Mongolia | History, Capital, Map, Flag, Language, Population, Size, & Facts | Britannica (original) (raw)

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Mongolia, historically Outer Mongolia, landlocked 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 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.

Quick Facts

Head Of Government:

Prime Minister: Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene

Population:

(2024 est.) 3,530,000

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 Name:

Mongol Uls (Mongolia)

Total Area (Sq Km):

1,564,241

Total Area (Sq Mi):

603,953

Monetary Unit:

tugrik (Tug)

Population Rank:

(2023) 133

Population Projection 2030:

3,494,000

Density: Persons Per Sq Mi:

(2024) 5.8

Density: Persons Per Sq Km:

(2024) 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) 17,069

Gni Per Capita (U.S.$):

(2023) 4,950

Historically:

Outer Mongolia

MongoliaLivestock grazing in a pasture in northeast-central 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 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.

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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 low population density.

The mountains

There are three major mountain chains in Mongolia: the Mongolian Altai Mountains, the Khangai Mountains (Khangain [or Hangayn] Nuruu), and the Khentii Mountains (Khentiin [or Hentiyn] Nuruu). The Mongolian Altai in the west and southwest constitute 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) at Khüiten Peak (Nayramadlyn Orgil) at the western tip of the country, Mongolia’s highest point. Extending eastward from the Mongolian Altai are the Gobi Altai Mountains (Govi Altain Nuruu), a lesser range of denuded hills that lose themselves in the expanses of the Gobi.

The Khangai 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 Eastern Sayan Mountains of Siberia lie along the border with Russia.

The alignment of the third mountain chain, the Khentii range of northeastern Mongolia, is southwest to northeast, extending into Siberia. The highest peak is Asraltkhairkhan, 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. The Da Hinggan (Greater Khingan) Range rises along and beyond the eastern frontier with China.