Mongolia
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- What is Mongolia?
- What is the capital city of Mongolia?
- What language is spoken in Mongolia?
- Who are the Mongols and what is their historical significance?
- What is the traditional nomadic lifestyle in Mongolia?
- How did Genghis Khan influence Mongolian and world history?
- What are some key cultural practices and festivals in Mongolia?
- How does Mongolia's geography affect its climate and way of life?
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Mongolia, historically Outer Mongolia,landlocked country located in north-centralAsia. It is roughly oval in shape, measuring 1,486 miles (2,392 km) from west to east and, at its maximum, 782 miles (1,259 km) from north to south. Mongolia’s land area is roughly equivalent to that of the countries of western and centralEurope, and it lies in a similar latitude range. The national capital,Ulaanbaatar (Mongolian: Ulan Bator), is in the north-central part of thecountry.
Landlocked Mongolia is located betweenRussia to the north andChina to the south, deep within the interior of eastern Asia far from any ocean. The country has a marked continental climate, with long cold winters and short cool-to-hot summers. Its remarkable variety of scenery consists largely of upland steppes, semideserts, and deserts, although in the west and north forested high mountain rangesalternate with lake-dotted basins. Mongolia is largely a plateau, with an average elevation of about 5,180 feet (1,580 metres) abovesea level. The highest peaks are in the Mongolian Altai Mountains (Mongol Altain Nuruu) in the southwest, a branch of theAltai Mountains system.
- Head Of Government:
- Prime Minister: Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene
- Capital:
- Ulaanbaatar (Ulan Bator)
- Population:
- (2025 est.) 3,569,000
- Head Of State:
- President: Ukhnaa Khürelsükh
- Form Of Government:
- unitary multiparty republic with one legislative house (State Great Hural [76])
- Official Language:
- Khalkha Mongolian
- Official Religion:
- none
- Official Name:
- Mongol Uls (Mongolia)
- Total Area (Sq Km):
- 1,564,116
- Total Area (Sq Mi):
- 603,909
- Monetary Unit:
- tugrik (Tug)
- Population Rank:
- (2025) 133
- Population Projection 2030:
- 3,494,000
- Density: Persons Per Sq Mi:
- (2025) 5.9
- Density: Persons Per Sq Km:
- (2025) 2.3
- Urban-Rural Population:
- Urban: (2023) 69.9%
- Rural: (2023) 31.1%
- Life Expectancy At Birth:
- Male: (2022) 67.3 years
- Female: (2022) 76.7 years
- Literacy: Percentage Of Population Age 15 And Over Literate:
- Male: (2020) 99%
- Female: (2020) 99%
- Gni (U.S.$ ’000,000):
- (2023) 16,956
- Gni Per Capita (U.S.$):
- (2023) 4,870
- Historically:
- Outer Mongolia
Some three-fourths of Mongolia’s area consists of pasturelands, which support the immense herds of grazing livestock for which the country is known. The remaining area is about equally divided between forests and barren deserts, with only a tiny fraction of the land under crops. With a total population of fewer than three million, Mongolia has one of the lowest average populationdensities of any country in the world.
TheMongols have a long prehistory and a most remarkable history. TheHuns, a people who lived inCentral Asia from the 3rd to the 1st centurybce, may have been their ancestors. A united Mongolian state of nomadic tribes was formed in the early 13th centuryce byGenghis Khan, and his successors controlled a vast empire that included much ofChina,Russia, Central Asia, and theMiddle East. TheMongol empire eventually collapsed and split up, and from 1691 northern Mongolia was colonized byQing (Manchu) China. With the collapse of Qing rule in Mongolia in 1911/12, theBogd Gegeen (or Javzandamba), Mongolia’s religious leader, was proclaimedBogd Khan, or head of state. He declared Mongolia’s independence, but onlyautonomy under China’s suzerainty was achieved. From 1919, nationalist revolutionaries, with Soviet assistance, drove out Chinese troops attempting to reoccupy Mongolia, and in 1921 they expelled the invading White Russian cavalry. July 11, 1921, then became celebrated as the anniversary of the revolution. The Mongolian People’s Republic was proclaimed in November 1924, and the Mongolian capital, centred on the mainmonastery of the Bogd Gegeen, was renamed Ulaanbaatar (“Red Hero”).
From 1921 until the end of the 1980s, Mongolia was aone-party state closely tied to theSoviet Union. It received technical, economic, and military assistance from the Soviet Union and generally followed Soviet guidance in political and economic matters and in the building of a socialist society. However, beginning in 1990, forces for change in Mongolia ended themonopoly of political power by the communists in favour of free multiparty elections,coalition government, a new constitution, greater cultural and religious freedom with more emphasis onMongol national traditions, a neutral position ininternational relations, and a transition to amarket economy.
Land
Relief
Mongolia can be divided into three major topographic zones: the mountain chains that dominate the northern and western areas, the basin areas situated between and around them, and the enormous upland plateau belt that lies across the southern and eastern sectors. The entire country is prone to seismic movements, and some earthquakes are extremely severe. Their effects, however, are limited by the lowpopulation density.
The mountains
There are three major mountain chains in Mongolia: the MongolianAltai Mountains, theKhangai Mountains (Khangain [or Hangayn] Nuruu), and theKhentii Mountains (Khentiin [or Hentiyn] Nuruu). The Mongolian Altai in the west and southwestconstitute the highest and the longest of these chains. Branching southeastward from the main Altai range at the northwestern border with Russia, the Mongolian Altai stretch southeastward for some 250 miles (400 km) along the Chinese border before turning slightly more eastward for another 450 miles (725 km) in southwestern Mongolia. The range—the only one in the country where contemporary glaciation has developed—reaches an elevation of 14,350 feet (4,374 metres) atKhüiten Peak (Nayramadlyn Orgil) at the western tip of the country, Mongolia’s highest point. Extending eastward from theMongolian Altai are theGobi Altai Mountains (Govi Altain Nuruu), a lesser range of denuded hills that lose themselves in the expanses of theGobi.
TheKhangai Mountains, also lying from northwest to southeast, form a solid mountain mass near the centre of the country. The range’s peaks reach some 12,000 feet (3,700 metres), with Otgontenger, the highest, rising to some 13,200 feet (4,025 metres) in the northwest.Characteristic of the Khangai are gentle slopes covered with fine pastureland. To the north the EasternSayan Mountains ofSiberia lie along the border with Russia.
The alignment of the third mountain chain, theKhentii range of northeastern Mongolia, is southwest to northeast, extending into Siberia. The highest peak isAsraltkhairkhan, which reaches about 9,200 feet (2,800 metres), but, in general, maximum elevations are about 7,000 feet (2,130 metres). Ulaanbaatar lies at the southwestern edge of the range. TheDa Hinggan (Greater Khingan) Range rises along and beyond the eastern frontier with China.