Mongolia

Region: East & Southeast Asia

Official language: Mongolian

Population: 3,281,676 (2024 est.)

Nationality: Mongolian(s) (noun), Mongolian (adjective)

Land area: 1,553,556 sq km (599,831 sq miles)

Water area: 10,560 sq km (4,077 sq miles)

Capital: Ulaanbaatar

National anthem: “Mongol ulsyn toriin duulal” (National Anthem of Mongolia), by Tsendiin Damdinsuren/Bilegiin Damdinsuren and Luvsanjamts Murjorj

National holiday: Independence Day/Revolution Day, July 11 (1921)

Population growth: 0.78% (2024 est.)

Time zone: UTC +7/+8

Flag: The flag of Mongolia is composed of three equal and vertical stripes of red, blue, and red. Centered in the left (or hoist-side) band is the national emblem, the Soyombo symbol, in yellow. The Soyombo symbol is a character from the Soyombo script, used to transcribe the Mongolian language, and features representations of elements such as water and fire, as well as the moon, sun, and earth, along with a yin-yang symbol.

Independence: July 11, 1921 (from China)

Government type: Unitary semi-presidential republic

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Legal system: civil law system influenced by Soviet and Romano-Germanic legal systems; constitution ambiguous on judicial review of legislative acts

Mongolia is a country in East Asia that is surrounded by China and Russia. Initially under the leadership of Genghis Khan, Mongols spread across much of the Asian continent in the thirteenth century, causing widespread panic and war, but also contributing to the military, commercial, and administrative development of the countries they conquered.

After the disintegration of the Mongols’ vast empire in the sixteenth century, the area now known as Mongolia was incorporated into China, from which it won its independence in 1911. Between 1924 and 1992, it was a communist country closely aligned with the Soviet Union. Mongolia ended communism in the early 1990s and has made a peaceful transition to democracy and has been steadily restructuring its economy and social welfare system.

• Former name(s): Outer Mongolia
• Region: East & Southeast Asia
• Nationality: Mongolian(s) (noun), Mongolian (adjective)
• Official language: Mongolian
• Population: 3,281,676 (2024 est.)
• Population growth: 0.78% (2024 est.)
• Currency (money): Mongolian tögrög (or tugrik)
• Land area: 1,564,116 sq km (6,03,908 sq miles)
• Water area: 10,560 sq km (4,077 sq miles)
• Time zone: UTC +7/+8
• Capital: Ulaanbaatar
• Flag: The flag of Mongolia is composed of three equal and vertical stripes of red, blue, and red. Centered in the left (or hoist-side) band is the national emblem, the Soyombo symbol, in yellow. The Soyombo symbol is a character from the Soyombo script, used to transcribe the Mongolian language, and features representations of elements such as water and fire, as well as the moon, sun, and earth, along with a yin-yang symbol.
• Independence: July 11, 1921 (from China)
• Government type: Unitary semi-presidential republic
• Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
• Legal system: civil law system influenced by Soviet and Romano-Germanic legal systems; constitution ambiguous on judicial review of legislative acts
• National anthem: “Mongol ulsyn toriin duulal” (National Anthem of Mongolia), by Tsendiin Damdinsuren/Bilegiin Damdinsuren and Luvsanjamts Murjorj
• National holiday: Independence Day/Revolution Day, July 11 (1921)

Note: unless otherwise indicated, statistical data in this article is sourced from the CIA World Factbook, as cited in the bibliography.

People and Culture

Population: With a population density of 2 people per square kilometer in 2021 (World Bank estimate), Mongolia’s population is one of the most sparsely distributed in the world. It is most heavily concentrated in the north and west, and more than 69.1 percent of the population lived in urban centers in 2023. Ulaanbaatar is the largest city, with a population of 1.67 million in 2023. Other cities include Erdenet and Darhan. Even in urban areas, many Mongolians choose to live in the traditional round tents called gers. Life expectancy at birth is 67.8 years for men and 76.3 years for women (2024 estimate).

The ethnic make-up of the population is quite homogenous, with Khalkhs comprising an estimated 83.8 percent of the population (2020). Kazaks, who reside in the far west, are the largest minority group (3.8 percent, 2020). Other minorities include Durvuds, Bayads, Buriads, and Zakhchins.

The official language, Mongolian, is spoken by approximately 90 percent of the population. It is an Altaic language and related to Turkish, Kazakh, and Uzbek. The dialects spoken within the country are mutually comprehensible, and the Khalkh dialect is considered standard Mongolian. A modified Cyrillic alphabet was adopted during the Communist era and is still prevalent. However, the process of returning to the traditional Mongolian alphabet, written vertically and from left to right, began in 2020. Turkic and Russian are also spoken.

In 2020, an estimated 40.6 percent of the population did not have a religious affiliation, while 51.7 percent of the population subscribed to Buddhism, which largely supplanted Shamanism in the sixteenth century. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Buddhist practices were widespread, and there were over 3,000 monasteries and temples. Religion was repressed during the Communist era, but interest and practice of the Buddhist faith, as well as the building and restoration of religious buildings, has been enjoying a resurgence since democratic reforms took hold. Other religions include Sunni Islam, practiced by the Kazakhs, Shamanism, practiced by a small percentage of rural Mongolians, and Christianity.

Mongolia's HDI value for 2022 is 0.741— which put the country in the High human development category—positioning it at 96 out of 193 countries and territories.

Indigenous People: Ethnic Mongolians and Kazakhs have ancient histories in the region. Within the country, interethnic and intertribal relations have generally been peaceful. Conflict has instead come from Mongolia’s dominating neighbors.

Independence from China brought some degree of subjugation by Russia. The most brutal period occurred in the 1920s and 1930s, when communist revolutionaries suppressed religious practice, killed or deported many shamans and lamas to prison camps, and destroyed or closed temples and monasteries in an effort to eradicate any challenge to communist ascendancy.

Education: Mongolia began to reform its educational system in 1992 and has made significant progress towards its modernization. Education is free and compulsory until the age of fifteen. Primary school enrollment is nearly perfect, but enrollment in secondary school decreases to an extent. The disparity between rural and urban education is partially alleviated by a system of boarding schools that allows the children of nomads to attend school. The literacy rate in Mongolia is 99.2 percent (2020 estimate).

Higher education is centered in Ulaanbaatar. The National University of Mongolia is the country’s oldest. It specializes in the natural and social sciences and the humanities for both undergraduates and postgraduates. Other institutes include the Mongolian University of Science and Technology and the Mongolian University of Arts and Culture.

Health Care: Over the years, the Mongolian government made efforts to bring basic health care to every citizen. In the twenty-first century the system has undergone positive changes in its structure and reach, with special attention being paid to prenatal and postnatal care, including a successful immunization program. The infant mortality rate has thus decreased significantly.

Overall, there are adequate numbers of nurses and physicians. However, the rural population receives less care than the urban population because of the remoteness of some settlements and the extreme climatic conditions that prevail across the country. Public awareness campaigns regarding good hygiene practices, reproductive health, and nutrition have, however, made headway.

Food: Breakfast and lunch are commonly the most important meals for Mongolians. Meat dominates the diet, mostly roasted and boiled lamb, but also goat and horse. Meat-filled dumplings called buuz are likewise popular. Dairy products are common in the form of cheese, sour milk, and butter. Beverages of choice include vodka, ayrag (fermented mare’s milk), and tea with sour milk, salt, and sometimes butter.

Arts & Entertainment: Mongolia has a highly developed tradition of arts and crafts; some of these continue widely, while others suffered under the communist ban on traditional subjects. Religious paintings and sculptures adorn monasteries and temples as well as nomads’ homes. Arts and crafts are still central to secular daily life, with embroidery, jewelry-making, and saddle decoration being among the most popular forms.

Mongolian literature, which has its roots in epics, songs, folktales, and Buddhist proverbs, is a large body of work, but little of it has been translated into English. Two of the most famous epics are the Geseriada and the Jangar.

Mongolian music has a similar folk basis, in the subject matter of its songs as well as in its instruments and vocal styles. The morin khuur, a two-stringed instrument with a horse-head carved on its top, is the most popular instrument. The vocal style known as khoomei, or throat-singing, involves singing two notes at once. It spread across the country from western Mongolia and is the most famous Mongolian musical style recognized abroad.

The most popular Mongolian sports are incorporated into the Naadam festival, the country’s prime sporting event, which takes place over several days each summer. The festival includes archery, horse racing, and wrestling. Each of these sports have long been integral to the Mongolian identity, and the popularity and respect reserved for them indicate that they will continue to be so, even as a sedentary lifestyle gradually overtakes the traditional nomadic lifestyle.

Holidays: National holidays in Mongolia include Mother and Child Day (June 1); Independence Day (July 11), marking the country’s independence from China; and Constitution Day (November 26).

The largest and most important holiday is Tsagaan Sar (White Month), celebrated in late February as the beginning of the new lunar year and the end of winter. The holiday entails three days of feasting, the first of which occurs on the eve of the holiday. Families and friends gather to eat and give gifts. They also don new clothes and visit monasteries.

Environment and Geography

Topography: Mongolia’s elevation averages 1,528 meters (5,013 feet), and most of it is a high plateau. In general, the elevation decreases from the western and northern mountains to the lower southern and eastern regions.

The land is predominantly semiarid steppe but has five climatic zones: mountain, steppe, and desert, and the transitional zones between each, which run in west-east belts. Forests, or taiga, covering approximately 7 percent of the land, occur in the north. In the far south, the area known as the Gobi transitions from arid steppe to barren desert.

The Altai, the Hangayn, and the Hentiyn are Mongolia’s three major mountain ranges. The Altai Mountains are the highest. They occupy the west and southwest in two spurs and contain the country’s highest point, the snow-capped Tavan Bogd Uul, rising 4,374 meters (14,347 feet) in the far west. The fertile Selenge River basin lies between the other two ranges.

The Selenge, with its tributary the Orhon, is Mongolia’s major river system. It flows north into Russia’s Lake Baikal. Portions of this system are navigable. Other rivers of lesser importance flow east to the Pacific or south into the desert, where they collect in salt lakes or disappear into the desert.

There are numerous lakes in the Altai Mountains. The saltwater Lake Uvs is the largest by surface area, while the largest by volume is the freshwater Hövsgöl Lake. Rivers and freshwater lakes are covered with ice during the winter.

Natural Resources: Mongolia has a wide range of natural resources, though they have not been exploited extensively. Deposits of oil, copper, tungsten, tin, nickel, coal, zinc, gold, silver, iron, and wolfram are present, while the northern forests are a significant source of timber and fur-bearing animals.

Industry and urbanization have caused environmental problems in Mongolia, most acutely in Ulaanbaatar. The air pollution is worst in winter, when coal is burned as a source of heat; beginning in 2018, bans on the use of raw coal for heating were instituted to address such issues. Other problems include soil erosion and a wider pattern of desertification from overgrazing and deforestation.

Plants & Animals: Plant and animal life in Mongolia is diverse, widespread, and less endangered than in other parts of Asia. The northern taiga zone supports larch, cedar, birch, spruce, and pine; the steppe and the northern desert support grass and shrubs. Except in oases, only scattered shrubs and grasses are found in the southern desert.

Wolf, reindeer, wild boar, brown bear, and lynx inhabit the taiga. Near its edge and into the northern steppe live muskrat, fox, sable, and marmot. Gazelle and migratory birds abound on the steppe. Further south, in the drier steppe regions and the desert, there are wild ass, antelope, bears, sheep, gazelles, and ibex as well as the critically endangered Bactrian camel. Wild horses, called takhi, have been successfully reintroduced to this region.

Reptiles found in the desert include sand boas and geckos. Bird life is particularly rich around the eastern lakes, which also support a variety of fish species. In the western Altai Mountains live the Argali sheep, Siberian ibex, lynx, and the endangered snow leopard.

Climate: Mongolia has a continental climate. The country averages 257 (up to 270 in the Gobi region) clear days a year because of the mountain ranges which block weather patterns from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Winters are long, cold, and dry with temperatures ranging between –17 and –26 degrees Celsius (1.4 and –14.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in Ulaanbaatar.

Blizzards occasionally occur in winter. It is more common for these storms to leave frost and ice than snow on the steppe. Snow is heavy in mountain regions, and permafrost covers more than half of the terrain.

Summers are short, warm, and unpredictable. A brief rainy season occurs during summer, and torrential storms can erupt suddenly and cause flooding. During the rainy season, Ulaanbaatar averages roughly fourteen to fifteen rainy days per month. In the deep south of the Gobi Desert, there might be several years without any precipitation at all. Daily temperatures in Ulaanbaatar average between 12 and 25 degrees Celsius (53.6 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit) and drop significantly at night. Strong winds and sandstorms are common in the spring and fall. Frequent seismic activity occurs in the northern and western portions of the country.

Economy

The reformed Mongolian economy has had to cope with decades of central economic planning based on a communist model, then a severe crisis precipitated by the loss of all funding from the Soviet Union in 1991. It now has a developing market economy, with only a few major industries and public works still owned by the state.

Mongolia's gross domestic product (GDP, purchasing power parity) to be $56.474 billion in 2023. The labor force numbered 1.409  million in 2023, 6.13% percent of whom were unemployed. An estimated 27.1 percent of the population were living below the poverty line in 2022.

Industry: The industrial sector, based primarily in Ulaanbaatar and Darhan, accounted for an estimated 39.5 percent of the GDP in 2023. Mining activities are expanding and are concentrated on copper, molybdenum, coal, gold, fluorspar, tin, and tungsten.

Although mining is transforming Mongolia’s economy, animal husbandry is still important to Mongolia’s industrial sector, which processes the animal products for domestic and export markets. Meat and goods made of cashmere, wool, and leather are processed within the country. Other products include construction materials, beverages, and canned fish.

Agriculture: Agriculture accounted for an estimated 9.9 percent of the GDP in 2023 and occupied 31.1 percent of the labor force in 2016, mostly in the form of animal herding, which has a long history in Mongolia. Sheep are by far the most important type of livestock, but goats, cattle, horses, camels, pigs, chickens, and bees are also raised. The richest grazing areas are in the northwest and northeast, but the livestock populations are vulnerable to decimation when sudden blizzards make it impossible for them to graze.

Animal products include meat, fat, hides, and wool. Furs are another important product. Fur-bearing animals such as marmots and foxes are hunted while deer and ermine are raised on farms.

Crop growing is not a central economic activity, given that less than 1 percent of the land is arable (2018 estimate). Nevertheless, some farming does take place in the well-watered north and in the south, where irrigated. Wheat, barley, and forage crops for livestock as well as some vegetables are grown.

Tourism: Mongolia’s tourism industry is developing along with its infrastructure. The country boasts important cultural institutions, such as the National Museum of Mongolian History, the Natural History Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, as well as monasteries and temples. Mongolia’s unspoiled scenic beauty and wildlife attract the most visitors. The Guryansaikhan Nature Reserve, which protects portions of the Gobi, and the Khustain Nuruu Nature Reserve are both popular with adventure travelers. Camel treks are promoted as the best way to experience the country’s vast steppe and desert.

Government

Mongolia has had a parliamentary system of government since the new constitution was implemented in 1992. The country is a semi-presidential republic, in which the presidential candidates are nominated by the political parties represented in the State Great Hural. The president is then directly elected by popular vote to a four-year term, with a two-term limit. The Cabinet is appointed directly by the prime minister as per a 2019 constitutional amendment. Mongolia’s president is chief of state, and the government is headed by a prime minister. The prime minister is typically the leader of the political party that wins the majority in legislative elections.

The unicameral legislature is called Ulsyn Ikh Khural, the State Great Hural (Assembly). It is composed of 126 members who are directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to four-year terms.

The judicial branch is presided over by the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court (Tsets), below which are provincial and capital city appellate courts, district courts, and Administrative Cases Courts. A General Council of Courts installs the judges, pending presidential approval.

Mongolia is divided into twenty-one provinces and one municipality (Ulaanbaatar). The provinces are further divided into districts. Assemblies, headed by directly elected representatives, make up the local governments.

Since the end of one-party Communist rule, several political parties have come into being. They include the Civil Will-Green Party (CWGP), the Democratic Party (DP), the Mongolian National Democratic Party (MNDP), the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP), and the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP).

Interesting Facts

• Mongolia is known as the “Land of Blue Sky” because of its numerous sunny days.
• The name “Genghis Khan” means “universal king.” His given name was Temujin.
• Ulaanbaatar is Mongolian for "red hero," and the city itself is named after Damdin Sükhbaatar, who led the forces that liberated Mongolia from China in the early twentieth century.
• The Gobi is the world’s coldest and most northerly desert.
• Inner Mongolia (Nei Mongol) in China, with a population of about six million, has twice as many ethnic Mongols as Mongolia does.
• In 2019, American Bob Long became the oldest person, at seventy, to win the Mongol Derby, considered the longest horse race in the world.

Bibliography

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"Economic Impact Reports." World Travel and Tourism Council, 2020, wttc.org/Research/Economic-Impact. Accessed 15 Oct. 2020.

“Mongolia.” The World Bank, 2024, data.worldbank.org/country/mongolia. Accessed 23 Jan 2025.

“Mongolia.” The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 16 Jan. 2025, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/mongolia/. Accessed 23 Jan 2025.

“Mongolia.” World Health Organization, 25 May 2022, www.who.int/countries/mng/. Accessed 26 May 2022.

“Mongolia: Human Development Indicators.” Human Development Reports 2022, United Nations Development Programme 13 Mar 2024, hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/MNG. Accessed 23 Jan 2025.

World Statistics Pocketbook 2020 Edition. United Nations, 2020, unstats.un.org/unsd/publications/pocketbook/files/world-stats-pocketbook-2020.pdf. Accessed 26 May 2022.