I.

Introduction

Mongolia, officially Republic of Mongolia, known from 1924 to 1991 as the Mongolian People’s Republic, nation in Central Asia, bordered on the north by Russia and on the east, south, and west by China. The country, sometimes called by its former name, Outer Mongolia, has a total area of 1,566,500 sq km (604,830 sq mi). The capital and largest city of Mongolia is Ulaanbaatar (Ulan Bator).

II.

Land and Resources

The topography of Mongolia consists mainly of a plateau between about 914 and 1,524 m (3,000 and 5,000 ft) in elevation broken by mountain ranges in the north and west. The Altai Mountains in the south-west rise to heights above 4,267 m (14,000 ft). The Gobi covers a wide arid tract in the central and south-eastern areas.

A.

Rivers and Lakes

The most important rivers in Mongolia are the Selenga and its tributary, the Orhon, in the north. Large lakes include the Har Us, Hyargas, Uvs, and Hövsgöl.

B.

Climate

Mongolia’s climate is harsh, with temperatures ranging between -15° and -30° C (-5° and -22° F) in winter and 10° and 26.7° C (50° and 80° F) in summer. Winters are dry, and summer rainfall seldom exceeds 380 mm (15 in) in the mountains and 125 mm (5 in) in the desert.

C.

Natural Resources

Rich prairie land in the north-east and north-west supports large numbers of cattle, sheep, and goats. Mineral resources such as coal, iron, copper, fluorspar, gold, uranium, and silver have not been fully exploited.

D.

Plants and Animals

Mongolia contains forests of larch, pine, and cedar in the mountains, but these are of little economic importance. Fur-bearing animals, especially marmot and squirrel, are abundant, and the country has a well-developed fur industry.

III.

Population

The ethnic composition of Mongolia is fairly homogeneous. Khalkha Mongols constitute more than 75 per cent of the population. Other groups are Buryat Mongols, Kazakhs, Chinese, and Russians. The society is about 58 per cent urban. Life expectancy is around 61 years.

A.

Population Characteristics

Mongolia has a population of 2,996,081 (2008 estimate), yielding an overall population density of about 1.9 people per sq km (4.9 people per sq mi).

B.

Political Divisions and Principal Cities

Mongolia is divided into 21 provinces and 1 capital city. The principal cities of the republic are Ulaanbaatar, the capital (population, 2004 estimate, 869,900); Darhan (population, 1999 estimate, 71,400); and Erdenet (population, 1999 estimate, 63,500), a mining centre that developed rapidly in the 1970s.

C.

Religion

The traditional faith in Mongolia was Tibetan Buddhism, a form of esoteric Buddhism; this was suppressed in 1929 and for many years there was only one small monastery remaining, at Ulaanbaatar. Since 1992, however, over 100 monasteries have reopened. Most of the people are now thought to be non-religious or atheists.

D.

Language

The Mongolian language is one of the Altaic languages. It is the most widely spoken of the Mongolic group within this family.

E.

Education

Education in Mongolia is compulsory between the ages of 7 and 16. In 1994-1995 there were 659 general schools with 19,090 teachers, and 158,990 primary and 222,210 secondary pupils. There were also 59 vocational, special secondary, and higher schools staffed by some 3,350 teachers, with 34,045 pupils. About 20,000 students attended institutions of higher education; there are 9 universities including the Mongolian State University (1942), in Ulaanbaatar. Other institutions of higher learning included schools of medicine, agriculture, and military affairs. While Soviet influences predominated in Mongolia, Russian was taught in all schools, and several thousand students each year were sent to study in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and Eastern European countries. There is 99.2 per cent (2005 estimate) adult literacy. Around 8.6 per cent of the national gross national product was spent on education in 2002–2003.

F.

Culture

Although a few remnants of ancient cultures exist, such as Stone Age campsites, much of the nation’s traditional folklore has been lost with succeeding generations. The earliest works in Mongolian literature are historical epics and chronicles. The imperial chronicle, The Secret History of the Mongols (c. 1240) deals with the life of Genghis Khan. The historical chronicles of the 17th century incorporate traditional stories in a central Asian context. The Republic of Mongolia has encouraged a national culture and has sponsored drama, art schools, and a state theatre of music and drama.

Mongolia’s State Archives and State Public Library, with some 3 million volumes, are in Ulaanbaatar. The capital is also the site of the State Central Museum, which contains art treasures and antiquities; the Fine Arts Museum, with a collection of painting and sculpture; two museums displaying items from the revolutionary movement; and the Museum of Religion, with a collection of Tibetan Buddhist relics.

IV.

Economy

Economic development has been made difficult by a severe climate, scattered population, and wide expanses of unproductive land. Around 25 per cent of the population suffers severe poverty. Around 40 per cent of the workforce is female.

Transition from Soviet-style central planning to a market economy through privatization and price reform is being attempted in order to secure support from international financial agencies and foreign investors. The economy, however, has still not recovered from the loss of Soviet aid, which at its height amounted to 30 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.

The basis of the economy is crop-farming and livestock-breeding. Manufacturing is devoted largely to the processing of agricultural and livestock products. The state controls all industry and trade, through either direct ownership or cooperatives. In 2004 the GNP was US$1,512 million (World Bank figure), equivalent to US$1,000 per head. The former Communist regime promoted rapid urbanization and industrial growth, which have had negative effects on the environment. The burning of soft coal and the concentration of factories in Ulaanbaatar have severely polluted the air, and deforestation and overgrazing have contributed to increased soil erosion. In 2003 the state budget amounted to US$392.4 million of revenues and US$482.4 million of expenditures.

A.

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing

In 2005 over 21 per cent of the population was engaged in agriculture. The Mongolians are primarily herders; in 2006 the country had about 12.9 million sheep, 13.3 million goats, 1.96 million cattle, 2.03 million horses, and 254,200 camels. Collective farms and state farms controlled all cultivated lands and accounted for most of the nation’s livestock. 2000 saw the severest winter in the region in years, with temperatures plummeting as low as -50°C (-58°F), in January 2001. The United Nations and Red Cross appealed for millions of pounds of aid, after it was predicted that 6.6 million animals—almost a quarter of the nation’s herd—could die by the end of winter. Principal crops in 2006 (with production in tonnes) were wheat (127,757), barley (6,000), and oats (220,100; 1996); potatoes (109,070); and hay (655,100; 1996).

Mongolia’s forestry and fishing resources are limited. In 2006 total roundwood removals amounted to 744,000 cu m (26.3 million cu ft), the majority of it for use as fuel. The fish catch in 2005 (entirely freshwater) was 366 tonnes.

B.

Mining

Mongolia’s rich deposits of iron ore are located near Darhan, an industrial centre that was developed with Soviet help. Annual coal production in 2003, from mines near Ulaanbaatar and Darhan, totalled some 6.45 million tonnes. The mining of copper and molybdenum began in the late 1970s near Erdenet. Other minerals produced include tungsten and fluorspar.

C.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing is small and local in character but forms an important sector of the country’s economy. The major products include building materials, processed food and alcoholic beverages, leather goods, woollen textiles, furs, and wooden items. The Mongolian government has recently tried to expand manufacturing and attract investment.

D.

Energy

In the late 1980s Mongolia had an installed electricity-generating capacity of about 900,000 kW. Production of electricity in 2003 was about 3 billion kWh, all generated by thermal facilities. Major power stations in the country are situated at Ulaanbaatar, Darhan, Choybalsan, and Sühbaatar.

E.

Currency and Banking

The monetary unit of the Republic is the tughrik (tögrög) of 100 möngö (1,172 tughriks equal US$1; 2008). The bank of issue is the State Bank of the Republic of Mongolia (1924).

F.

Commerce and Trade

In 1992, 74 per cent of Mongolia’s trade was with the countries that made up the former USSR and other former Soviet-bloc countries. Since then, Mongolia has made efforts to expand trade with other countries. Principal exports in the mid-1990s were fuels, minerals, metals, cattle, meat products, wool, cashmere, and consumer items. Imports consisted mainly of machinery and transport equipment, consumer goods, food products, fuel, minerals, and metals, and industrial consumer goods. In 2003 Mongolia imported US$801 million worth of goods and exported goods worth US$616 million.

G.

Transport

The Republic of Mongolia is served by around 2,000 km (1,242 mi) of the Trans-Mongolian Railway, which connects Ulaanbaatar with Russia and China. There are 49,250 km (30,603 mi) of roads, but only about 4 per cent of these are paved; truck services operate throughout the country. Mongolia has around 28,000 cars and an equal number of trucks and buses (42 people per vehicle), but these figures may be unreliable. Steamer services operate on the Selenga River and a tug and barge service on Lake Hövsgöl. An air service connects Ulaanbaatar with Moscow; domestic services are provided by Mongolian Civil Air Transport.

H.

Communications

In 1997 Mongolia was served by about 360,000 radio receivers and 155,000 television sets. There were approximately 89,000 telephones in use in 1995. The country has about 56 national newspapers. Ünen, a daily newspaper published in Ulaanbaatar, is the most widely read, with a daily circulation of about 170,000.

V.

Government

Under Mongolia’s 1960 constitution, the supreme organ of state power was the People’s Great Hural (Khural), a 430-member assembly that usually met twice a year. The Mongolian People’s Revolutionary (Communist) Party (MPRP) was the sole legal party until 1990, when the constitution was amended to allow opposition parties, institute a presidential system of government, and add a 53-member standing legislature, the Small Hural. In January 1992, a new constitution was adopted.

A.

Executive and Legislature

By the constitution, the legislative power of the republic resides in the 76-member Great Hural; the delegates of the Great Hural are chosen for four-year terms in free elections. The president is head of state, and is also elected to a four-year term. In May 1996 leading parliamentary parties drew up a pact allowing for 24 out of the 76 seats in the Great Hural to be filled by proportional representation. Following the MPRP’s withdrawal from the pact, the majority-vote system was maintained in 76 single-seat constituencies.

B.

Political Parties

Several Mongolian political parties have arisen since a multi-party system was instituted in 1990. Leading parties include the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP), the Motherland Democratic Coalition (encompassing the Democratic Party, the Civil Will Republican Party, and the Mongol Democratic New Socialist Party), and the Republican Party.

C.

Judiciary

In Mongolia, justice is administered by the Supreme Court, the city court of Ulaanbaatar, 18 provincial courts, and local district courts. Members of the courts are elected by the assemblies at each political level.

D.

Local Government

Mongolia is divided into 21 provinces, or aymags, which are subdivided into 258 districts, or somons. Local centres of power are hurals, or assemblies, of working people’s deputies. Ulaanbaatar, Darhan, and Erdenet are separate administrative units, governed by city hurals.

E.

Health and Welfare

Average life expectancy at birth in Mongolia in 2008 was 65 years for men and 70 years for women. The infant mortality rate in 2008 was 41 deaths per 1,000 live births. Mongolia’s endemic poverty makes social security provision difficult. In 1993 there were some 5,900 doctors (1 per 376 people) and 475 hospitals. Around 8.54 per cent of the national budget was spent on health care in 2001.

F.

Defence

Military service in Mongolia is for one year. In 1998 the armed forces of Mongolia included over 11,000 personnel: the army had 8,500 soldiers, and the air force had 500 personnel and 9 combat aircraft.

G.

International Organizations

Mongolia is a member of the UN, the Group of 77, and the World Trade Organization.

VI.

History

For the early history of what is now the Republic of Mongolia, see Mongol Empire.

After the death of the Mongol conqueror Tamerlane in the early 15th century, Mongol unity gave way to internal quarrels and dissension. Tibetan Buddhism gained ascendancy in the 16th century, and in 1650 the son of the Mongol khan of Urga (now Ulaanbaatar) was named a Living Buddha. An alliance of Buddhist theocracy and secular Mongol aristocracy ruled the country from 1696 until the 20th century, under the suzerainty of the Qing dynasty of China.

After the Chinese revolution of 1911, Mongolia, except the Uriankhai Territory (now Tuva, Russia), declared its independence from China, but the Living Buddha continued to rule. In 1920 a military force, supplied and financed by Japan and led by a Russian anti-Bolshevik general, Baron Roman Nikolaus von Ungern-Sternberg, took the capital, Urga, and set up a puppet government.

A.

Soviet Influence and Chinese Control

In 1921 the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party, formed by Soviet-trained Mongols, established an independent Provisional People’s Government and, with aid from the USSR, defeated Ungern-Sternberg and his supporters. The theocratic monarchy, its powers limited, was retained by the provisional government until 1924, when the last Living Buddha died. At that time the Mongolian People’s Republic, modelled on Soviet lines, was founded, but its independence was not recognized by China until 1946.

After the Communists won power in China in 1949, trade and cultural relations were established between the two nations, but the Sino-Soviet split in the late 1950s curtailed these relations. A Sino-Mongolian border treaty was signed in 1962, but Mongolia maintained its closest ties with the USSR, which in 1961 sponsored its membership in the UN. The two countries signed a treaty of friendship, trade, and mutual assistance in 1966, renewed in 1986. In the 1980s the USSR was Mongolia’s leading trade partner and aid donor; about 65,000 Soviet troops were stationed in Mongolia. The last remaining former Soviet Union armed forces personnel were withdrawn in late 1992.

Yumzhagiyen Tsedenbal led Mongolia from 1952 until 1984, followed by Jambyn Batmönh. Upon Batmönh’s resignation in March 1990, Punsalmaagiyn Ochirbat, the former foreign trade minister, became President, inaugurating a period of political and economic liberalization. The first multi-party elections were held in July 1990.

B.

Recent Mongolian Politics

A new constitution, enshrining the concepts of democracy, a mixed economy, free speech, and neutrality in foreign affairs, was adopted in January 1992. The reconstituted Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) swept the parliamentary elections in June of that year. The Great and Little Hurals were abolished, and a new unicameral Great Hural became the legislative body of the country. The country’s first direct presidential elections were held in June 1993 and were won by the incumbent president, Punsalmaagiyn Ochirbat, who stood as opposition candidate to the MPRP.

Although Mongolia and China fostered closer relations in the 1990s, human-rights groups protested against the arrest of Nei Monggol human-rights activists by Chinese authorities in 1995. Mongolia also expressed opposition to China’s continuation of nuclear testing in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region in 1995. In June 1996 the MPRP relinquished power to the Democratic Alliance, a coalition led jointly by the National Democratic Party (NDP) and Social Democratic Party (SDP), which garnered over 60 per cent of votes cast in the May general election. In April 1997 the Great Hural voted the abolition of all tariffs and trade taxes, making Mongolia the only country in the world with no taxes at all on trade. In the May 1997 presidential elections, the MPRP candidate, Natsagiyn Bagabandi, substantially defeated the Democratic Alliance incumbent, Punsalmaagiyn Ochirbat. Commentators traced his victory to promises of social assistance, in contrast to the Alliance’s vigorous and socially divisive reform programme. In September 1997 the government announced a sweeping privatization plan affecting nearly all state-run businesses. In July 1998 a vote of no confidence in the Great Hural over a banking crisis brought down the Democratic Alliance government. A political stalemate followed, as President Bagabandi and the legislature struggled to find a mutually acceptable prime minister. Finally, Janlaviyn Narantsatsralt was appointed prime minister in December 1998. However, in July 1999, Narantsatsralt and his Cabinet resigned after losing a vote of confidence after a dispute about the privatization of a copper mine owned jointly by Mongolia and Russia. Rinchinnyamiin Amarjargal was elected as the new prime minister the same month.

The MPRP again came to power in July 2000, when the party, led by Nambaryn Enkhbayar, won a landslide victory in the general elections. Campaign promises to improve conditions appealed to a population angered by the corruption and political infighting that had characterized the previous four years of rule. The legislative elections held in June 2004 were inconclusive. However, in September a coalition government was formed consisting of the MPRP and an alliance of reformist parties called the Motherland Democratic Coalition (MDC). Tsakhiagiyn Elbegdorj of the MDC was appointed prime minister. Elbegdorj had previously served as prime minister of Mongolia between April and December 1998. In May 2005, Enkhbayar was elected as president, winning more than 53 per cent of the vote and replacing Natsagiyn Bagabandi, who had ruled since 1997. In January 2006 the ruling coalition collapsed after the withdrawal of the MPRP. However, parliament selected MPRP member of parliament Miyeegombo Enkhbold as the new prime minister. He resigned less than two years later and was replaced by Sanj Bayar.