Ethnic minority in China
Mongols in China[3][4] or Mongolian Chinese[5][6] (Chinese: 蒙古族; pinyin: Měnggǔ zú; lit. 'the Mongol ethnicity') are ethnic Mongols who were integrated into the nation-building of the Republic of China (1912–1949) after the fall of Qing Empire (1636–1911). Those not integrated broke away in the Mongolian Revolution of 1911 and again in 1921. The Republic of China recognized Mongols to be part of the Five Races Under One Union. Its successor, the People's Republic of China (1949—present), recognized Mongols to be one of the 55 ethnic minorities in China.
As of 2020, there are 6,290,204 Mongols in China, a 0.45% increase from the 2010 national census.[1][2] 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:
Classification
Photo by Yvette Borup Andrews in 1920
China classifies different Mongolian groups like Buryats and Oirats into the same single category as Mongol along with Inner Mongols. A non-Mongolic ethnic group, the Tuvans are also classified as Mongols by China.[7] The official language used for all of these Mongols in China is a literary standard based on the Chahar dialect of Mongol.[8]
The ethnic classification might be inaccurate due to lack of information regarding the registering policy.[9][10]
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 (most of whom speak a form of Naic language), the Yunnan Mongols (most of whom speak a form of Loloish language), and the Mongols of Henan Mongol Autonomous County in Qinghai (most of whom speak Amdo Tibetan and/or Chinese).
Genetics
According to a 2021 study, the Y-chromosomal haplogroup O2 (49.14%) ranked first among the Mongols of China, followed by C2 (22.86%), O1 (12.00%) and N1 (6.29%) . Y-chromosomal haplogroups D1, E, I, G, Q, and R were sparsely distributed in the studied Mongolian populations. Among the Mongols of China, mitochondrial haplogroup D was in first place (27.07%), followed by mitochondrial haplogroups B (11.60%), F (10.77%), Z (8.01%), G (7, 73%), C (6.91%), A (6.08%), N (5.25%) and M7 (5.25%). Other mitochondrial haplogroups (HV, H, I, M8, M9, M10, M11, R, T, U, W and Y) were sporadically distributed among the studied Mongols of China with frequencies of no more than 1.66%
