Historical Context and Territory

• Mongol Empire at height (1279): 16% of Earth's land, home to 1 in 4 humans
• Failed expansions: Japan (twice, defeated by weather), Indonesia (guerilla warfare), pushed to Gaza/Palestine, raided Austria/Northern Italy
• Maximum territorial control: 1279 borders used for modern recreation

Modern Territorial Impact

• 28 countries would lose all/some territory
• Empire would stretch from South Korea to modern Poland
• Total population: 1,900,459,000 people
• Would be largest country by both size and population
• 1 in 4 modern humans would be citizens (matching 13th century proportion)

Urban Centers and Capital Selection

• 15 biggest cities: 11 located in China, only 1 outside Asia (Moscow)
• Top 3 cities: Moscow, Beijing, Shanghai
• Ulaanbaatar rejected as capital:
  • Founded 1693 (post-empire collapse)
  • Population: 1.3 million (half of Mongolia's population)
  • Surrounded by sparse land, far from empire center
• Beijing selected as capital:
  • Historical Mongol capital under Kublai Khan (called Khanbaliq)
  • Second biggest city in empire
  • Existing infrastructure as China's current capital
  • Would be renamed back to Khanbaliq

Demographics and Ethnicity

• 66% ethnic Han Chinese (would dominate country)
• 6% Russian
• 4% Korean
• 28% mix of dozens of other groups
• Ethnic Mongols: only 0.16% of total population

Languages

• 51% speak/understand Mandarin Chinese (likely official language)
• 11% understand Russian (second largest)
• 10.5% understand Wu, Yue, and Min Chinese languages combined
• Korean and Urdu: next two biggest languages

Religious Composition

• 58.5% traditional Chinese folk religions
• 12.1% Sunni Islam
• 5.3% Buddhism
• 4.6% Orthodox Christianity
• 4.5% Shia Islam
• 2.2% Protestants
• 0.8% Catholics
• 12% atheists/non-religious
• Would be world's largest Muslim country, largest atheist country, third largest Christian country

Economic and Military Power

• Nominal GDP: $17.77 trillion
• Living standards: slightly behind Malaysia and Mexico
• Military: 6,131,000 active soldiers (largest in world)