Mongolia

Mongolia, the 19th largest country of the world in terms of area, is located in East-Central Asia. The 2nd largest landlocked nation shares the borders of Russia to the north and China to the south. It is the world’s most sparsely populated independent country. It is the abode of the 138th largest population in the world. Ulan Bator is the capital of the nation.

HISTORY:- The nomads inhabited in the region around 209 BC. The Great Wall of China was constructed to keep the nomads away from China. The country was divided into various tribes. Uniting these tribes, Genghis Khan, the leader of the Mongols extended the territory in the early 13th century. His empire was spanned through the Black Sea to the Himalayas. After Genghis Khan’s death, the Mongol Empire fell down and split into four Khanates. During the reign of the grandson of Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, the Mongols reached their pinnacle in the 13th century. After the last Mongol Khan, Ligden Khaan, Mongolia came under Manchu rule in 1689, which was taken over by the Qing Dynasty in 1691. After the Qing Dynasty had collapsed, the region declared independence in 1911. Soviet soldiers migrated into the country in 1921 and Mongolian People's Republic was formed in 1924 with the assistance of the Soviet troops. China agreed to leave the Outer Mongolia with the Chinese-Russian Treaty of 1945. In 1966 a 20-year treaty of friendship was signed to invite Soviet state for military aid. The Mongolian democratic revolution started in 1989 and in 1990 multiparty system was introduced. In 1992, new constitution came into force.

GEOGRAPHY:- Mongolia is located at 46 00 N, 105 00 E in Northern Asia, spanning through total 1,564,116 sq km area in which only 9,385 sq km area comprises internal waters. It is a landlocked nation bordering China and Russia. The lowest point is Hoh Nuur (518 m) and the highest point is Nayramadlin Orgil (Huyten Orgil) (4,374 m). Mongolia is composed of vast semi-desert and desert plains, and grassy steppe. The western and southwestern parts are mountainous. The Gobi Desert lies in the south-central region.

CLIMATE:- The climate of Mongolia is mostly desert and continental with large daily and seasonal temperature variations.

GOVERNMENT:- Mongolia has a Parliamentary republic. The present constitution was adopted on 12th February 1992. The legal system is a fusion of Soviet, German, and US codes. The three major branches of the government are:

Executive branch comprises the President (chief of state), the Prime minister (head of government), the Deputy Prime Minister, and cabinet. The President is elected by popular a vote on a 4-year term while the leader of the majority party or the majority coalition is generally elected the prime minister by the State Great Hural. The cabinet ministers are nominated by the prime minister in consultation with the president and confirmed by the State Great Hural.

Legislative branch comprises the unicameral State Great Hural (76 seats).

Judicial branch comprises the Supreme Court.

 Among the 15 declared political parties, Democratic Party, Motherland-Mongolian Democratic New Socialist Party, National New Party, Civil Will Party,

Mongolian People's Party, and Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party are major once. Suffrage is universal at the age of 18.

President   Nambaryn Enkhbayar

Prime Minister  Sanjaagiin Bayar

Deputy Prime Minister  Miegombyn Enkhbold

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS:- Mongolia is divided into 21 aimags which are further sub-divided into 315 sums.

CULTURE:- Naadam is the main and most popular festival of Mongolians. Leaving apart the Naadam festival games like horse racing, archery, and Mongolian wrestling, football is also widely practiced while pistol shooting is popular amongst women. Mongolian music is influenced by Tibetan Buddhism and nomadism.

ECONOMY:- The economy of Mongolia is traditionally dependent on herding, mining and agriculture. The Mongolian Stock Exchange, set up in 1991, is the smallest stock exchange in terms of market capitalization in the world.

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.

Budget:  

Revenues: $1.58 billion

Expenditures: $1.497 billion (2007)

Debt - external: $1.438 billion (2007)

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).

Monetary unit: Tugrik

LANGUAGE:- Mongolian is the official language of Mongolia spoken by 90% of the population while Turkic, Russian are also spoken.

CITIES:- The capital Ulaan Baatar is the largest city of Mongolia.

 POPULATION:- The estimated population of the country is 2,874,127 with a growth rate of 1.5%.

Density per sq mi: 5

Literacy rate: 99% (2003 est.)

RACE:-

Mongol (mostly Khalkha) 94.9%

Turkic (mostly Kazakh) 5%

Other (including Chinese and Russian) 0.1% (2000)

RELIGION:-

Buddhist Lamaist 50%

Shamanist and Christian 6%

Muslim 4%

None 40% (2004)

HEALTH:-

Birth rate: 21.09 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 6.16 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 41.24 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 67.32 years

Total fertility rate: 2.24 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.)

Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2005): 113

UNICEF:- Promoting children rights and elimination of discrimination against women are the major priorities of Mongolia. UNICEF also promotes gender equality in all aspects of society. Community-based services are provided for children as a of the national and local development strategies. UNICEF also focuses on health, nutrition, sanitation, hygiene and basic education services for children.

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).