Facts about Mongolia
Tibetan Buddhism is the predominant religion practiced in Mongolia today while ancient shamanistic practices and traditions are still observed in rural areas.
Mongolia's Buddhist adherents endured seven decades of communist brutality that aimed to exterminate religion, and it is reemerging as a country proud of its religious heritage.
Mongolia has rich mineral resources, and copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and gold account for a large part of industrial production.
The Mongolian national flag has an ornate symbol in the leftmost bar that is a Buddhist icon called a soyonbo.
The main cultural festival is Naadam, which celebrates the anniversary of Mongolian independence from China.
At 604,209 square miles (1,565,000 square kilometers), Mongolia is the world's 19th-largest country (after Iran).
Mongolia uses a unicameral parliamentary system in which the president has a symbolic role and the government chosen by the legislature exercises executive power.
Mongolia has a relatively small and undeveloped infrastructure in terms of roads and electricity.
During this time, the Manchus maintained their control over Mongolia with a series of alliances and intermarriages, as well as military and economic control.
A change in country's attitude toward tourism took place when the Tourism Law of Mongolia was enacted on May 5, 2000.
The highest point in Mongolia is Nayramadlin Orgil (Huyten Orgil) at 4,374 m (14,350 feet).
Factors such as their herds' susceptibility to disease, unfavorable environmental developments, and the lure of a better life in urban centers are contributing to the downfall of Mongolia's pastoral culture.
Throughout much of the twentieth century, the communist government repressed the religious practices of the Mongolian people.
Mongolia's population growth rate is estimated at 1.54 percent (2000 census).
The predominant religion in Mongolia is Tibetan Buddhism, and the majority of its citizens are of Mongol ethnicity, though many Kazakhs and Tuvans also live in the country, especially in the west.
Health care in Mongolia is not as available or affordable as it once was under the Communist system.
The new law resulted in plans to raise services to the world standard and extensive measures to increase tourist arrivals in Mongolia and to create attractive tour options.
The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, combined with these two policies, were enough to lead to a peaceful democratic revolution in Mongolia in 1990.
Mongolia was the first country in Asia to embrace communist rule and the first to disengage from it.
The threat of Mongolian forces seizing parts of Inner Mongolia induced the Republic of China to recognize Outer Mongolia's independence, provided that a referendum was held.
During the seventeenth century, the Manchus rose to prominence in the east, and they conquered Inner Mongolia in 1636 and Outer Mongolia in 1691.
Turkic speakers (Kazakhs, Tuvans, and Uyghurs) constitute 7 percent of Mongolia's population, and the rest are Tungusic-speakers, Chinese, and Russians.
The Mingechaur Reservoir, with an area of 234 square miles (605 square kilometers), is the largest body of water in Azerbaijan.
Mongolia has a cold and arid climate of extremes with long, cold winters and short summers, during which most of its annual precipitation falls.
In 2006, Mongolia celebrated 800 years since Genghis Khan established the unified kingdom that made it a superpower.
Mongolian-style democracy faced many of the same challenges that other former Soviet satellite nations have faced.
Until June 27, 2004, the dominant party in Mongolia was the ex-communist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, or MPRP, which was formed by Mongolia's communist leaders after the end of the Cold War.
The Trans-Siberian Railway passes through Mongolia between China and Russia.
The official language of Mongolia is Khalkha Mongol, which uses the Cyrillic alphabet, but there is a variety of different dialects across the country.
Both Russia and China now view Mongolia with some wariness as a pro-U.S. democracy in the midst of an otherwise authoritarian Eurasia.
A new European Union arrangement signed in 2007 gradually phases out long-standing preferential treatment for Guyana sugar exports over three years.
Mongolians love to entertain by singing for one another in family and larger public settings.
The United States had recognized Mongolia in 1987 and since has sought to expand cultural and economic ties.
Following the end of the Cold War, and after the fall of communism in Mongolia in 1990, Mongolia adopted democracy.
Mongolia has named English the second official language of Mongolia, replacing Russian.
During the Soviet-Japanese Border War of 1939, the USSR defended Mongolia against Japan during the Battle of Halhin Gol.
The introduction of perestroika and glasnost in the USSR by Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev strongly influenced Mongolian politics even though Mongolia was a sovereign nation.
Horloogiyn Choybalsan complied with the orders of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, destroying almost all of Mongolia's over 700 Buddhist monasteries and killing thousands of monks.
The new country's territory was approximately that of the former Outer Mongolia.
Given the economic difficulties the country faced after the collapse of the Soviet Union, as it transitioned to a market economy, Mongolians nonetheless have made the rebuilding of temples and monasteries a top priority.
Mongolia is also sometimes classified as being a part of Central Asia, as well as being termed part of "inner Asia."
After the Xiongnu migrated west, Rouran, a close relative of the Mongols, came to power before being defeated by the Gokturks, who then dominated Mongolia for centuries.
From 2000 to 2004, MPRP was back in power, but results of the 2004 elections required the establishment of the first-ever coalition government in Mongolia between the MPRP and MDC (Motherland Democratic Coalition).
Mongolian forces also took part in the Soviet offensive against Japanese forces in Inner Mongolia in August 1945 (see Operation August Storm).
During the next few centuries, Mongolia was split between the Oirad in the west and the Khalkha in the east.
Mongolia has a very high literacy rate, with 96 percent able to read and write.
Khoomii, or "throat singing," is a popular music form, particularly in western Mongolia.
A large number of ethnicities have inhabited Mongolia since prehistoric times.
During the seventh and eighth centuries, Mongolia was controlled by Gokturks, who were succeeded by the ancestors of today's Uigur and then by the Khitan and Jurchen.
Mongolia (Mongolian: ?????? ???) is a landlocked country located in East Asia with a population of nearly three million.
Evidence of the Mongolian legacy from well before Genghis Khan can be found around the world—throughout not only Asia, but parts of Africa, Europe, and especially the Western Hemisphere.
The hospitality of the inhabitants to visitors to the inhospitable landscapes of Mongolia is legendary.
Many of Mongolia's democratic reforms were initiated with U.S. assistance.
The petroleum products and electricity used to power the infrastructure are in large part (80 percent) imported from Russia, which makes Mongolia vulnerable to supply shortages.
In 1924, after the death of Bogd Khaan, the Mongolian People's Republic was established by the Soviets.