Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia. It has a border with Russia to the north and the People’s Republic of China to the south and southeast. Mongolia’s political system is a parliamentary republic.

Mongolia is the biggest landlocked country that does not have a border with an inland sea. Most of the area in Mongolia are grassy steppes. The north and west parts of Mongolia have many mountains. Some of south Mongolia is the Gobi Desert.

There are 2,791,272 people in Mongolia. The country is the 18th biggest country in the world. It has an area of 1,564,116 square kilometres (603,908.6 sq mi). Mongolia has the lowest population density of all independent countries in the world. Mongolia has a large rural population. This means that most people there do not live in cities. Many Mongolians are nomadic (people who always move from place to place and do not stay in one home). About 30% of the population are nomadic or semi-nomadic. There is also a big horse culture in Mongolia.

In the past, most people in Mongolia were Buddhists (51.7%). 40.6% of Mongolians are nonreligious. The third most common religion in Mongolia is Islam. 3.2% of Mongolians are Islamic. Most of the Islamic people are ethnic Kazakhs. Most Mongolians are ethnic Mongols. Only 5% of the population are Kazakhs, Tuvans, and other ethnicities. Most of the ethnic minorities in Mongolia live in Western Mongolia. The capital and largest city is Ulaanbaatar. About half of the people in Mongolia live in Ulaanbaatar.

Mongolia is part of the United Nations, Asia Cooperation Dialogue, G77, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Non-Aligned Movement and a NATO global partner. Mongolia joined the World Trade Organization in 1997.

History

The area of Mongolia has been ruled by various nomadic empires. This was until the great ‘Mongol Empire’ was founded by Genghis Khan in 1206. After the Yuan Dynasty collapsed, the Mongols became nomads again. After the 16th century, Mongolia were influenced by Tibetan Buddhism. By the end of the 17th century, most of Mongolia was part of an area ruled by the Qing Dynasty. When the Qing Dynasty collapsed in 1911, Mongolia declared independence. But they had to fight against the Chinese. They were helped by the Soviet Union. In 1921, the world accepted its independence. Shortly after the death of Bogd Khaan, the last monarch of Mongolia the monarchy was replaced by a communist government in 1924, and the country was renamed the Mongolian People’s Republic. Up until the fall of the Soviet Union, Mongolia was a satellite state for the Soviets. The Mongolian Red Cross Society was set up in 1939. It has its headquarters in Ulaanbaator. Following the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia’s interest in Mongolia has declined. China and South Korea are currently Mongolia’s main trade and political partners.

Government

Mongolia is a parliamentary republic. The people vote for the people in their government. They vote for their President. The President of Mongolia is elected to a four-year term, and cannot be elected president more than twice. The current president is Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh. He was first elected as president on June 25, 2021. They also vote for the members of their State Great Khural, which is their parliament. The president decides who the prime minister is.

The constitution of Mongolia gives Mongolian people many freedoms. They have the full freedom of expression and religion.

Mongolia has many political parties. The biggest parties are the Mongolian People’s Party and the Democratic Party.

Foreign relations

Most of Mongolia’s foreign relations are with Russia and China. Mongolia relies on these countries. 36% of imports are from China. 29% of imports are from Russia.

Mongolia has recently had relations with more countries. They have focused on foreign direct investment and trading.

Embassies

Mongolia has many diplomatic missions in other countries. They have embassies in these capitals:

• Ankara
• Astana
• Bangkok
• Beijing
• Berlin
• Brasília
• Brussels
• Budapest
• Cairo
• Canberra
• Hanoi
• Havana
• Jakarta
• Kuala Lumpur
• Kuwait City
• London
• Moscow
• New Delhi
• Ottawa
• Paris
• Prague
• Pyongyang
• Rome
• Seoul
• Singapore
• Sofia
• Stockholm
• Tokyo
• Vienna
• Vientiane
• Warsaw
• Washington, D.C.

Military

Mongolia supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq. They have sent many military troops to Iraq. They sent about 130 troops to Afghanistan. 200 Mongolian troops are in Sierra Leone. They are protecting the United Nations’ special court in Sierra Leone.

From 2005 to 2006, Mongolia had about 40 troops in Kosovo.

Administrative divisions

Mongolia is divided into 21 provinces called aimags. Mongolia has 21 provinces (aimags). The aimags are split into 330 districts called sums. Ulaanbaatar is the capital city and has its own province. The aimags are:

• Arkhangai
• Bayan-Ölgii
• Bayankhongor
• Bulgan
• Darkhan-Uul
• Dornod
• Dornogovi
• Dundgovi
• Govi-Altai
• Govisümber
• Khentii
• Khovd
• Khövsgöl
• Ömnögovi
• Orkhon
• Övörkhangai
• Selenge
• Sükhbaatar
• Töv
• Uvs
• Zavkhan

Major cities

47.6% of the population lives in Ulaanbaatar. 21.4% of people live in cities like Darkhan, Erdenet, or other aimag centers and sum centers. 31.0% live in rural areas. * Under Ulaanbaatar administration .

Climate

Mongolia has a steppe climate. It has very cold winters and mild summers. Recently, winters have become very cold. This has killed many people and cattle. On June 2, 2008, 52 people and 200,000 head of cattle died in heavy blizzards in Mongolia.

On March 1–2, 2008, a heavy dust storm hit northeast China and parts of Mongolia. and ended over North Korea and South Korea on the March 4.

Twenty one people died in a rural Mongolian blizzard on May 8, 2008. Parts of the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia were also affected on the May 8, 2008.

On June 2, 2009, it was said that 15 people and 10,000 head of cattle had died by this date in Mongolia.

April 1–2, 2010 had temperatures plummet to -50 degrees in Mongolia’s Tuul valley. A nomad named Urna said she bought 400 bundles of grass to feed the animals in preparation for more bad weather. The Mongolian Red Cross has said that about 4,500,000 livestock died as a result of the bad weather this year [2010]. Tume, who lives in Ulan Bator, said that he had noticed that there were several really harsh winters in a row too. He blamed climate change, but experts said that overgrazing by cattle had also killed off most of the country’s grassland.

Mongolia is known as the “Land of the Eternal Blue Sky” or “Country of Blue Sky” (Mönkh khökh tengeriin oron - Мөнх хөх тэнгэрийн орон) because it has over 250 sunny days a year.

Geography

Mongolia is the world’s 18th-largest country (after Iran). It is significantly larger than the next-largest country, Peru. Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, but its westernmost point is only 38 kilometers (24 mi) away from Kazakhstan.

The geography of Mongolia is varied, with the Gobi Desert to the south and with cold and mountainous regions to the north and west. Most of Mongolia consists of steppes, with forested areas comprising 11.2% of the total land area. The highest point in Mongolia is the Khüiten Peak in the Tavan bogd massif, at a height of 4,374 m (14,350 ft).

Economy

The country has a lot of copper, uranium and other minerals essential to the world’s fight against climate change. The Oyu Tolgoi mine should produce about half a million tonnes of copper by 2030, the 4th biggest copper project in the world. It is run by Rio Tinto. The Mongolian government owns 34% of it. The government plans to increase gross domestic product from $15 billion in 2022 to nearly $50 billion by 2030 and halve Mongolia’s poverty rate to 15%. In 2023 84% of Mongolian exports went to China and 30% of its imports, including all its petroleum products came from Russia. There is a lot of interest from foreign investors.

Languages

The official language of Mongolia is Mongolian. It is spoken by 95% of the population. A variety of dialects of Oirat and Buryat are spoken across the country. Turkic languages, such as Kazakh and Tuvan, are also spoken in the western part of the country.

Today, Mongolian is written using the Cyrillic alphabet, although in the past it was written using the Mongolian script. The traditional alphabet is being slowly reintroduced through schools recently.

Russian is the most common spoken foreign language in Mongolia due to their diplomatic ties as former communist states. English has been gradually replacing Russian as the second language in order to become part of the world economy. Korean is also more common now, as tens of thousands of Mongolians work and study in South Korea. Interest in Chinese has been growing because of the neighboring power.

General sources

• Expedition trip to the North-West Mongolia, Tomsk State University and the University of Hovd, cooperation. Video.