In the recent past, Mongolia has experienced significant changes, especially since the time of Genghis Khan. For instance, they shifted architectural styles from traditional to contemporary. This study will look at the story about how a massive copper mine changed Mongolia as it relates to course materials. It will contrast the portrayal of Mongolia in textbooks and the piece. In the year 1206, Genghis Khan established the Mongol Empire. The Mongolians were agricultural nomads. They maintained livestock like sheep, horses, and camels. Additionally, they moved around a lot in quest of water and food for their animals. Additionally, their herds served as a food supply. Additionally, Genghis Khan made Mongolia an organized empire.
Genghis moved his military towards China to expand his territory. In the process of protecting Chinese territory from Mongolians, the Chinese rulers killed Mongolian chiefs. The death of the chiefs made Genghis move into the Chinese territory with not only the goal of expanding but also revenge. The Chinese efforts to resist the Mongolians suffered a big blow following the death of Emperor Madaku. The death of Madaku meant that the Chinese efforts to fight the Mongolian halted until a new ruler was named. With the help of Chinese rebelling against their rulers, the Mongolians took control over large chunks of Chinese grasslands.
Also, Genghis conquered other territories such as Russia and Persia. However, the conquest of Persia was different from that of China and Russia because it took a religious direction. During the conquest of Persia, Genghis entered a mosque thinking it was a palace. He turned the mosque into a horse resting place after discovering it was not a palace. Genghis slaughtered the people of Persia claiming that he was punishing them for their sins.
Julia Roberts’s film portrays the Mongolian as people to have an enormous love for horses which can traced in Genghis era (Cole). Furthermore, according to Julia’s film, the Mongolian were organized and were nomadic pastoralist moving from one place to another searching for pastures. For instance, Julia’s first task was to help the Mongolians to migrate. The amazing thing about the film was how both Julia and the Mongolians shared a deep-rooted love for horses (Cole).
On the other hand, according to article “ Mongolia will be transformed by a giant Rio Pinto copper mine,” modern Mongolia has elements of Genghis era such as nomadic pastoralism. However, these elements are about to change due to the upcoming copper mine at Oyu Tolgoi. The modernization marks different developmental changes characterized by tall buildings and various growth coming up in the city of Ulan Bator. Chinese and Russian architecture highly influences the buildings in the city as seen in the article. Some of the buildings have designs like temple found in China. The city has diverged from yurts, traditional Mongolian buildings, to buildings that resemble those in Moscow. Respondents in the video say that the plan of the city in Mongolia was borrowed from Russia. This influence hails back from Genghis conquered Russia.
Mongolia’s economy will grow as the copper mines will producing enough copper and gold that will generate enough revenue to sustain modernization. However, the Oyu Tolgoi project has received its fair share criticism. The critics say that Mongolia will lose its identity and rely solely on mining. The loss of identity caused by urbanization which will come as a result of the project. However, the majority of the Mongolians support the project they believe that income from the project will help to eradicate poverty.
Furthermore, copper is a valuable mineral because it’s price is expected to go high in the foreseeable future. Additionally, large chunks of copper mines will be exported to countries like China where the demand for the metal is expected to go higher. Moreover, the copper deficit has been falling in the recent past. This deficit has created a good demand that will be satisfied by the Oyu Tolgoi project.
Mongolia’s mines contain over 3.5 and 3.8 billion tons of proven copper and ounces of gold respectively. This means that the mines will feed the demand for users of copper such as building turbines and windmills. Windmills are eco-friendly ways of generating energy. These windmills require an enormous amount of copper to manufacture.
More so, Mongolia has developed from their old saying, “above the head is a hat and above it, there should only be the blue sky.” This saying restricted them from building two-storeyed buildings. They have developed from this saying by accepting modernization. These changes are offering Mongolians an alternative of their nomadic pastoralist life which has been affected by global warming. Global warming has affected their way of life due to unpredictable weather patterns. Therefore, Tolgoi project will not only raise income to sustain growth for the economy of Mongolia but also provide opportunities for people migrating in urban sectors. Different stakeholders in the mining industry will invest in Mongolia, and this investment will help to map Mongolia in the global world.
Work Cited
Tolgoi , Oyu. Mongolia to be transformed by giant Rio Tinto copper mine. 23 May 2015. Internet Source. 22 March 2017.
Wild Horses of Mongolia with Julia Roberts. Dir. Nigel Cole. Perf. Julia Roberts. 2000. Online. .
