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Travel to Mongolia — Unbiased reviews and
great deals from TripAdvisorMongolia
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National name: Mongol Uls
President: Nambariin Enkhbayar
(2005)
Prime Minister: Sanj Bayar
(2007)
Current government officials
Total area: 604,247 sq mi (1,565,000 sq
km)
Population (2008 est.): 2,996,081
(growth rate: 1.4%); birth rate: 21.0/1000; infant mortality rate:
41.2/1000; life expectancy: 67.3; density per sq km: 1
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Ulaan Baatar, 804,200
Monetary unit: Tugrik
Languages:
Mongolian, 90%; also Turkic and Russian
(1999)
Ethnicity/race:
Mongol (predominantly Khalkha) 94.9%, Turkic
(of which Kazak is the largest group) 5%, other (including Chinese
and Russian) 0.1% (2000)
Religions:
Buddhist Lamaist 50%, Islam 4%, Shamanism and
Christian 4%, none 40% (2004)
National Holiday:
Independence Day/Revolution Day, July 11
Literacy rate: 99% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007
est.): $8.42 billion; per capita $3,200. Real growth rate:
9.9%. Inflation: 9%. Unemployment: 3%. Arable land:
1%. Agriculture: wheat, barley, vegetables, forage crops;
sheep, goats, cattle, camels, horses. Labor force: 1.042
million; agriculture 39.9%, industry 11.7%, services 49.4%, (2006).
Industries: construction and construction materials; mining
(coal, copper, molybdenum, fluorspar, tin, tungsten, and gold); oil;
food and beverages; processing of animal products, cashmere and
natural fiber manufacturing. Natural resources: oil, coal,
copper, molybdenum, tungsten, phosphates, tin, nickel, zinc,
wolfram, fluorspar, gold, silver, iron, phosphate. Exports:
$1.889 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): copper, apparel, livestock,
animal products, cashmere, wool, hides, fluorspar, other nonferrous
metals. Imports: $2.117 c.i.f. (2007 est.): machinery and
equipment, fuel, cars, food products, industrial consumer goods,
chemicals, building materials, sugar, tea. Major trading
partners: China, U.S., Canada, Russia (2006).
Communications: Telephones: main lines
in use: 158,900 (2006); mobile cellular: 775,300 (2006). Radio
broadcast stations: AM 7, FM 115 (includes 20 National radio
broadcaster repeaters), shortwave 4 (2006). Radios: 155,900
(1999). Television broadcast stations: 456 (including
provincial and low-power repeaters) (2006). Televisions:
168,800 (1999). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 298
(2007). Internet users: 268,300 (2005).
Transportation: Railways: total: 49,250
km (2006). Highways: total: 49,250 km; paved: 1,724 km;
unpaved: 47,526 km (2002). Ports and harbors: none.
Airports: 44 (2007).
International disputes: none.
Major sources and definitions
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Geography
Mongolia lies in central Asia between Siberia on
the north and China on the south. It is slightly larger than Alaska.
The productive regions of Mongolia—a
tableland ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 ft (914 to 1,524 m) in
elevation—are in the north, which is well drained by numerous
rivers, including the Hovd, Onon, Selenga, and Tula. Much of the Gobi
Desert falls within Mongolia.
Government
Parliamentary republic now in transition from
communism.
History
Nomadic tribes that periodically plundered
agriculturally based China from the west are recorded in Chinese history
dating back more than 2,000 years. It was to protect China from these
marauding peoples that the Great Wall was constructed around 200 B.C. The name Mongol comes from a small tribe
whose leader, Ghengis Khan, began a conquest that would eventually
encompass an enormous empire stretching from Asia to Europe, as far west
as the Black Sea and as far south as India and the Himalayas. But by the
14th century, the kingdom was in serious decline, with invasions from a
resurgent China and internecine warfare.
The State of Mongolia was formerly known as
Outer Mongolia. It contains the original homeland of the historic Mongols,
whose power reached its zenith during the 13th century under Kublai Khan.
The area accepted Manchu rule in 1689, but after the Chinese Revolution of
1911 and the fall of the Manchus in 1912, the northern Mongol princes
expelled the Chinese officials and declared independence under the
Khutukhtu, or “Living Buddha.”
In 1921, Soviet troops entered the country and
facilitated the establishment of a republic by Mongolian revolutionaries
in 1924. China also made a claim to the region but was too weak to assert
it. Under the 1945 Chinese-Russian Treaty, China agreed to give up Outer
Mongolia, which, after a plebiscite, became a nominally independent
country.
Allied with the USSR in its dispute with China,
Mongolia began mobilizing troops along its borders in 1968 when the two
powers became involved in border clashes on the Kazakh-Sinkiang frontier
to the west and at the Amur and Ussuri rivers. A 20-year treaty of
friendship and cooperation, signed in 1966, entitled Mongolia to call on
the USSR for military aid in the event of invasion.
In 1989, the Mongolian democratic revolution
began, led by Sanjaasurengiyn Zorig. Free elections held in Aug. 1990
produced a multiparty government, though it was still largely Communist.
As a result, Mongolia has moved only gradually toward a market economy.
With the collapse of the USSR, however, Mongolia was deprived of Soviet
aid. Primarily in reaction to the economic turmoil, the Communist
Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) won a significant majority
in parliamentary elections in 1992. In 1996, however, the Democratic
Alliance, an electoral coalition, defeated the MPRP, breaking with
Communist rule for the first time since 1921. But in 1997, a former
Communist and chairman of the People's Revolutionary Party, Natsagiyn
Bagabandi, was elected president, further strengthening the hand of the
antireformers. In 1998, however, Tsakhiagiyn Elbegdorj, a pro-reform
politician, became prime minister, but parliamentary cross-purposes led to
his resignation, and a succession of prime ministers followed. In 2005,
Nambariin Enkhbayar of the former Communist party MPRP became president,
and Miyeegombo Enkhbold, also of the MPRP, was elected prime minister in
2006. Mongolia is plagued by poor economic growth, corruption, and
inflation.
Enkhbold resigned in November 2007 after the
MPRP ousted him as chairman of the party, citing his weakness as a leader.
Sanj Bayar succeeded Enkhbold as both party chairman and prime
minister.
Unprecedented violence and rioting followed June
2008's parliamentary elections, prompting the government to declare a
state of emergency. Five people were killed, hundreds were injured, and
more than 700 people were detained. Preliminary results gave 45 seats to
the governing MPRP and 28 seats to the opposition Democratic Party.
International observers did not report any irregularities in the voting,
but the Democratic Party accused the MPRP of fraud.
See also Encyclopedia: Mongolia.
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes:
Mongolia
Information Please® Database, © 2008 Pearson
Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
More on Mongolia from Infoplease:
- Outer Mongolia: meaning and definitions - Outer Mongolia: Definition and Pronunciation
- Mongolia, region, Asia - Mongolia Mongolia , Asian region (c.906,000 sq mi/2,346,540 sq km), bordered roughly by Xinjiang ...
- Mongolia: meaning and definitions - Mongolia: Definition and Pronunciation
- Inner Mongolia: meaning and definitions - Inner Mongolia: Definition and Pronunciation
- Mongolia - Mongolia Profile: People, History, Government and Political Conditions, Economy, Foreign Relations, U.S.-Mongolian Relations
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