing empire.The Cambridge History of China, volume 10, p 49.
There are three alternate terms including Ar Mongol, Mobei Mongol, and Outer Mongolia.
Ar Mongol
The term ar mongol or Mobei Mongol () is sometimes used in Mongolian (or Chinese) language to refer to North Mongoliacf.
Norcin, C. (1999): Monggol kelen-ü toli.
Ömnud monggol-un arad-un keblel-ün qoriya.
Page 170.
when making a distinction with South Mongolia, so as to elide the history of Qing rule and rather imply a geographic unity or distinction of regions inhabited by Mongols in the Mongolian Plateau.
There also exists an English term Northern Mongolia.
Ar Mongol can also be used to refer to Mongolia synchronically, during that time period.Bawden, Charles (1997): Mongolian-English dictionary.
London: Kegan Paul.
Page 23.
In the Mongolian language, the word ar refers to the back side of something, which has been extended to mean the northern side of any spatial entity, e.g. a mountain or a yurt.
The word öbür refers to the south (and thus protected) side of a mountain.cf.
Norcin, C. (1999): Monggol kelen-ü toli.
Ömnud monggol-un arad-un keblel-ün qoriya.
Page 169, 580.
ömnud: agula dabagan-u engger tal-a-yin gajar.
So the difference between South Mongolia and the Mongolian state is conceived as the metaphor of the backward northern side and the south side of a mountain.
In contrast to Mobei Mongol (), there is also Monan Mongol (), roughly referring to the region now known as South Mongolia.
Modern usage
Today, "Outer Mongolia" is sometimes still informally used to refer to Mongolia.
To avoid confusion between the nation of Mongolia and China's Inner Mongolia, media in China generally refer to the former as "State of Mongolia" (); that is, the translation of the official name in Mongolian, /, instead of just "Mongolia" (), which could refer to the whole Mongolian area.
See also
Mongolia under Qing rule
Southern Mongolia
Tannu Uriankhai
Dzungaria
Outer Northwest China
Outer Manchuria
Inner Mongolia
Mongolia
References
Category:Geography of Mongolia Category:History of Mongolia Category:Inner Asia .
