+976 is the dialing code for Mongolia.
Mountains, desert and grassy rolling steppe characterize Mongolia, sandwiched between Russia and China in northeast Asia. Here, a nomadic herding culture still dominates. During the Middle Ages, Mongol leaders such as Djingi’s Khan and his descendants ruled over large parts of eastern Asia and Russia, but later their kingdoms collapsed and Mongolia fell under Chinese rule. From the 1920s until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the country was ruled by the Communist Party. Since then, democratization and economic reform have been carried out, but not without problems.
- Abbreviationfinder: Brief profiles of Mongolia, including geography, history, politics, economics as well as common acronyms about this country.
Geography and climate
Mongolia is located in the heart of eastern Asia, sandwiched between Russia in the north and China in the east, south and west. The country, which is more than three times the size of Sweden, is located on a vast, sparsely populated high plateau. It was previously sometimes called Outer Mongolia to distinguish it from the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia.
In western Mongolia, the Altai Mountains rise to over 4,300 meters. In these hard-to-reach areas, the rare snow leopard is still alive. To the east of Altaj lies a more low-lying area, sprinkled with a large number of lakes, some of them with salt water. Among these are the country’s largest lake Uvs nuur. The northern and central parts of Mongolia are dominated by two wooded mountain ranges, the Changaj and Chentij mountains in whose forests there are moose, brown bear and lo. Between the mountain ranges lies the fertile lowlands surrounding the Selenge and Tuul rivers which have been the country’s cultural center throughout history. The rivers in this area flow north towards Lake Baikal in Russia.
The most typical landscape for Mongolia is the rolling steppe with its good pastures in the south and east. In the southeast, the Gobi Desert from China extends into Mongolia. To the east, the steppe landscape rises to the Mongolian plateau.
Country Facts
Geography
| Cultivated land | 73 % |
| Land area | 1564116 km 2 |
Population and health
| Population development | 1.31 ‰ |
| Urban population (Urbanization) | 72 % |
| Death rate | 6.35 per 1000 residents |
| Life expectancy: Women | 73.76 years |
| Life expectancy: Men | 65.04 years |
| Birth rate | 20.25 births per 1000 residents |
| HDI index | 0.727 |
| Population | 2992908 |
| Infant mortality | 22.44 deaths / 1000 births |
Population Graph Source: Countryaah.com
Energy
| Electricity, production | 4534 million kWh |
| Energy consumption per resident | 1404.2 kg. oil per resident |
| Natural gas, production | million cubic meters |
| Crude oil, production | million tons |
Infrastructure
| Internet users | 17.9 per 100 residents |
| Mobile subscriptions | 103 per 100 residents |
| Passenger cars | 72 per 1000 residents |
Business and economics
| Unemployment | 8.3% of the workforce |
| GDP | 12100 per resident |
| Primary occupations | 33 % |
| Secondary profession | 10.6 % |
| Tertiary professions | 56.4 % |
On the steppe and in the semi-desert, ungulates like the goat’s gazelle and the now extremely rare Przewalski’s wild horse and various rodents live. One of the latter, the steppe murmur, is originally the host animal for the plague bacilli, which still affects humans in Mongolia.
The country is often prone to earthquakes, especially in the mountain areas. There are a large number of extinguished volcanoes in the lowlands and the remains of massive erosions on the steppes.
Mongolia has a distinct continental climate, with large differences between winter and summer season. Winters are long and cold, but mostly sunny. The country has over 200 days of sunshine a year. Most of the precipitation falls during the short, hot summer, especially in July, when heavy rainfall often causes flooding. The annual rainfall varies from less than 100 mm per year in the south to 350 mm in the mountains. The steppe areas are sometimes haunted by sudden hurricanes.
FACTS – GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE
Surface
1,566,500 km2 (2018)
Time
Swedish + 7-9 hours
Adjacent country (s)
China, Russia
Capital with number of residents
Ulan Bator (Ulaanbataar) 1,463,000 residents
Other major cities
Erdenet 78,000, Darchan 75,000, Tjojbalsan 37,500 (estimated 2010)
Highest mountain
Chöjten (4374 m asl)
Important rivers
Selenge, Tuul
Largest lake
Uvs Nuur, Chövsgöl Nuur
Average Precipitation / month
Ulan Bator 73 mm (July), 1 mm (Jan)
Average / day
Ulan Bator 16 °C (July), -20 °C (Jan)
- Estimation 2017Sources
2010
November
MPRP renames
During the party congress, the MPRP changes its name to the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP).
April
Big demonstrations against corruption
Thousands of people are demonstrating in the capital, demanding that Parliament be dissolved because promises were made not to fight corruption and distribute profits from mineral resources fairly.
New leader for MPRP
Prime Minister Süchbaataryn Batbold becomes the new leader of the Mongolian Revolutionary Party (MPRP).
February
Hard winter kills cattle
An unusually cold winter hits hard on livestock breeding. Nearly a fifth of the livestock in the herds die. The UN is setting up a relief program to support shepherds and others affected.
January
Death sentences turn into prison
President Elbegdorzh converts all death sentences to 30 years in prison.