Facts & Figures
Map of Mongolia
Map of Mongolia
President: Tsakhiagiyn Elbegdorj (2009)
Prime Minister: Sanj Bayar (2007)
Total area: 604,247 sq mi (1,565,000 sq km)
Population (2009 est.): 3,041,142 (growth rate: 1.4%); birth rate: 21.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 39.8/1000; life expectancy: 67.6; density per sq km: 1
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Ulaan Baatar, 804,200
Monetary unit: Tugrik
More Facts & Figures
Flag of Mongolia
Index
1. Mongolia Main Page
2. Chinese-Russian Treaty
3. Mongolian Democratic Revolution
Geography
Mongolia lies in central Asia between Siberia on the north and China on the south. It is slightly larger than Alaska.
The productive regions of Mongolia—a tableland ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 ft (914 to 1,524 m) in elevation—are in the north, which is well drained by numerous rivers, including the Hovd, Onon, Selenga, and Tula. Much of the Gobi Desert falls within Mongolia.
Government
Parliamentary republic now in transition from communism.
History
Nomadic tribes that periodically plundered agriculturally based China from the west are recorded in Chinese history dating back more than 2,000 years. It was to protect China from these marauding peoples that the Great Wall was constructed around 200 B.C. The name Mongol comes from a small tribe whose leader, Ghengis Khan, began a conquest that would eventually encompass an enormous empire stretching from Asia to Europe, as far west as the Black Sea and as far south as India and the Himalayas. But by the 14th century, the kingdom was in serious decline, with invasions from a resurgent China and internecine warfare.
The State of Mongolia was formerly known as Outer Mongolia. It contains the original homeland of the historic Mongols, whose power reached its zenith during the 13th century under Kublai Khan. The area accepted Manchu rule in 1689, but after the Chinese Revolution of 1911 and the fall of the Manchus in 1912, the northern Mongol princes expelled the Chinese officials and declared independence under the Khutukhtu, or “Living Buddha.”
