Mongolia - Mongolia spreads out across 1.5 million sq km of the Central Asian plateau, but its population is much smaller than the Mongol population of China. Sunni Muslim Kazakhs in the west are the only significant national and religious minority, comprising some 5% of the population. Migration to Kazakhstan in the 1990s reduced their numbers. A third of the population lives in the capital, while half the people herd livestock in the countryside. But the centuries-old nomadic lifestyle is being eroded; some say it will be lucky to survive the changing times. The country has some of Asia's richest deposits of minerals, although these remain largely unexploited. Mongolia has an extreme climate, with a temperature range to suit. Droughts, and unusually cold and snowy winters, have in the past decimated livestock, destroying the livelihoods of thousands of families. Mongolia has expanded political and financial ties with the US, Japan and the European Union, but it remains dependent on its neighbours, Russia and China, for the development of its economy and trade. Despite generous funding by the International Monetary Fund and donor countries, economic progress has been slow and growth has been hampered by corruption. The legacy of Genghis Khan, the warrior who united warring tribes and established the Mongol empire in the 13th century, has been invoked in an attempt to foster national pride.