PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
August 2016
589
A
lthough the region has been inhabited since
early times by nomadic peoples, the Mongol
tribe made its entrance into history during
the 13th century under the leadership of Genghis
Khan. The Mongol Empire, with its original capital
at Karakorum and later at Beijing, stretched from
the Danube River in Eastern Europe to China. In
the 14th century, the former empire was broken up
and absorbed into China under the Yüan dynasty,
originally established in 1279 by Kublai Khan,
grandson of Genghis. By 1368, the Ming dynasty
supplanted the Yüan, shattering the Mongol unity.
The former Outer Mongolia eventually gained
its independence from China on 11 July 1921 as
the Mongolian People’s Republic. The date of the
country’s present constitution is 12 February
1992, when it was renamed Mongolia. The current
capital is Ulaanbaatar, the area of the country is
slightly smaller than Alaska, and its borders are
with China (4,677 km) and Russia (3,485 km).
Mongolia has a continental desert climate with
large daily and seasonal temperature ranges; its
terrain is comprised of a vast semi-desert and
desert plains, grassy steppe, mountains in the west
and southwest, and the Gobi Desert in the south
central. The lowest point is Hoh Nuur at 518 m, and
the highest point is Nayramadlin Orgil (Huyten
Orgil) at 4,374 m.
In 1918, the Chinese General Staff compiled a monochrome
map series at scales of 1:100,000 and 1:300,000 covering the
Mongolia-China border areas. The map sheets are based on
original Chinese surveys. Relief is shown by contours and
roads are classified by vehicular limitations. In the 1940s, the
The Grids & Datums column has completed an exploration of
every country on the Earth. For those who did not get to enjoy this
world tour the first time,
PE&RS
is reprinting prior articles from the
column. This month’s article on Mongolia
was originally printed in
2003 but contains updates to their coordinate system since then.
Survey Department, Ministry of National Defense, compiled a
1:500,000- and 1:1,000,000-scale series covering all ofMongolia.
The Kwantung Army Headquarters produced map sheets for
military use in 1942-43 for two areas in eastern Mongolia
from sheets originally produced by the Japanese in1935 and
1942, from Russian maps dated 1906 and 1933, and from a
rough survey made by the Japanese in 1912. Relief is shown by
contours of form-line accuracy and hill shading. No grid system
was used. Virtually all of the maps produced by the Japanese
for Mongolia cover the eastern part. Most were produced by
the Japanese General Staff. A 1:100,000-scale monochrome
map series published in 1913-14 covers part of Mongolia east
of 106º; in the late 1930s a 1:200,000-scale map series was
compiled from Russian maps to cover northeastern Mongolia.
During the period from 1923 to 1943, a 1:500,000-scale map
series was compiled for eastern Mongolia. From this series
and from Russian maps, a 1:200,000-scale map series was
produced by the Kwantung Army Headquarters mentioned
previously. No grid system was used.
by
Clifford J. Mugnier, CP, CMS, FASPRS
Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing
Vol. 82, No. 8, August 2016, pp. 589–591.
0099-1112/16/589–591
© 2016 American Society for Photogrammetry
and Remote Sensing
doi: 10.14358/PERS.82.8.589
