AP PHOTOS: Finding echoes of the Mongol empire as a country looks ahead

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The sun sets over a 40-meter- (130-foot-) tall stainless steel statue of Genghis Khan, a national hero who amassed power to become the leader of the Mongols in the early 13th century on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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Tourists climb onto the 40-meter- (130-foot-) tall stainless steel statue of Genghis Khan, a national hero who amassed power to become the leader of the Mongols in the early 13th century on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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A view from a drone over Ger district on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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Mongolians herd horses near a 40-meter (130-foot-) tall stainless steel statue of Genghis Khan, a national hero who amassed power to become the leader of the Mongols in the early 13th century, on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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A Mongolian woman consults a fortuneteller reading fortune with stones on a street in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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A man pushes a trolley of containers past murals outside a home in the Ger District on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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Children wait in a car outside a polling station in a Ger district on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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A Mongolian horseman leaps onto his horse on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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A woman walks carrying an umbrella as it rains on Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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Residents look at candidates’ election posters in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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Vendors shake off raindrops from a plastic sheet used to cover prizes for dart games at the Zaisan Memorial, a monument that honors allied Mongolian and Soviet soldiers killed in World War II, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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Byambasambuu Gombosuren leaves after casting his vote at a polling station in the Ger District on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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An elderly Mongolian woman arrives to vote at a polling station in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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Mongolian honor guards prepare for a ceremony marking the first session of the newly elected Parliament in front of the Government Palace on Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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Smoke rises from a chimney and cooling towers of a power plant as the sun sets over residential buildings in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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A boy runs past gers, traditional Mongolian dwelling, on the hill side of Ger fistrict on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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A Mongolian man prepares to smoke after voting at a polling station in Ger district on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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Visitors take in the sights as it rains at the Zaisan Memorial, a monument that honors allied Mongolian and Soviet soldiers killed in World War II, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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A woman hawks artwork depicting rural Mongolia on Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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Mongolian children in traditional costumes sing the national anthem for a cameraman in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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A man holds flowers as he joins an alumni anniversary gathering on Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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Children move past a street in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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Tourists visit the 40-meter (130-foot-) tall stainless steel statue of Genghis Khan, a national hero who amassed power to become the leader of the Mongols in the early 13th century, on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (AP) — A towering statue of Genghis Khan dominates the landscape of rolling plains and endless skies outside Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar.

The leader of the Mongols founded an empire in the early 13th century that expanded under his descendants into parts of Europe and the Middle East while subduing neighboring China and ruling it for nearly a century.

Modern-day Mongolia, still large though sparsely populated, is landlocked and surrounded by two giants: Russia to the north and China to the south.

The country transitioned to democracy in the early 1990s — holding its most recent election last week — after more than six decades as a single-party communist state with close ties to the Soviet Union.

The Mongols who tore across the grasslands to expand the empire were skilled warriors on horseback. Millions of the animals continue to have an important place in Mongolian culture and outnumber the country’s people.

Almost half of Mongolia’s population now lives in the capital, finding shelter from the bitter winters but challenged by growing air pollution there.