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Mongolia
Ulaanbaatar • Erdenet • Darhan • Khovd • OElgiy • Ulaangom • Hovd • Murun-kuren • Bayanhongor • Arvayheer • Suhbaatar • Bayanhongor • Saynshand • Dzuunharaa • Zuunmod • Bulgan • Uliastay • Baruun-Urt • Altai • Mandalgovi • Dalandzadgad • Undurkhaan • Dzuunmod • Choyr • Tosontsengel • Harhorin • Kharkhorin • Tsetserleg • Choibalsan •
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THE MONGOLIA COAT OF ARMS.svg)
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_-_MNG_-_UNOCHA.svg) Location of Mongolia within the continent of Asia | |||
 Map of Mongolia | |||
.png) Flag Description of Mongolia:The Mongolia flag was officially adopted in 1940. The sky blue is the country's national color. The red color, once used to represent Communism, today represents progress. A series of Buddhist symbols are displayed within the left red panel. | |||
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Official name Mongol Uls (Mongolia)
Form of government unitary multiparty republic with one legislative house (State Great Hural [76])
Head of state President: Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj
Head of government Prime Minister: Chimediin Saikhanbileg
Capital Ulaanbaatar (Ulan Bator)
Official language Khalkha Mongolian
Official religion none
Monetary unit tugrik (Tug)
Population (2013 est.) 2,719,000COLLAPSE
Total area (sq mi) 603,926
Total area (sq km) 1,564,160
Urban-rural population
- Urban: (2010) 68.5%
- Rural: (2011) 31.5%
Life expectancy at birth
- Male: (2010) 64.9 years
- Female: (2010) 72.3 years
Literacy: percentage of population age 15 and over literate
- Male: (2009) 97.1%
- Female: (2009) 97.9%
GNI per capita (U.S.$) (2012) 3,160
Background of Mongolia
Mongolia, also called (historically) Outer Mongolia, country located in north-central Asia. 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 the countries of western and central Europe, and it lies in a similar latitude range. The national capital, Ulaanbaatar (Mongolian: Ulan Bator) is in the north-central part of the country.
Landlocked Mongolia is located between Russia to the north and China 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 ranges alternate with lake-dotted basins. Mongolia is largely a plateau, with an average elevation of about 5,180 feet (1,580 metres) above sea level. The highest peaks are in the Mongolian Altai Mountains (Mongol Altain Nuruu) in the southwest, a branch of the Altai Mountains system.
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 population densities of any country in the world.
The Mongols have a long prehistory and a most remarkable history. The Huns, a people who lived in Central Asia from the 3rd to the 1st century bce, may have been their ancestors. A united Mongolian state of nomadic tribes was formed in the early 13th century ce by Genghis Khan, and his successors controlled a vast empire that included much of China, Russia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. The Mongol empire eventually collapsed and split up, and from 1691 northern Mongolia was colonized by Qing (Manchu) China. With the collapse of Qing rule in Mongolia in 1911/12, the Bogd Gegeen (or Javzandamba), Mongolia’s religious leader, was proclaimed Bogd Khan, or head of state. He declared Mongolia’s independence, but only autonomy 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 main monastery of the Bogd Gegeen, was renamed Ulaanbaatar (“Red Hero”).
From 1921 until the end of the 1980s, Mongolia was a one-party state closely tied to the Soviet 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 the monopoly 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 on Mongol national traditions, a neutral position in international relations, and a transition to a market economy.
Geography of Mongolia
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 low population density.--->>>>>Read On.<<<<
Demography of Mongolia
The People
- Ethnic background and languages
Archaeological remains dating to the earliest days of prehistory have attracted the attention of Mongolian and foreign scholars. The Mongols are quite homogeneous, ethnically. Within Mongolia, Khalkh (or Khalkha) Mongols constitute some four-fifths of the population. Other Mongolian groups—including Dörvöd (Dörbed), Buryat, Bayad, and Dariganga—account for nearly half of the rest of the population. Much of the remainder consists of Turkic-speaking peoples—mainly Kazakhs, some Tuvans (Mongolian: Uriankhai), and a few Tsaatans (Dhukha)—who live mostly in the western part of the country. There are small numbers of Russians and Chinese, who are found mainly in the towns. The government has given increased attention to respecting and protecting the languages and cultural rights of Kazakhs, Tuvans, and other minorities.
The vast majority of the population speaks Mongolian, and nearly all those who speak another language understand Mongolian. In the 1940s the traditional Mongolian vertical script was replaced by a Cyrillic script based on the Russian alphabet. (This was the origin of the transliteration Ulaanbaatar for Ulan Bator, the traditional spelling.) In the 1990s the traditional script was once again taught in schools, and store signs appeared in both Cyrillic and traditional forms.
- Religions
The Mongols originally followed shamanistic practices, but they broadly adopted Tibetan Buddhism (Lamaism)—with an admixture of shamanistic elements—during the Qing period. On the fall of the Qing in the early 20th century, control of Mongolia lay in the hands of the incarnation (khutagt) of the Tibetan Javzandamba (spiritual leader) and of the higher clergy, together with various local khans, princes, and noblemen. The new regime installed in 1921 sought to replace feudal and religious structures with socialist and secular forms. During the 1930s the ruling revolutionary party, which espoused atheism, destroyed or closed monasteries, confiscated their livestock and landholdings, induced large numbers of monks (lamas) to renounce religious life, and killed those who resisted.
In the mid-1940s the Gandan monastery in Ulaanbaatar was reopened, and the communist government began encouraging small numbers of lamas to attend international Buddhist conferences—especially in Southeast Asia—as political promotion for Mongolia. The end of one-party rule in 1990 allowed for the popular resurgence of Tibetan Buddhism, the rebuilding of ruined monasteries and temples, and the rebirth of the religious vocation. Buddhists, predominently of the Dge-lugs-pa (Gelugspa; Yellow Hat) school headed by the Dalai Lama, constitute the largest group of Mongolians in the country who actively profess religious beliefs. A relatively small number of Muslims, who are found mostly in the western part of the country, are nearly all Kazakhs, and a much smaller community of Christians of various denominations live mainly in the capital. A significant proportion of the people are atheistic or nonreligious, and a few are shamanic.
- Settlement patterns
Settlement in contemporary Mongolia is characterized by sharp regional contrasts: in the better-watered northern basins of the Orkhon and Selenge rivers, densities of population may reach 10 persons per square mile (4 per square km), but some desert areas are uninhabited. The population is concentrated in the north-central region of the country, which contains the richest pasturelands, the main crop area, the most industrial establishments, and the best transportation infrastructure.
- URBAN PATTERNS
The first Buddhist monastic establishments were nomadic, but gradually permanent monasteries grew in importance. During the period of Qing rule, the Manchu built fortified administrative centres and garrison towns, like Khovd (Hovd) and Uliastai. After 1920 many small settlements developed to meet the administrative needs of the socialist regime. It is in the towns, however, that Mongolia presents its modern aspect. Towns grew rapidly in the second half of the 20th century, increasing their proportion of the total population from about one-fourth in 1950 to more than half by the early 1980s.
The capital, Ulaanbaatar (Ulan Bator), by far the largest and most important urban centre, has grown dramatically into a sprawling city of more than one million people—some two-fifths of the population of the entire country. It lies on the banks of the Tuul River in the north-central portion of Mongolia. Formerly known among Europeans as Urga (from the Russified version of Örgöö, the nomadic residence of the Javzandambas, it became settled on the present site in 1778. The old town—which numbered some 60,000 people in 1921—consisted mainly of monasteries, a few timber buildings, and clusters of gers. By the late 20th century, however, the “city of felt” had been transformed into a modern metropolis with broad avenues, high-rise office towers in the central business district, apartment complexes, and massive governmental, cultural, and educational buildings. In spite of this development, a large majority of the city’s population lived in the outlying ger districts, many without water supply or sanitation facilities and some without electricity.
Two other important towns—Darkhan, between Ulaanbaatar and Mongolia’s northern border, and Erdenet, west of Darkhan—are examples of planned urbanization. Darkhan’s foundation stone was laid in 1961, and within 20 years the population exceeded 50,000, and it has continued to grow. The new city became the hub of a major industrial complex during the socialist period, second only to Ulaanbaatar itself. Erdenet grew up in the 1970s on the basis of a copper mine developed as a joint venture with the Soviet Union.
- Demographic trends
After a period of stagnation, the population of Mongolia increased rapidly in the second half of the 20th century, as birth rates climbed and death rates dropped. Improved health, sanitation, and medical facilities played a major role in reducing mortality, especially infant mortality. Also important was the government policy of encouraging families to have more children. Mongolia’s rate of natural increase reached a peak in the 1960s and declined slowly thereafter. By the late 20th century Mongolia’s main demographic trend was toward a youthful, fast-growing population, a dynamic that continued into the early 21st century.
Economy of Mongolia
At the beginning of the 20th century the people of Mongolia were primarily engaged in the subsistence herding of livestock. Poor herders looked after animals belonging to the large herds owned by members of the nobility, government officials, and Buddhist monastery estates—whose wealth was measured in terms of the livestock they owned. The 1921 revolution ended the socioeconomic privileges of the nobility and Buddhist clergy. In an effort to create a Mongolian “proletariat” during the 1930s and ’40s, the Soviets helped facilitate the construction of slaughterhouses and small factories for processing raw materials such as foodstuffs, hides, and wool for local consumption.--->>>>>Read On.<<<<
Government and Society of Mongolia
- Constitutional framework
After the victory of the Soviet-backed revolution in Mongolia in July 1921, the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP; founded 1920) gradually consolidated its power. In 1924 the MPP formed a national assembly called the State Great Khural, which adopted the country’s first constitution and proclaimed the foundation of the Mongolian People’s Republic. The MPP—subsequently renamed the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP), a communist party in all but name—transformed Mongolia gradually into a command economy with state ownership of the means of production. In 1960 the national assembly was renamed the People’s Great Khural, and its structure and activity were brought closer to those of the Supreme Soviet model in the Soviet Union.
During the 1980s, when the Soviets began calling for reform and more openness in their society, the MPRP began to tolerate some criticism of the party leadership’s policies. Quasi-political “informal” associations grew active in Ulaanbaatar (Ulan Bator) and by the end of the decade were challenging the MPRP’s one-party rule. In March 1990, under increasing public pressure, the MPRP leaders resigned. The new leaders conceded constitutional changes, including legalizing political parties, creating a standing legislature and the office of the president, and providing for elections to a new People’s Great Khural later that year. In July, for the first time, noncommunists were elected to the assembly, although a large MPRP majority still controlled it. However, the new government included several ministers from newly established democratic parties who sat in the State Little Khural, the standing legislature based on proportional representation.
The People’s Great Khural drafted and adopted a new constitution (Mongolia’s fourth), which went into effect on Feb. 12, 1992. Power is divided among independent legislative, executive, and judicial branches, with human rights guaranteed by law. Capital punishment, though still on the statute books, was suspended by the president in February 2010, pending abolition. The state permits the private ownership of land (other than pastures) but retains control over water, forest, fauna, and underground resources. The constitution created a new unicameral legislature, the Mongolian Great Khural (MGK), the members of which are elected for four-year terms. The constitution also provides for a directly elected president, who is head of state and who, on the advice of the majority party leader in the MGK, nominates the prime minister, who is head of government. The president may initiate or veto legislation, but by a two-thirds vote the MGK can override a presidential veto. The government is formed by the prime minister in consultation with the president and with the approval of the MGK.
The constitution was amended in 2001, mainly to simplify the procedure for appointment of prime ministers and shorten the minimum length of parliamentary sessions. Amendments to the constitution must be supported by three-fourths of the MGK’s members. Observance of the constitution is supervised by a Constitutional Commission consisting of nine members who serve for six-year terms.
- Local government
The country is divided administratively into 21 aimags (provinces) and the hot (municipality) of Ulaanbaatar, which has independent administrative status. The provinces are headed by governors, appointed by the prime minister, and local assembly (khural) chairmen, elected in local government elections, held every four years. The governor of Ulaanbaatar municipality is also mayor of the city. The provinces are subdivided into sums (districts) and bags (subdistricts), and Ulaanbaatar consists of several düüreg (urban districts). The provincial-level government structure is repeated at these lower levels. The governors and assembly chairmen of the provinces and Ulaanbaatar are relatively powerful, with their own administrations and budgets.
- Justice
Justice is administered through an independent system of courts: the Supreme Court, provincial courts (including a capital city court), district courts, and courts of appeal. The Supreme Court, headed by the chief justice, appointed for a six-year term, has three chambers—of criminal, civil, and administrative law, each headed by a senior judge. The chief justice also chairs the General Council of Courts, which supervises court work. Judges are appointed and dismissed by the president.
- Political process
In accordance with the 1992 constitution, general elections to the MGK, presidential elections, and local government elections are held every four years, though typically each at a different time from the other. For the parliamentary elections in 1992 there were 26 multiseat constituencies, subsequently the electoral law was amended to create 76 single-seat constituencies, and in 2008 it was decided to revert to 26 multiseat constituencies.
The MPRP—which in November 2010 decided to revert to its original Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) name—has the largest party membership and traditionally draws its support from the countryside. The main opposition party, the Democratic Party (DP), was formed in 2000 through the amalgamation of a number of smaller parties. Most of its supporters are young and live in the larger towns, although some rural areas also return DP members to the MGK. Since 2004 Mongolia has had several coalition governments, the “joint” government formed in 2008 combining members of the MPRP and DP. Among the smaller political parties are the Civil Courage (or Citizens’ Will) Party, founded in 2000 by Sanjaasürengiin Oyuun in memory of her brother, Sanjaasürengiin Zorig, leader of the 1989 Mongolian democratic revolution, who was murdered in 1998; and the Mongolian Green Party, established in 1990 and focused on environmental issues.
Women are poorly represented in government and parliament, and relatively few women become prominent in political parties. Since 1990 there has been a significant increase in the activity of women’s organizations pursuing equality issues, particularly fairer representation in parliament and the government. A vote by the MGK to require that 30 percent of the candidates for the 2008 parliamentary election be women was later annulled. Among minority groups, the predominantly Kazakh Bayan-Ölgii province of western Mongolia has regularly elected three members to the MGK, and a few Kazakhs have participated in the government.
- Security
Until the early 1990s, Mongolia’s security was provided through treaties with the Soviet Union and mainly by a large Soviet military presence in the country. However, the last of those troops were withdrawn in 1992, and the 1992 constitution generally has prohibited the presence of foreign troops in Mongolia. Furthermore, in 1996 Mongolia adopted a national security policy that, among other things, emphasized the need to ensure the country’s nuclear weapons-free status internationally, a keystone of Mongolian foreign policy. These provisions do not prevent cooperation with the armed forces of a number of countries, including the United States, China, and, more recently, Russia once more, especially for training peacekeepers and specialists for antiterrorist operations and for holding joint exercises in Mongolia and abroad.
National security issues are under the purview of the Mongolian National Security Council, the core members of which are the president (chairman), the chairman of the MGK, and the prime minister, together with a permanent secretary. Mongolia, with a limited conscription program, maintains a small military force, consisting mainly of army troops (including both men and women) and air defense troops—all under the command of the Armed Forces General Staff and administered by the Ministry of Defense. The army’s equipment consists mostly of ageing Soviet-made tanks, armoured cars, and artillery. More recently, rapid deployment battalions have been formed, to be deployed for international peacekeeping operations, and this has required considerable reorganization and retraining. The air defense forces have few operational aircraft, and their focus has turned to providing radar and navigation services.
A force of border troops, which are subordinated to the Main Directorate of Border Defense, have motorized their mounted units and have acquired helicopters for aerial reconnaissance. There is a national police force, the chief of which also commands internal troops who perform special guard duties. All of these forces are administered by the Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs. Intelligence and counterintelligence are the responsibility of the Main Directorate for Intelligence, an organization that over the years has changed its name and structure several times. It is subordinated to the prime minister’s office.
- Health and welfare
Before the 1920s Mongolians had no medical services other than what was provided by the lamas, who employed herbal medicines and prayers for recovery from illness. Public and personal hygiene were extremely poor, diseases such as tuberculosis and syphilis were widespread, and the population was in decline. During the socialist period Soviet doctors introduced modern Western medical practices and equipment and taught basic health care. The first teaching hospitals, clinics, and maternity homes were built in Ulaanbaatar. Medical treatment, paid for by the government, was free for patients.
The political and economic changes in the early 1990s left Mongolia’s health care system scrambling for funding. A national health insurance plan was introduced in 1994, and legislation subsequently was enacted to transform the state-run health care system and develop private health care. Many private-care plans are now available, mainly in Ulaanbaatar. Medical training was improved, and private hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and “family doctor” surgeries were opened. In addition, donor countries built modern hospitals. As a result, infant mortality rates fell dramatically, and overall death rates declined as well before both stabilized.
Mongolia has a sophisticated social welfare system, funded by a combination of contributory social insurance and subsidies from the state budget. There is a range of assistance payments for child care, one-parent families, various disabilities, and state old-age pensions. Towns have employment agencies, and registered unemployed (those who have previously worked) can receive modest support. The unregistered unemployed include such groups as recent school graduates, former soldiers, and released prisoners. The government strictly controls the organized immigration of foreign workers, while rising numbers of Mongolians seek employment abroad, mainly in South Korea.
- Education
In the prerevolutionary period, boys could be taught in monasteries to read and write in Mongolian and Tibetan or trained for secretarial work in the local administrative “seal” offices (so-named for the local rulers’ seals of authority kept in them). After 1921 Mongolia began building its first public schools, which started providing free education for all who attended them. The main thrust at first was directed at eradicating illiteracy and creating a trained intelligentsia. From 1940 on, however, the emphasis passed to expanding elementary and secondary facilities throughout the country and to establishing the first institution of higher education, the Mongolian State University, founded in 1942 (also called the National University of Mongolia). An important measure was the creation of boarding schools for the children of nomadic herding families. The funding for all these ventures came from the state budget, supplemented by Soviet aid subsidies. The Soviets also provided teacher training in the Soviet Union.
There are now hundreds of general schools that offer primary and secondary education, dozens of special vocational schools, about a dozen universities, and some hundred colleges. Education is compulsory for 11 years, beginning at age 6; a growing number of schools have instituted 12 years of mandatory education. In addition to the thousands of Mongolian students at the country’s institutions of higher education, hundreds also study in Russia as well as in the United States, Great Britain, China, and other countries.
The Academy of Sciences, founded in its present form in 1961 from earlier scholarly institutions, coordinates research across a wide range of scientific establishments including the Academies of Agricultural and Medical Sciences. There are several other institutions not subordinate to the Academy of Sciences, including the Defense and Police Academies, which are training schools, and the government-operated Academy of Management.
Culture Life of Mongolia
History of Mongolia
Great hordes of horsemen have repeatedly swept down from Mongolia into N China, establishing vast, although generally short-lived, empires. In the 1st cent. A.D. Mongolia was inhabited by various Turkic tribes who dwelt mainly along the upper course of the Orkhon River. It was also the home of the Hsiung-nu who ravaged (1st–5th cent.) N China. The Uigur Turks founded their first empire (744–856) with its capital near Karakorum in W Mongolia. The Khitan, who founded the Liao dynasty (947–1125) in N China, were from Mongolia. Many smaller territorial states followed until (c.1205) Jenghiz Khan conquered all Mongolia, united its tribes, and from his capital at Karakorum led the Mongols in creating one of the greatest empires of all time. His successors established the Golden Horde in SE Russia and founded the Hulagid dynasty of Persia and the Yuan dynasty (1260–1368) of China.
After the decline of the Mongol empire, Mongolia intruded less in world affairs. China, which earlier had gained control of Inner Mongolia, subjugated Outer Mongolia in the late 17th cent., but in the succeeding years struggled with Russia for control. Outer Mongolia finally broke away in 1921 to form the Mongolian People's Republic (now Mongolia). Inner Mongolia remained under Chinese control, although the Japanese conquered Rehe (1933), which they included in Manchukuo, and Chahar and Suiyuan (1937), which they formed into Mengjiang (Mongol Border Land). These areas were returned to China after World War II. In 1944, Tannu Tuva (see Tuva Republic), long recognized as part of Mongolia but under Russian influence since 1911, was incorporated within the USSR (now Russia). The Chinese Communists joined most of Inner Mongolia to N Rehe prov. and W Heilongjiang prov. to form the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region in 1949.
Disclaimer
This is not the official site of this country. Most of the information in this site were taken from the U.S. Department of State, The Central Intelligence Agency, The United Nations, [1],[2], [3], [4], [5],[6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14],[15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24],[25], [26], [27], [28], [29], [30],[31], [32], [33], [34], and the [35].
Other sources of information will be mentioned as they are posted.