About Mongolia

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Location
Completely landlocked between two large neighbors, Russia and China.
Area
Mongolia is the sixth largest country in Asia, and the 18th largest in the world. Surface area: 1.566.500 square km.
Altitude
Average altitude: 1.580m above sea level. Ulaanbaatar: 1.350m above sea level. Highest mountain: 4.653m above sea level.
Temperature
Coldest month: January Average temperature : – 35C
Warmest month: July Average temperature: +25C
Sunshine
A remarkably sunny country, enjoying 250 sunny days a year, often with clear cloudless skies.
Rainfall and Snow
Snow and rainfall are very low, the climate being arid.  However, enough rain usually occurs in July and August to swell rivers, and snow blizzards can occur in winter. The highest peaks have small glaciers.
Scenery
Mountains dominate two-thirds of the country. Mongolia’s highest peaks are permanently snow-capped and graced with glaciers. Some 2.000 lakes exist, and the largest rivers flow northward to feed Lake Baikal in Siberia.  The mountainous area includes relatively wet mountain meadow pastures and steppe regions. In contrast, southern Mongolia is dominated by the famous Gobi Desert.

Wildlife
Nearly ten percent of Mongolia is forest, mainly in the north next to Siberia.  Most of Mongolia is wide open steppe grasslands in contrast with the arid lands of the Gobi Desert.  Forests support wolf, wild boar, elk, deer, caribou, antelope, and brown bear. Steppes and forest margins support marmot, muskrat, fox, steppe fox, and sable. Remote mountains support wild cats such as lynx and snow leopard.  Mongolia is home to wild ass, wild camel, and wild sheep.  Wild horses (Takhi) are being reintroduced from captivity abroad.  Bird life is rich, and includes the golden eagle, bearded vulture, and other birds of prey.  The 2.000 lakes are magnets for water birds, including storks, herring gull, and relict gull.  The 2.000 lakes support fish unique to Mongolia, including the world’s largest trout.
Nationality
Mongolian (noun and adjective)
Population
2.8 million people. 1.5 inhabitants per 1 sq km, one of the lowest population densities in the world. Four million Mongols live outside Mongolia.

Literacy
Very high, in excess of 80%.
Ethnic groups
85% Mongol, mostly Khalkha Mongol; 7% Turkic, mainly Kazakh; 4.6% Tungusic;
and 3.4% other groups.
Mongolian Language
Over 90% Khalkha Mongol (‘Mongolian Language’). The script is Cyrillic due to Russian influence, but a switch back to traditional script has begun in schools. Minor languages include Khazkh.
Second Language
English has replaced Russia as the second language. In Ulaanbaatar, many signs are in English, and many Mongolians speak some English.  Russian and German are spoken by many school graduates, and a little Spanish is spoken. Chinese is not widely understood except in border areas.
Religion
94% Tibetan Buddhist Lamaism, also elements of Shamanism.  Six percent Muslim (mainly in the southwest).
Government of Mongolia
Parliamentary, with President second in authority to State Great Hural (Parliament).
Independence
1921 final independence from China. 1990 democratic reform and shift from dependence on the former Soviet Union.
Constitution
1960 and 1992, some revision 1996.
Administrative subdivisions
21 Aimags (provinces), capital city, plus 3 autonomous cities (Darkhan, Erdenet, Choir)
Currency
Currency is the Tugrug.

Exchange rate 1400 tugrugs = 1 USD $ (January 2010)

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