An integrated environmental accounting of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region(IMAR) is presented in this paper based on emergy analysis with data from 1987 to 2007.Through calculating environmental and economic inputs and a series of emergy indicators,this paper discusses IMAR’s resource use structure,economic situation,and trade status.The results show that more than 85% of the emergy used in IMAR was derived from home sources,indicating a strong capacity for self-sufficiency.Concentrated-used local non-renewable emergy,which provides IMAR economy with most of the driving forces,took the largest share in total emergy use after 2004 and reached 58% in 2007.The Western China Development Plan of 2000 ushered in a rapid growth of coal and electricity production and exportation to other regions of China from IMAR.The export/import emergy ratio of IMAR reached 3.46 in 2007,with the coal exported(3.44 10 23 sej in 2007) without being used by IMAR itself,accounting for almost 100% of the difference between the imports and exports.The results also show that from 1987 to 1998,EmSI values remained higher than 10,suggesting underdevelopment in IMAR;after 1998,EmSI values decreased sharply from 19.07 in 1998 to 1.88 in 2007,indicating that IMAR is characterized by medium-run sustainability and is relying more on non-renewable resources and imports.