Prime Minister:Nambaryn Enkhbayar
Land Area:604,247 square miles (1,565,000 square kilometers)
Population:
Capital: Ulaan Baatar
Monetary unit:Tugtik
Primary Language:Mongolian
Ethnicity:90% Mongol
Primary Religion:Tibetan Buddism
Literacy rate:97%(1989)
GDP/Per Capita Income:$4.7 billion(2000); $1,780
Agricultural Products:wheat, barley, potatoes, sheep, goats, cattle, camels, horses
Mineral Resourses:oil, coal, copper, tungsten, phosphate, nickel, zinc, gold, silver
A brief history
Mongolia was originaly a country of nomadic peoples wandering the plains of eastern Asia. They were a war-like people and frequently ttakced neighboring countries. China was a common target, due to it's wealth. The long border of China made it difficult to defend from invasion. It was to protect China from the attacks of the Mongols that the Great Wall of China was built. Under Ghengis Khan, the mongols began conquereing many lands in Asia and soon had one of the largest empires in history, controling almost all of Asia. However, by the 14th century, the empire had begun to decline.
In the 1920's Mongolia fell under control of the Soviet Union. However, mongol revolutionists quickly drove out the soviets. In 1968, Mongolia had allied itself with the Soviet Union and was communist. In 1989, the Mongolian demcratic revolution began. The movement was led by Sanjaasurengiyn Zorig. In 1990, Mongolia had a multi-party government, although it was still largely communist. With the end of the USSR, Mongolia began to drift more rapidly toward democracy. In the meantime however, many factories were closed after they were deprived of Soviet aid and there was a 30% rise in unemployment. In 1992 the Communist Mongolian People's Reolutionary Party(MPRP) began to take control of the government and in 1997 the former chairmen of the MPRP became president of Mongolia. In 2000 the Communist Mongolian People's Reolutionary Party became the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party and voted into 72 out of 76 parliament seats, giving it control of the parliament and the Presidency.
Now Mongolia is a blend of a communist and democratic government. It's economy is very sluggish and living conditions are fairly poor.
Geography
Mongolia is made up mostly of open plains. It is aproximately 3,000 to 5,000 feet above sea level. Many rivers flow through Monolia, such as the Hovd, the Onon and the Tula. The Gobi desert is located largely within Mongolia.
Customs
Although the Buddhist church was suppressed in the 1930s, much traditional custom and celebration survived in the 1980s, with either the encouragement or the acquiescence of the government and the party. The Mongolian new year festival-- Tsagaan Sar (the White Month)--is celebrated at the same time as the Chinese lunar new year, although contemporary Mongolians deny any Chinese origin or influence. In the 1960s, the government designated it as Cattle Breeders' Day and stopped celebrating it as an official holiday. In 1989, as part of the party's efforts to reaffirm traditional culture, Tsagaan Sar again became a public holiday. The festival retained its prerevolutionary character as an occasion when relatives come together to reaffirm their ties, and juniors honor their elders. The Mongolian government sponsored the summer celebrations of Naadam, the traditional Mongol sports of horse racing, wrestling, and archery. Naadam celebrations were held in every somon, in every aymag seat, and in the great stadium in Ulaanbaatar on National Day, July 11. The celebrations attracted large audiences and were one of the few occasions for the normally dispersed pastoralists to gather in large crowds, renew old acquaintances, and make new friends. Wrestlers, archers, and riders dressed in traditional costumes, and a large bowl of ayrag, fermented mare's milk, was poured over the head of the winning horse in a form of libation practiced on the steppes for more than 1,000 years. Each wrestler was accompanied by a herald or bard, who chanted verses extolling his hero in a centuries-old format. There was a hierarchy of contests, with the winners at one level going on to the next, so that the national Naadam in Ulaanbaatar brought the champions from all over the country. The winning wrestler was a national hero, and, while the contests had no obvious political content, they provided an opportunity for the political elite and the ordinary people, the herders and the urbanites, to reaffirm their common Mongolian identity and culture.
More information to be added later
A Map of Mongolia
