Tim Cope (1978) is an Australian adventurer, author, filmmaker, trekking guide, and public speaker who grew up in Gippsland, Victoria. He has learned to speak fluent Russian and specializes in countries of the former Soviet Union.

His most notable expeditions include riding horseback for three and a half years from Mongolia to Hungary (2004–2007) (see: Australian Completes Epic Genghis Khan Trek (BBC) The Independent UK The Age Australia Mount Everest), rowing a boat down the Yenisei River in Siberia to the Arctic Ocean (2001 with adventurers Ben Kozel, Colin Angus, and Remy Quinter) and riding a recumbent bicycle 10,000 km across Russia to Beijing (2000) with fellow Australian Chris Hatherly (see: Australian Geographic.)

Tim Cope and Chris Hatherly rode recumbent bikes from Petrozavodsk (Russia) to Beijing (China) from October 1999 to October 2000 ('Off the Rails: Moscow to Beijing by Bike', Penguin Books 2003, ISBN 978-0-14-300556-8).

Tim and Chris set off from Petrozavodsk on the shore of Lake Onega in October 1999. They each loaded about 60 kg of equipment and food onto their bikes, and planned to average about 50 km travel each day. They survived on porridge, pasta, tomatoes and pryaniki (thick sweet biscuits). Night time temperatures were already below zero. They slept in a Finnish shelter called a loue, which is a light-weight tarp tent. When setup with 3 poles, a loue forms a half tee-pee. The inside of a loue is a silver reflective material, so that when a fire is lit on the open side, heat radiates over the occupants.

Genghis Khan (/ˈɡɛŋɡɪs ˈkɑːn/ or /ˈdʒɛŋɡɪs ˈkɑːn/,Mongol: [tʃiŋɡɪs xaːŋ] ( listen); 1162? – August 1227), born Temujin, was the founder and Great Khan (emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death.

He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia. After founding the Mongol Empire and being proclaimed "Genghis Khan", he started the Mongol invasions that resulted in the conquest of most of Eurasia. These included raids or invasions of the Kara-Khitan Khanate, Caucasus, Khwarezmid Empire, Western Xia and Jin dynasties. These campaigns were often accompanied by wholesale massacres of the civilian populations – especially in Khwarezmia. By the end of his life, the Mongol Empire occupied a substantial portion of Central Asia and China.

Before Genghis Khan died, he assigned Ögedei Khan as his successor and split his empire into khanates among his sons and grandsons. He died in 1227 after defeating the Western Xia. He was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in Mongolia at an unknown location. His descendants went on to stretch the Mongol Empire across most of Eurasia by conquering or creating vassal states out of all of modern-day China, Korea, the Caucasus, Central Asian countries, and substantial portions of modern Eastern Europe, Russia and the Middle East. Many of these invasions resulted in the large-scale slaughter of local populations, which have given Genghis Khan and his empire a fearsome reputation in local histories.