A Mongol miracle.doc

Mineral extraction in Inner Mongolia is causing friction and prosperity内蒙古的矿物开采造成矛盾与繁荣Over the past decade, thanks largely to the rush for resources, Inner Mongolia has recorded the fastest GDP growth of any Chinese province 17% annually on average between 2001 and 2011 . In 2009 Inner Mongolia became China’s largest producer of coal. It is also the biggest source of rare earths in the world. The coal bed around Xilinhot, a Mongolian city, boasts 38% of global reserves of germanium, a rare earth used in the making of circuitry for solar cells and wind turbines. Inner Mongolia has long been a majority ethnic-Han province, with Mongols making up 20% of its 24.7m people. But all this is bringing few obvious benefits to Mongols, who find it hard to get jobs in the prospering cities. Their mother tongue, Mongolian, is unintelligible to most Hans. Some hotels forbid staff from using it. In recent years a rush to mine the region’s abundant minerals has scarred its hills, desiccated its pastures and fuelled unrest among its Mongol herders. Full article here.过去十年来，很大程度上由于人们蜂拥而至攫取资源，内蒙古保持了比任何中国其他省份更快的GDP增速（从2001年至2011年，年均GDP增速为17%）。2009年，内蒙古成为中国最大的煤产地，此外它还是世界最大稀土资源所在地。内蒙古自治区锡林浩特市周边的煤层据称含有全球38%的锗储量——锗是一种稀土元素，用于制造太阳能电池和风力发电机组的电路元件。长期以来内蒙古是一个汉族占多数的地区，蒙古族占该自治区2470万人口的20%。不过，上述种种几乎没有给蒙古族人带来显见的好处，他们在繁华城市里难觅工作。他们的母语——蒙古语，对大对数汉族人来说是难以理解的。一些宾馆禁止职员使用蒙古语。近些年来，蜂拥前来开采内蒙古地区丰富矿藏的浪潮已使矿山疮疤累累，牧场干旱，激起了蒙古牧民的不满。