Mongolia

{{Infobox Chinese

| title = Mongolia

| pic =

| piccap =

| w = PRC: Mêng³-ku³
ROC: Mêng²-ku³

| myr = PRC: Měnggǔ
ROC: Ménggǔ

| tp = PRC: Měnggǔ
ROC: Ménggǔ

| mps = PRC: Měnggǔ
ROC: Ménggǔ

| order =

| wuu = Monku

| y = Mùhnggú

| mong = ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ
ᠤᠯᠤᠰ

| monr = Mongol Uls

| mon = Монгол Улс
(Mongol Uls)

| showflag = p

| t =

| s =

}}

The name Mongolia means the "Land of the Mongols" in Latin. The Mongolian word "Mongol" ({{wikt-lang|mn|монгол}}) is of uncertain etymology. Sükhbataar (1992) and de la Vaissière (2021) proposed it being a derivation from Mugulü, the 4th-century founder of the Rouran Khaganate,{{Cite book |first=Г.|last=Сүхбаатар |title=Монголын эртний түүх судлал, III боть |year=1992 |volume=3 |pages=330–550 |language=mn |trans-title=Historiography of Ancient Mongolia, Volume III |chapter=Монгол Нирун улс |trans-chapter=Mongol Nirun (Rouran) state}} first attested as the 'Mungu',{{cite book|last1=Svantesson|first1=Jan-Olof|last2=Tsendina|first2=Anna|last3=Karlsson|first3=Anastasia|last4=Franzén|first4=Vivian|title=The Phonology of Mongolian|pages=103–105|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2005|isbn=978-0199554270|series=Phonologies of the World's Languages}} (Chinese: {{wikt-lang|zh|蒙兀}}, Modern Chinese Měngwù, Middle Chinese Muwngu),{{cite book|last=Pulleyblank|first=Edwin George|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qBvsXylluO4C|title=Lexicon of Reconstructed Pronunciation in Early Middle Chinese, Late Middle Chinese, and Early Mandarin|publisher=UBC Press|year=1991|isbn=0-7748-0366-5}}. a branch of the Shiwei in an 8th-century Tang dynasty list of northern tribes, presumably related to the Liao-era Mungku (Chinese: {{wikt-lang|zh|蒙古}}, Modern Chinese Měnggǔ, Middle Chinese MuwngkuX).Baxter, Wm. H. & Sagart, Laurent. {{Cite web |title=Baxter–Sagart Old Chinese Reconstruction |url=http://crlao.ehess.fr/docannexe.php?id=1207 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425064509/http://crlao.ehess.fr/docannexe.php?id=1207 |archive-date=25 April 2012}} {{small|(1.93 MB)}}. 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2011.

After the fall of the Liao dynasty in 1125, the Khamag Mongols became a leading tribe on the Mongolian Plateau. However, their wars with the Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty and the Tatar confederation had weakened them. The last head of the tribe was Yesügei, whose son Temüjin (Genghis Khan) eventually united all the Shiwei tribes as the Mongol Empire (Yekhe Monggol Ulus). In the thirteenth century, the word Mongol grew into an umbrella term for a large group of Mongolic-speaking tribes united under the rule of Genghis Khan.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Mongolia: Ethnography of Mongolia |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-27420/Mongolia#394579.hook |access-date=2007-07-22 |archive-date=6 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706041059/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-27420/Mongolia#394579.hook |url-status=live}}

Since the adoption of the new Constitution of Mongolia on 13 February 1992, the official name of the state is "Mongolia" (Mongol Uls).{{cite book |last1=Sanders |first1=Alan J. K. |title=Historical Dictionary of Mongolia |date=20 May 2010 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-7452-7 |page=449 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5JN83EDDLl4C |language=en |quote=Since the proclamation of the 1992 Mongolian Constitution, the official name of the independent Mongolian state, previously (1924–92) the Mongolian People's Republic, has been simply Mongolia (Mongol Uls).}}{{cite book |last1=Everett-Heath |first1=John |title=The Concise Dictionary of World Place-names |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-860537-9 |page=346 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fghrQgAACAAJ |language=en}}

{{Main|History of Mongolia}}{{More sources|section|date=April 2025}}

{{Main|Prehistoric Mongolia|Proto-Mongols}}

The Khoit Tsenkher CaveEleanora Novgorodova, Archäologische Funde, Ausgrabungsstätten und Skulpturen, in Mongolen (catalogue), pp. 14–20 in Khovd Province shows lively pink, brown, and red ochre paintings (dated to 20,000 years ago) of mammoths, lynx, bactrian camels, and ostriches, earning it the nickname "the Lascaux of Mongolia". The Venus figurines of Mal'ta (21,000 years ago) testify to the level of Upper Paleolithic art in northern Mongolia; Mal'ta is now part of Russia.

Neolithic agricultural settlements (c. 5500–3500 BC), such as those at Norovlin, Tamsagbulag, Bayanzag, and Rashaan Khad, predated the introduction of horse-riding nomadism, a pivotal event in the history of Mongolia which became the dominant culture. The ethnogenesis of Mongolic peoples is largely linked with the expansion of Ancient Northeast Asians. The Mongolian pastoralist lifestyle may in part be derived from the Western Steppe Herders, but without much geneflow between these two groups, suggesting cultural transmission.{{Cite web |title=Population dynamics and the rise of empires in Inner Asia: Genome-wide analysis spanning 6,000 years in the eastern Eurasian Steppe gives insights to the formation of Mongolia's empires |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201105183836.htm |access-date=4 June 2023 |website=ScienceDaily |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Xiaomin |last2=Sarengaowa |last3=He |first3=Guanglin |last4=Guo |first4=Jianxin |last5=Zhu |first5=Kongyang |last6=Ma |first6=Hao |last7=Zhao |first7=Jing |last8=Yang |first8=Meiqing |last9=Chen |first9=Jing |last10=Zhang |first10=Xianpeng |last11=Tao |first11=Le |last12=Liu |first12=Yilan |last13=Zhang |first13=Xiu-Fang |last14=Wang |first14=Chuan-Chao |date=2021 |title=Genomic Insights Into the Genetic Structure and Natural Selection of Mongolians |journal=Frontiers in Genetics |volume=12 |page=735786 |doi=10.3389/fgene.2021.735786 |issn=1664-8021 |pmc=8693022 |pmid=34956310 |doi-access=free}}

Horse-riding nomadism has been documented by archeological evidence in Mongolia during the Copper and Bronze Age Afanasevo culture (3500–2500 BC);{{cite journal|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/nomadic-herders-left-strong-genetic-mark-europeans-and-asians|first=Ann|last=Gibbons|date=10 June 2015|title=Nomadic herders left a strong genetic mark on Europeans and Asians|journal=Science|publisher=AAAS|access-date=5 November 2022|archive-date=2 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220902191050/https://www.science.org/content/article/nomadic-herders-left-strong-genetic-mark-europeans-and-asians|url-status=live}} this Indo-European culture was active to the Khangai Mountains in Central Mongolia. The wheeled vehicles found in the burials of the Afanasevans have been dated to before 2200 BC.{{Cite book |last=David Christian |title=A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia |date=December 16, 1998 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-631-20814-3 |page=101}} Pastoral nomadism and metalworking became more developed with the later Okunev culture (2nd millennium BC), Andronovo culture (2300–1000 BC) and Karasuk culture (1500–300 BC), culminating with the Iron Age Xiongnu Empire in 209 BC. Monuments of the pre-Xiongnu Bronze Age include deer stones, keregsur kurgans, square slab tombs, and rock paintings.

Although cultivation of crops has continued since the Neolithic, agriculture has always remained small in scale compared to pastoral nomadism. Agriculture may have first been introduced from the west or arose independently in the region. The population during the Copper Age has been described as mongoloid in the east of what is now Mongolia, and as europoid in the west. Tocharians (Yuezhi) and Scythians inhabited western Mongolia during the Bronze Age. The mummy of a Scythian warrior, which is believed to be about 2,500 years old, was a 30- to 40-year-old man with blond hair; it was found in the Altai, Mongolia.{{Cite news |date=August 25, 2006 |title=Archeological Sensation-Ancient Mummy Found in Mongolia |work=Spiegel Online |publisher=Spiegel.de |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,433600,00.html |url-status=live |access-date=2010-05-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100522230511/http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,433600,00.html |archive-date=May 22, 2010 |df=mdy-all}} As equine nomadism was introduced into Mongolia, the political center of the Eurasian Steppe also shifted to Mongolia, where it remained until the 18th century. The intrusions of northern pastoralists (e.g. the Guifang, Shanrong, and Donghu) into China during the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC) and Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) presaged the age of nomadic empires.

File:ZaamarTomb.jpg

Since the prehistoric times, Mongolia has been inhabited by nomads who, from time to time, formed great confederations that rose to power and prominence. Common institutions were the office of the Khan, the Kurultai (Supreme Council), left and right wings, imperial army (Keshig) and the decimal military system. The first of these empires, the Xiongnu of undetermined ethnicity, were brought together by Modu Shanyu to form a confederation in 209 BC. Soon they emerged as the greatest threat to the Qin dynasty, forcing the latter to construct the Great Wall of China. It was guarded by up to almost 300,000 soldiers during Marshal Meng Tian's tenure, as a means of defense against the destructive Xiongnu raids. The vast Xiongnu empire (209 BC–93 AD) was followed by the Mongolic Xianbei empire (93–234 AD), which also ruled more than the entirety of present-day Mongolia. The Mongolic Rouran Khaganate (330–555), of Xianbei provenance was the first to use "Khagan" as an imperial title. It ruled a massive empire before being defeated by the Göktürks (555–745), an even larger empire.

The Göktürks laid siege to Panticapaeum, present-day Kerch, in 576. They were succeeded by the Uyghur Khaganate (745–840) who were defeated by the Kyrgyz. The Mongolic Khitans, descendants of the Xianbei, ruled Mongolia during the Liao dynasty (907–1125), after which the Khamag Mongol (1125–1206) rose to prominence.

Lines 3–5 of the memorial inscription of Bilge Khagan (684–737) in central Mongolia summarizes the time of the Khagans:

{{blockquote| In battles they subdued the nations of all four sides of the world and suppressed them. They made those who had heads bow their heads, and who had knees genuflect them. In the east up to the Kadyrkhan common people, in the west up to the Iron Gate they conquered... These Khagans were wise. These Khagans were great. Their servants were wise and great too. Officials were honest and direct with people. They ruled the nation this way. This way they held sway over them. When they died ambassadors from Bokuli Cholug (Baekje Korea), Tabgach (Tang China), Tibet (Tibetan Empire), Avar (Avar Khaganate), Rome (Byzantine Empire), Kirgiz, Uch-Kurykan, Otuz-Tatars, Khitans, Tatabis came to the funerals. So many people came to mourn over the great Khagans. They were famous Khagans.{{Cite web |title=Memorial Complex of Bilge Khagan |url=http://bitig.org/?lang=e&mod=1&tid=1&oid=16&m=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150203230249/http://www.bitig.org/?lang=e |archive-date=February 3, 2015 |access-date=January 1, 2015 |publisher=bitig.org |df=mdy-all}}}}

{{Main|Mongol Empire|Mongolia under Yuan rule|Northern Yuan dynasty|Dzungar Khanate|Mongolia under Qing rule}}

{{See also|List of medieval Mongol tribes and clans|List of Mongol states|List of Mongol rulers}}

File:Mongol_Empire_map.gif expansion (1206–1294)]]

In the chaos of the late 12th century, a chieftain named Temüjin finally succeeded in uniting the Mongol tribes between Manchuria and the Altai Mountains. In 1206, he took the title Genghis Khan, and waged a series of military campaigns – renowned for their brutality and ferocity – sweeping through much of Asia, and forming the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous land empire in world history. Under his successors it stretched from present-day Poland in the west to Korea in the east, and from parts of Siberia in the north to the Gulf of Oman and Vietnam in the south, covering some {{convert|33000000|km2}},{{Cite web |last=Bruce R. Gordon |title=To Rule the Earth… |url=http://www.hostkingdom.net/earthrul.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701103611/http://www.hostkingdom.net/earthrul.html |archive-date=July 1, 2007 |access-date=2013-06-28}} (22% of Earth's total land area) and had a population of over 100 million people (about a quarter of Earth's total population at the time). The emergence of Pax Mongolica also significantly eased trade and commerce across Asia during its height.{{Cite journal |last=Guzman |first=Gregory G. |year=1988 |title=Were the barbarians a negative or positive factor in ancient and medieval history? |journal=The Historian |issue=50 |pages=568–570}}{{Cite book |last=Thomas T. Allsen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0StLNcKQNUoC&pg=PA211 |title=Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia |date=March 25, 2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-60270-9 |page=211 |author-link=Thomas T. Allsen |access-date=2013-06-28 |df=mdy-all}}

After Genghis Khan's death, the empire was subdivided into four kingdoms or Khanates. These eventually became quasi-independent after the Toluid Civil War (1260–1264), which broke out in a battle for power following Möngke Khan's death in 1259. One of the khanates, the "Great Khaanate", consisting of the Mongol homeland and most of modern-day China, became known as the Yuan dynasty under Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan. He set up his capital in present-day Beijing. After more than a century of power, the Yuan dynasty was overthrown by the Ming dynasty in 1368, and the Yuan court fled to the north, thus becoming the Northern Yuan dynasty. As the Ming armies pursued the Mongols into their homeland, they successfully sacked and destroyed the Mongol capital Karakorum and other cities. Some of these attacks were repelled by the Mongols under Ayushridar and his general Köke Temür.{{Cite book |title=《扩廓帖木儿传》[biography of Köke Temür] |publisher=History of Yuan |edition=卷一四一，列传第二八}}

After the expulsion of the Yuan rulers from China proper, the Mongols continued to rule their homeland, known in historiography as the Northern Yuan dynasty. With the division of the Mongol tribes, it was subsequently also known as "The Forty and the Four" (Döčin dörben) among them.{{cite journal |last1=Junko |first1=Miyawaki |title=The Birth of the Oyirad Khanship |journal=Central Asiatic Journal |date=1997 |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=38–75 |jstor=41928088 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41928088 |access-date=15 February 2023 |archive-date=16 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116050322/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41928088 |url-status=live}} The next centuries were marked by violent power struggles among various factions, notably the Genghisids and the non-Genghisid Oirats, as well as by several Ming invasions (such as the five expeditions led by the Yongle Emperor).

File:Genghis khan.jpg

In the early 16th century, Dayan Khan and his khatun Mandukhai reunited all Mongol groups under the Genghisids. In the mid-16th century, Altan Khan of the Tümed, a grandson of Dayan Khan – but not a hereditary or legitimate Khan – became powerful. He founded Hohhot in 1557. After he met with the Dalai Lama in 1578, he ordered the introduction of Tibetan Buddhism to Mongolia. (It was the second time this had occurred.) Abtai Khan of the Khalkha converted to Buddhism and founded the Erdene Zuu monastery in 1585. His grandson Zanabazar became the first Jebtsundamba Khutughtu in 1640. Following the leaders, the entire Mongolian population embraced Buddhism. Each family kept scriptures and Buddha statues on an altar at the north side of their yurt. Mongolian nobles donated land, money and herders to the monasteries. As was typical in states with established religions, the top religious institutions, the monasteries, wielded significant temporal power in addition to spiritual power.{{cite web |last1=Alexander |first1=Berzin |title=History of Buddhism in Mongolia |url=https://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced-studies/history-culture/buddhism-in-mongolia/history-of-buddhism-in-mongolia |website=Study Buddhism |access-date=15 February 2023 |archive-date=15 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215024500/https://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced-studies/history-culture/buddhism-in-mongolia/history-of-buddhism-in-mongolia |url-status=live}}

The last Khagan of Mongols was Ligden Khan in the early 17th century. He came into conflicts with the Manchus over the looting of Chinese cities, and also alienated most Mongol tribes. He died in 1634. By 1636, most of the Inner Mongolian tribes had submitted to the Manchus, who founded the Qing dynasty. The Khalkha eventually submitted to Qing rule in 1691, thus bringing all of today's Mongolia under Manchu rule. After several Dzungar–Qing Wars, the Dzungars (western Mongols or Oirats) were virtually annihilated during the Qing conquest of Dzungaria in 1757 and 1758.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Kazakhstan to c. 1700 ce |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/313790/Kazakhstan/214566/History#ref=ref598970 |access-date=2013-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212010855/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/313790/Kazakhstan/214566/History#ref=ref598970 |archive-date=December 12, 2013 |author=Edward Allworth |url-status=live |df=mdy-all}}

File:Altan Khan.jpg (1507–1582) founded the city of Hohhot, helped introduce Buddhism and originated the title of Dalai Lama.]]

Some scholars estimate that about 80% of the 600,000 or more Dzungar were killed by a combination of disease and warfare.{{Cite thesis |last=Michael Edmund Clarke |title=In the Eye of Power: China and Xinjiang from the Qing Conquest to the "New Great Game" for Central Asia, 1759 – 2004 |publisher=Griffith University |url=http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/uploads/approved/adt-QGU20061121.163131/public/02Whole.pdf |type=PhD |location=Brisbane |year=2004 |page=37 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410040826/http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/uploads/approved/adt-QGU20061121.163131/public/02Whole.pdf |archive-date=2008-04-10}} Outer Mongolia was given relative autonomy, being administered by the hereditary Genghisid khanates of Tusheet Khan, Setsen Khan, Zasagt Khan and Sain Noyon Khan. The Jebtsundamba Khutuktu of Mongolia had immense de facto authority. The Manchu forbade mass Chinese immigration into the area, which allowed the Mongols to keep their culture. The Oirats who migrated to the Volga steppes in Russia became known as Kalmyks.

The main trade route during this period was the Tea Road through Siberia; it had permanent stations located every {{convert|25|to|30|km|mi}}, each of which was staffed by 5–30 chosen families.

Until 1911, the Qing dynasty maintained control of Mongolia with a series of alliances and intermarriages, as well as military and economic measures. Ambans, Manchu "high officials", were installed in Khüree, Uliastai, and Khovd, and the country was divided into numerous feudal and ecclesiastical fiefdoms (which also placed people in power with loyalty to the Qing). Over the course of the 19th century, the feudal lords attached more importance to representation and less importance to the responsibilities towards their subjects. The behavior of Mongolia's nobility, together with usurious practices by Chinese traders and the collection of imperial taxes in silver instead of animals, resulted in widespread poverty among the nomads. By 1911 there were 700 large and small monasteries in Outer Mongolia; their 115,000 monks made up 21% of the population. Apart from the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, there were 13 other reincarnating high lamas, called 'seal-holding saints' (tamgatai khutuktu), in Outer Mongolia.

{{Main|Mongolian Revolution of 1911|Bogd Khanate of Mongolia|Mongolian Revolution of 1921|Mongolian People's Republic|Mongolian Revolution of 1990|History of modern Mongolia}}

File:BogdKhan.jpg, Bogd Khaan]]

File:Map-of-Unified-Mongolia-1917.jpg

With the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, Mongolia under the Bogd Khaan declared its independence. However, the newly established Republic of China considered Mongolia to be part of its own territory. Yuan Shikai, the President of the Republic of China, considered the new republic to be the successor of the Qing. Bogd Khaan said that both Mongolia and China had been administered by the Manchu during the Qing, and after the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, the contract of Mongolian submission to the Manchu had become invalid.Bawden, Charles (1968): The Modern History of Mongolia. Weidenfeld & Nicolson: 194–195

The area controlled by the Bogd Khaan was approximately that of the former Outer Mongolia during the Qing period. In 1919, after the October Revolution in Russia, Chinese troops led by warlord Xu Shuzheng occupied Mongolia. Warfare erupted on the northern border. As a result of the Russian Civil War, the White Russian Lieutenant General Baron Ungern led his troops into Mongolia in October 1920, defeating the Chinese forces in Niislel Khüree (now Ulaanbaatar) in early February 1921 with Mongol support.

To eliminate the threat posed by Ungern, Bolshevik Russia decided to support the establishment of a communist Mongolian government and army. This Mongolian army took the Mongolian part of Kyakhta from Chinese forces on 18 March 1921, and on 6 July, Russian and Mongolian troops arrived in Khüree. Mongolia declared its independence again on 11 July 1921.Thomas E. Ewing, "Russia, China, and the Origins of the Mongolian People's Republic, 1911–1921: A Reappraisal", in: The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 58, No. 3 (Jul. 1980), pp. 399, 414, 415, 417, 421 As a result, Mongolia was closely aligned with the Soviet Union over the next seven decades.

In 1924, after the Bogd Khaan died of laryngeal cancer{{Cite web |last1=Кузьмин, С.Л. |last2=[Kuzmin, S.L.] |last3=Оюунчимэг, Ж. |last4=[Oyunchimeg, J.] |title=Буддизм и революция в Монголии |trans-title=Buddhism and the revolution in Mongolia |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/54133527/%D0%91%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BC-%D0%B8-%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8E%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F-%D0%B2-%D0%9C%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B8 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306164044/https://www.scribd.com/doc/54133527/%D0%91%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BC-%D0%B8-%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8E%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F-%D0%B2-%D0%9C%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B8 |archive-date=March 6, 2016 |language=ru}} or, as some sources claim, at the hands of Russian spies,{{YouTube|XuB0b_dEZ5g|Догсомын Бодоо 1/2}} (Mongolian) the country's political system was changed. The Mongolian People's Republic was established. In 1928, Khorloogiin Choibalsan rose to power. The early leaders of the Mongolian People's Republic (1921–1952) included many with Pan-Mongolist ideals. However, changing global politics and increased Soviet pressure led to the decline of Pan-Mongol aspirations in the following period.

File:Horloogiyn Choybalsan.jpg led Mongolia during the Stalinist era, and presided over an environment of intense political persecution]]

Khorloogiin Choibalsan instituted collectivization of livestock, began the destruction of the Buddhist monasteries, and carried out Stalinist purges, which resulted in the murders of numerous monks and other leaders. In Mongolia during the 1920s, approximately one-third of the male population were monks. By the beginning of the 20th century, 750 monasteries were functioning in Mongolia and by the end of the 1930s almost all had been looted or razed.{{Cite web |title=Mongolia: The Bhudda and the Khan |url=http://orientmag.com/8-30.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100818173717/http://www.orientmag.com/8-30.htm |archive-date=August 18, 2010 |access-date=2013-06-28 |publisher=Orient Magazine}}

In 1930, the Soviet Union stopped Buryat migration to the Mongolian People's Republic to prevent Mongolian reunification. All leaders of Mongolia who did not fulfill Stalin's demands to perform Red Terror against Mongolians were executed, including Peljidiin Genden and Anandyn Amar. The Stalinist purges in Mongolia, which began in 1937, killed more than 30,000 people. Under Stalinist influence in the Mongolian People's Republic, an estimated 17,000 monks were killed, official figures show.{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Natalie |date=2018-06-04 |title=Young monks lead revival of Buddhism in Mongolia after years of repression. |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-mongolia-monks-idUKKCN1J104O |work=Reuters. |access-date=2023-07-06}} Choibalsan, who led a dictatorship and organized Stalinist purges in Mongolia between 1937 and 1939, died suspiciously in the Soviet Union in 1952. Comintern leader Bohumír Šmeral said, "People of Mongolia are not important, the land is important. Mongolian land is larger than England, France and Germany".History of Mongolia, 2003, Volume 5. Mongolian Institute of History{{page needed|date=August 2021}}

File:MNRA soldiers 1939.jpg, 1939]]

After the Japanese invasion of neighboring Manchuria in 1931, Mongolia was threatened on this front. During the Soviet-Japanese Border War of 1939, the Soviet Union successfully defended Mongolia against Japanese expansionism. Mongolia fought against Japan during the Battles of Khalkhin Gol in 1939 and during the Soviet–Japanese War in August 1945 to liberate Inner Mongolia from Japan and Mengjiang.{{Cite web |last=Боржигон Хүсэл |date=18 January 2015 |title=1945 ОНД БНМАУ-ААС ХЯТАД УЛСАД ҮЗҮҮЛСЭН ТУСЛАМЖ |trans-title=Mongolian People's Republic supported the Chinese Anti-Japan War in 1945 |url=https://www.mongoliajol.info/index.php/JIS/article/download/394/415 |access-date=2 February 2019 |website=Mongolia Journals Online |archive-date=4 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804060721/https://www.mongoliajol.info/index.php/JIS/article/download/394/415 |url-status=live}}

The February 1945 Yalta Conference provided for the Soviet Union's participation in the Pacific War. One of the Soviet conditions for its participation, put forward at Yalta, was that after the war Outer Mongolia would retain its independence. The referendum took place on 20 October 1945, with (according to official numbers) 100% of the electorate voting for independence.Nohlen, D, Grotz, F & Hartmann, C (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p491 {{ISBN|0-19-924959-8}}

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, both countries confirmed their mutual recognition on 6 October 1949. However, the Republic of China used its Security Council veto in 1955, to stop the admission of the Mongolian People's Republic to the United Nations on the grounds it recognized all of Mongolia —including Outer Mongolia— as part of China. This was the only time the Republic of China ever used its veto. Hence, and because of the repeated threats to veto by the ROC, Mongolia did not join the UN until 1961 when the Soviet Union agreed to lift its veto on the admission of Mauritania (and any other newly independent African state), in return for the admission of Mongolia. Faced with pressure from nearly all the other African countries, the ROC relented under protest. Mongolia and Mauritania were both admitted to the UN on 27 October 1961.{{Cite web |script-title=zh:因常任理事国投反对票而未获通过的决议草案或修正案各段 |url=http://www.un.org/zh/sc/meetings/veto/pdf/a58_47_p2.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323133412/http://www.un.org/zh/sc/meetings/veto/pdf/a58_47_p2.pdf |archive-date=March 23, 2014 |publisher=聯合國 |language=zh |df=mdy-all}}{{Cite news |title=The veto and how to use it |work=BBC News Online |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2828985.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726080318/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2828985.stm |archive-date=July 26, 2010 |df=mdy-all}}{{Cite web |title=Changing Pattern in the Use of Veto in the Security Council |url=http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/102/32810.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508103405/http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/102/32810.html |archive-date=May 8, 2013 |publisher=Global Policy Forum |df=mdy-all}} (see China and the United Nations)

File:Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal Berlin, VIII.jpg was the longest-serving leader in the Eastern Bloc, with over 44 years in office]]

On 26 January 1952, Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal took power in Mongolia after the death of Choibalsan. Tsedenbal was the leading political figure in Mongolia for more than 30 years.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/tsedenbals-mongolia-and-the-communist-aid-donors-reappraisal|title=Tsedenbal's Mongolia and the Communist Aid Donors: A Reappraisal | Wilson Center|access-date=13 April 2021|archive-date=13 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413123041/https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/tsedenbals-mongolia-and-the-communist-aid-donors-reappraisal|url-status=live}} While Tsedenbal was visiting Moscow in August 1984, his severe illness prompted the parliament to announce his retirement and replace him with Jambyn Batmönkh.

The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 strongly influenced Mongolian politics and youth. Its people undertook the peaceful Democratic Revolution in January 1990 and the introduction of a multi-party system and a market economy.{{Cite web |last1=350.org |last2=Hunter |first2=Daniel |date=2024-04-17 |title=Authoritarianism to Democracy: The Story of Mongolia |url=https://commonslibrary.org/authoritarianism-to-democracy-the-story-of-mongolia/ |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}} At the same time, the transformation of the former Marxist-Leninist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party to the current social democratic Mongolian People's Party reshaped the country's political landscape.

A new constitution was introduced in 1992, and the term "People's Republic" was dropped from the country's name.{{cite news|last=Kim|first=Hyun-bin|date=18 December 2024|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2024/12/113_388575.html|title=Mongolia celebrates centennial of Mongolian People's Republic|work=The Korea Times|access-date=19 December 2024}} The transition to a market economy was often rocky; during the early 1990s the country had to deal with high inflation and food shortages.{{Cite book |last=Rossabi, Morris |url=https://archive.org/details/modernmongoliafr00ross |title=Modern Mongolia: From Khans to Commissars to Capitalists |publisher=University of California Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0520244191 |location=Berkeley |pages=[https://archive.org/details/modernmongoliafr00ross/page/n81 57]–58, 143–144 |url-access=limited}} The first election victories for non-communist parties came in 1993 (presidential elections) and 1996 (parliamentary elections). China has supported Mongolia's application for membership in the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and granting it observer status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.{{Cite web |date=2005-06-29 |title="Pan-Mongolism" and U.S.-China-Mongolia relations |url=http://www.jamestown.org/programs/chinabrief/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=3856&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=195&no_cache=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227111904/http://www.jamestown.org/programs/chinabrief/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=3856&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=195&no_cache=1 |archive-date=December 27, 2015 |access-date=2013-04-07 |publisher=Jamestown Foundation |df=mdy-all}}

{{Main|Geography of Mongolia}}

File:Mongolia 1996 CIA map.jpg, while the northern and western portions are mountainous]]

At {{convert|1564116|km2|mi2|0|abbr=on}}, Mongolia is the world's 18th-largest country.{{Cite web |title=Country Comparison :: Area |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2147rank.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209041128/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2147rank.html |archive-date=February 9, 2014 |access-date=2013-06-28 |website=The World Factbook |publisher=CIA |df=mdy-all}} It is significantly larger than the next-largest country, Peru. It mostly lies between latitudes 41° and 52°N (a small area is north of 52°), and longitudes 87° and 120°E. As a point of reference the northernmost part of Mongolia is on roughly the same latitude as Berlin (Germany) and Saskatoon (Canada), while the southernmost part is on roughly the same latitude as Rome (Italy) and Chicago (USA). The westernmost part of Mongolia is on roughly the same longitude as Kolkata in India, while the easternmost part is on the same longitude as Qinhuangdao and Hangzhou in China, as well as the western edge of Taiwan. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its westernmost point is only {{convert|36.76|km}} from Kazakhstan, nearly making a quadripoint.

The geography of Mongolia is varied, with the Gobi Desert to the south and cold, mountainous regions to the north and west. Much of Mongolia consists of the Mongolian-Manchurian grassland, with forested areas accounting for 11.2% of the total land area.{{Cite web |title=Mongolian Forestry Sector |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/w8302e/w8302e05.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101015229/http://www.fao.org/docrep/w8302e/w8302e05.htm |archive-date=November 1, 2012 |access-date=May 31, 2013 |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |df=mdy-all}} The whole of Mongolia is considered to be part of the Mongolian Plateau. The highest point in Mongolia is the Khüiten Peak in the Tavan bogd massif in the far west at {{convert|4374|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}. The basin of the Uvs Lake, shared with Tuva Republic in Russia, is a natural World Heritage Site.

{{Main|Climate of Mongolia|Climate change in Mongolia}}

Mongolia is known as the "Land of the Eternal Blue Sky" or "Country of Blue Sky" (Mongolian: "Mönkh khökh tengeriin oron") because it has over 250 sunny days a year.{{Cite web |title=Mongolia Climate – Retrieve the average temperatures and rains in Mongolia & in Ulaan baatar |url=http://www.e-mongol.com/mongolia_climate.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203003217/http://www.e-mongol.com/mongolia_climate.htm |archive-date=February 3, 2016 |df=mdy-all}}{{Cite web |date=2013-05-31 |title=Country Nicknames: Top 40 best nation aliases |url=http://www.skyscanner.net/news/country-nicknames-top-40-best-nation-aliases |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101070834/http://www.skyscanner.net/news/country-nicknames-top-40-best-nation-aliases |archive-date=January 1, 2016 |df=mdy-all}}{{Cite web |title=Nomadic trails in the land of the blue sky |url=http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20140113-nomadic-trails-in-the-land-of-the-blue-sky |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022131450/http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20140113-nomadic-trails-in-the-land-of-the-blue-sky |archive-date=October 22, 2014 |website=BBC}}{{Cite web |date=July 7, 2004 |title=Weeping Camel: A Real Mongolian Tear-Jerker |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0719_040719_weepingcamel_2.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304094123/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0719_040719_weepingcamel_2.html |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |website=National Geographic}}

File:Koppen-Geiger Map MNG present.svg

Most of the country is hot in the summer and extremely cold in the winter, with January averages dropping as low as {{convert|-30|°C}}.{{Cite web |year=2004 |title=Republic of Mongolia |url=http://www.imcg.net/gpd/asia/mongolia.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061002003846/http://www.imcg.net/gpd/asia/mongolia.pdf |archive-date=October 2, 2006 |access-date=2008-02-10}} A vast front of cold, heavy, shallow air comes in from Siberia in winter and collects in river valleys and low basins causing very cold temperatures while slopes of mountains are much warmer due to the effects of temperature inversion (temperature increases with altitude).

In winter the whole of Mongolia comes under the influence of the Siberian Anticyclone. The localities most severely affected by this cold weather are Uvs province (Ulaangom), western Khovsgol (Rinchinlhumbe), eastern Zavkhan (Tosontsengel), northern Bulgan (Hutag) and eastern Dornod province (Khalkhiin Gol). Ulaanbaatar is strongly, but less severely, affected. The cold gets less severe as one goes south, reaching the warmest January temperatures in Omnogovi Province (Dalanzadgad, Khanbogd) and the region of the Altai mountains bordering China. A unique microclimate is the fertile grassland-forest region of central and eastern Arkhangai Province (Tsetserleg) and northern Ovorkhangai Province (Arvaikheer) where January temperatures are on average the same and often higher than the warmest desert regions to the south in addition to being more stable. The Khangai Mountains play a certain role in forming this microclimate. In Tsetserleg, the warmest town in this microclimate, nighttime January temperatures rarely go under {{convert|-30|°C}} while daytime January temperatures often reach {{convert|0|°C}} to {{convert|5|°C}}.{{Cite web |date=June 24, 2013 |title=Arkhangai Meteorological Department |url=http://www.icc.mn/aimag/Arkhangai/# |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110204130/http://www.icc.mn/aimag/Arkhangai/ |archive-date=January 10, 2014 |access-date=2013-06-28 |publisher=Icc.mn |df=mdy-all}}{{Cite web |title=Climate History for Tsetserleg, Mongolia |url=http://www.wunderground.com/history/station/44282/2007/1/11/MonthlyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616141615/http://www.wunderground.com/history/station/44282/2007/1/11/MonthlyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA |archive-date=June 16, 2013 |access-date=2013-06-28 |publisher=Weather Underground |df=mdy-all}}

File:Gorkhi-Terelj National Park.jpg in Terelj, close to the birthplace of Genghis Khan]]

The country is subject to occasional harsh climatic conditions known as zud. It results in large proportions of the country's livestock dying from starvation or freezing temperatures or both, resulting in economic upheaval for the largely pastoral population. The annual average temperature in Ulaanbaatar is {{cvt|−1.3|°C}}, making it the world's coldest capital city. Mongolia is high, cold and windy.{{citation-attribution|1={{Cite encyclopedia |title=The Society and Its Environment |encyclopedia=Mongolia: a country study |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |location=Washington, D.C. |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/90006289/ |last=DeGlopper |first=Donald R. |date=1991 |editor-last=Worden |editor-first=Robert L. |language=en |oclc=622910663 |editor-last2=Savada |editor-first2=Andrea Matles |access-date=29 October 2020 |archive-date=29 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329021801/https://www.loc.gov/item/90006289/ |url-status=live }}}} It has an extreme continental climate with long, cold winters and short summers, during which most of its annual precipitation falls. The country averages 257 cloudless days a year, and it is usually at the center of a region of high atmospheric pressure. Precipitation is highest in the north (average of {{convert|200|to|350|mm|in|0|sp=us}} per year) and lowest in the south, which receives {{convert|100|to|200|mm|in|0|sp=us}} annually. The highest annual precipitation of {{convert|622.297|mm|3|abbr=on}} occurred in the forests of Bulgan Province near the border with Russia and the lowest of {{convert|41.735|mm|3|abbr=on}} occurred in the Gobi Desert (period 1961–1990).{{Cite web |title=Annual average temperature and precipitation of Mongolia |url=http://gis.wwf.mn/index.php/en/national/15-climate-of-mongolia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110195205/http://gis.wwf.mn/index.php/en/national/15-climate-of-mongolia |archive-date=January 10, 2014 |access-date=2013-06-28 |publisher=Gis.wwf.mn |df=mdy-all}} The sparsely populated far north of Bulgan Province averages {{convert|600|mm|0|abbr=on}} in annual precipitation which means it receives more precipitation than Beijing ({{cvt|571.8|mm|disp=or}}) or Berlin ({{cvt|571|mm|disp=or}}).

{{Excerpt|Environmental issues in Mongolia}}

{{Main|Wildlife of Mongolia}}

File:KhongorynElsCamels.jpg by sand dunes in Gobi Desert]]

The name "Gobi" is a Mongol term for a desert steppe, which usually refers to a category of arid rangeland with insufficient vegetation to support marmots but with enough to support camels. Mongols distinguish Gobi from desert proper, although the distinction is not always apparent to outsiders unfamiliar with the Mongolian landscape.

Gobi rangelands are fragile and easily destroyed by overgrazing, which results in expansion of the true desert, a stony waste where not even Bactrian camels can survive. The arid conditions in the Gobi are attributed to the rain shadow effect caused by the Himalayas. Before the Himalayas were formed by the collision of the Indo-Australian plate with the Eurasian plate 10 million years ago, Mongolia was a flourishing habitat for major fauna but still somewhat arid and cold due to distance from sources of evaporation. Sea turtle and mollusk fossils have been found in the Gobi, apart from well-known dinosaur fossils. Tadpole shrimps are still found in the Gobi today. The eastern part of Mongolia including the Onon and Kherlen rivers and Lake Buir form part of the Amur river basin draining to the Pacific Ocean. It hosts some unique species like the Eastern brook lamprey, Daurian crayfish (cambaroides dauricus) and Daurian pearl oyster (dahurinaia dahurica) in the Onon/Kherlen rivers as well as Siberian prawn (exopalaemon modestus) in Lake Buir.

{{Main|Demographics of Mongolia}}

File:Chinggis Square.jpg is the capital and largest city of Mongolia]]

Mongolia's total population as of January 2015 was estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau{{Cite web |title=U.S. Census Bureau International Data Base |url=https://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/country/mgportal.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211182206/http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/country/mgportal.html |archive-date=2007-12-11 |access-date=2013-06-28}}{{Failed verification|date=July 2021|reason=2015 population from a 2007 source is obviously incorrect}} to be 3,000,251 people, ranking around 121st in the world. But the U.S. Department of State Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs uses the United Nations (UN) estimations{{Cite web |date=February 28, 2010 |title=U.S. Department of State. Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Background Note:Mongolia |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2779.htm |access-date=2010-05-02 |publisher=State.gov |df=mdy-all |archive-date=17 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217133623/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2779.htm |url-status=live}} instead of the U.S. Census Bureau estimations. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division{{Cite web |title=WPP2006_Highlights_0823.doc |url=http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2006/WPP2006_Highlights_rev.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130721171003/http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2006/WPP2006_Highlights_rev.pdf |archive-date=July 21, 2013 |access-date=2013-06-28 |df=mdy-all}} estimates Mongolia's total population (mid-2007) as 2,629,000 (11% less than the U.S. Census Bureau figure). UN estimates resemble those made by the Mongolian National Statistical Office (2,612,900, end of June 2007). Mongolia's population growth rate is estimated at 1.2% (2007 est.). About 59% of the total population is under age 30, 27% of whom are under 14. This relatively young and growing population has placed strains on Mongolia's economy.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

The first census in the 20th century was carried out in 1918 and recorded a population of 647,500.{{Cite web |title=Mongolia |url=http://www.unescap.org/stat/pop-it/pop-wdt/wdt-mongolia.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511040529/http://www.unescap.org/stat/pop-it/pop-wdt/wdt-mongolia.pdf |archive-date=May 11, 2013 |access-date=2013-06-28 |publisher=United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific |df=mdy-all}} Since the end of socialism, Mongolia has experienced a decline of total fertility rate (children per woman) that is steeper than in any other country in the world, according to recent UN estimations: in 1970–1975, fertility was estimated to be 7.33 children per woman, dropping to about 2.1 in 2000–2005.{{Cite journal |last=Spoorenberg |first=Thomas |year=2009 |title=The impact of the political and economic transition on fertility and family formation in Mongolia. A synthetic parity progression ratio analysis |journal=Asian Population Studies |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=127–151 |doi=10.1080/17441730902992067 |s2cid=153650562 |issn=1744-1730}} The decline ended and in 2005–2010, the fertility value increased to 2.8 in 2013 and stabilised afterwards at a rate of about 2.5-2.6 children per woman around 2020.{{Cite web |title=Fertility rate: children per woman |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/children-born-per-woman?tab=chart&country=MNG |access-date=2024-03-18 |website=Our World in Data |archive-date=18 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318130315/https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/children-born-per-woman?tab=chart&country=MNG |url-status=live }}

The Mongols are moderately homogeneous;{{Cite web |title=Mongolia – Climate and soils |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Mongolia/Climate-and-soils |access-date=2023-04-05 |website=Britannica |language=en |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405131415/https://www.britannica.com/place/Mongolia/Climate-and-soils |url-status=live}} ethnic Mongols account for about 95% of the population and consist of Khalkha and other groups, all distinguished primarily by dialects of the Mongol language. The Khalkha make up 86% of the ethnic Mongol population. The remaining 14% include Oirats, Buryats and others. Turkic peoples (Kazakhs and Tuvans) constitute 4.5% of Mongolia's population, and the rest are Russian, Chinese, Korean and American nationalities.{{Cite news |date=August 13, 2007 |title=Second wave of Chinese invasion |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/business/second-wave-of-chinese-invasion/2007/08/12/1186857347594.html |url-status=live |access-date=2013-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021224406/http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/second-wave-of-chinese-invasion/2007/08/12/1186857347594.html |archive-date=October 21, 2013 |df=mdy-all}}

File:Mörön Public Library and Museum.jpg province showing signage in Mongolian (Mongolian Script and Cyrillic) and English]]

Mongolia's official and national language is Mongolian. A member of the Mongolic language family, the standard dialect is Khalkha Mongol. It coexists with various other, largely mutually intelligible varieties of Mongolic such as Oirat, Buryat, and Khamnigan. Several dialects have been morphing to become more like the central Khalkha dialect in recent years.{{Cite book |last1=Marzluf |first1=Philip |title=The Routledge international handbook of language education policy in Asia |last2=Saruul-Erdene |first2=Myagmar |date=2019 |publisher=Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group |isbn=978-1-317-35449-9 |editor-last=Kirkpatrick |editor-first=Andy |series=Routledge international handbooks |location=London; New York |chapter=Mongolia: Language education policy |editor-last2=Liddicoat |editor-first2=Anthony J.}} Most speakers of these dialects are located in the western part of the country, namely Bayan-Ölgii, Uvs, and Khovd. Kazakh, a Turkic language, is the majority language in Bayan-Ölgii, while Tuvan is another Turkic language spoken in Khövsgöl. Mongolian Sign Language is the principal language of the deaf community.

Today, Mongolian is mainly written using the Cyrillic alphabet, introduced during the 1940s. Since the 1990 revolution there has been a minor revival of the historic Mongolian script, which is still the official script used by Mongols in neighboring Inner Mongolia. Although Mongolian script has officially been declared the national script,{{Cite web |title=Монгол хэлний тухай хууль |url=https://legalinfo.mn/ |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=Эрх зүйн мэдээллийн нэгдсэн систем |language=mn}} and is taught from the sixth grade onward at schools,{{Cite web |title=University and college students to learn Mongolian script from upcoming academic year |url=https://montsame.mn/en/read/250154 |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=MONTSAME News Agency |language=en |archive-date=19 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240519063138/https://montsame.mn/en/read/250154 |url-status=live }} it remains mostly confined to ceremonial usage in daily life. In 2025, Mongolia began using both the Cyrillic and traditional Mongolian scripts for legal papers and official documents.{{cite news|last=Huaxia|date=2 January 2025|url=https://english.news.cn/asiapacific/20250102/8b680b455e18408bbde04b07870fe493/c.html|title=Mongolia adopts dual scripts for legal, official documents|work=Xinhuanet|access-date=4 January 2025|archive-date=4 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250104095800/https://english.news.cn/asiapacific/20250102/8b680b455e18408bbde04b07870fe493/c.html|url-status=live}}

File:Mongols-map.png compared to today's Mongols. The red area shows where the majority of Mongolian speakers reside today]]

Since 1990, English has quickly supplanted Russian as the most popular foreign language in Mongolia.{{Cite book |last1=Shinjee |first1=Bolormaa |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781003198345/routledge-handbook-sociolinguistics-around-world-martin-ball-rajend-mesthrie-chiara-meluzzi |title=The Routledge Handbook of Sociolinguistics Around the World |last2=Dovchin |first2=Sender |author-link2= Sender Dovchin|date=2023-07-28 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-003-19834-5 |editor-last=Ball |editor-first=Martin J. |edition=2 |location=London |chapter=SOCIOLINGUISTICS IN MONGOLIA |doi=10.4324/9781003198345 |editor-last2=Mesthrie |editor-first2=Rajend |editor-last3=Meluzzi |editor-first3=Chiara |archive-date=19 May 2024 |access-date=19 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240519063137/https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781003198345/routledge-handbook-sociolinguistics-around-world-martin-ball-rajend-mesthrie-chiara-meluzzi |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |last1=Цыбенова |first1=Ч. С. |last2=Жалсанова |first2=В. Г. |date=2022-08-31 |title=Русский язык в повседневном дискурсе монголов (данные экспертного опроса) |url=https://www.nauka-dialog.ru/jour/article/view/3964 |journal=Научный диалог |language=ru |volume=11 |issue=6 |pages=158–181 |doi=10.24224/2227-1295-2022-11-6-158-181 |issn=2227-1295 |doi-access=free |archive-date=19 May 2024 |access-date=19 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240519063136/https://www.nauka-dialog.ru/jour/article/view/3964 |url-status=live }} In the communist era, Russian was a vital language for mobility and professional communication, with a large number of students studying in the Soviet Union as well as a large number of Soviet professionals and soldiers located within Mongolia. Since then, Mongolia's education system has reoriented away from the Soviet Union to the West, and English has become the dominant foreign language, aided by liberalized media, international aid agencies, the rise of private education and tutoring, as well as official government policy. In the 2014–2015 academic year, 59% of the overall student population studied English at public secondary schools. In 2023, English was declared the "first foreign language", and to be taught from the third grade.{{Cite web |last=Б.Анхтуяа |date=2023-08-02 |title=Mongolia makes English the first foreign language in secondary education - News.MN |url=https://news.mn/en/799615/ |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=News.MN - The source of news |language=en |archive-date=19 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240519063136/https://news.mn/en/799615/ |url-status=live }}

As of the 2014–2015 academic year, the most popular foreign language in specialized language courses were (ordered by popularity), English, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, and Korean. Korean in particular has gained popularity as tens of thousands of Mongolians work in South Korea,{{Cite news |last=Han |first=Jae-hyuck |date=May 5, 2006 |title=Today in Mongolia: Everyone can speak a few words of Korean |publisher=Office of the President, Republic of Korea |url=http://english.president.go.kr/cwd/en/archive/archive_view.php?meta_id=en_dip_2006&category=164&id=923b8c655856408486c7764f |url-status=dead |access-date=2007-08-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930015517/http://english.president.go.kr/cwd/en/archive/archive_view.php?meta_id=en_dip_2006&category=164&id=923b8c655856408486c7764f |archive-date=September 30, 2007}} forming the largest group of Mongolians abroad.

{{Main|Religion in Mongolia|Freedom of religion in Mongolia}}

According to the 2020 National Census, among Mongolians aged 15 and above, 59.4% were Buddhists, while 40.6% were non-religious.

Mongolian shamanism has been widely practiced throughout the history of what is now Mongolia, with similar beliefs being common among the nomads of central Asia. They gradually gave way to Tibetan Buddhism, but shamanism has left a mark on Mongolian religious culture, and it continues to be practiced. The Kazakhs of western Mongolia, some Mongols, and other Turkic peoples in the country traditionally adhere to Islam.

Throughout much of the 20th century, the communist government repressed religious practices. It targeted the clergy of the Mongolian Buddhist Church, which had been tightly intertwined with the previous feudal government structures (e.g. from 1911 on, the head of the Church had also been the Khan of the country). In the late 1930s, the regime, then led by Khorloogiin Choibalsan, closed almost all of Mongolia's over 700 Buddhist monasteries and killed at least 30,000 people, of whom 18,000 were lamas.{{Cite web |title=Historical Injustice and Democratic Transition in Eastern Asia and Northern Europe, London 2002, p. 156 |url=http://www.chriskaplonski.com/downloads/bullets.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511044943/http://www.chriskaplonski.com/downloads/bullets.pdf |archive-date=May 11, 2011 |access-date=2010-12-23 |df=mdy-all}} The number of Buddhist monks dropped from 100,000 in 1924 to 110 in 1990.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Mongolia |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/389335/Mongolia |access-date=2013-06-28 |date=July 11, 1921 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514054518/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/389335/Mongolia |archive-date=May 14, 2013 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all}}

File:Amarbayasgalant monastery - panoramio.jpg]]

The fall of communism in 1991 restored public religious practice. Tibetan Buddhism, which had been the predominant religion prior to the rise of communism, again rose to become the most widely practised religion in Mongolia. The highest-ranking lama of Buddhism in Mongolia, has been vacant since the 9th Jebtsundamba's passing in 2012{{Cite web |title=China's Grip on Mongolia's Quest for Spiritual Leadership |url=https://thediplomat.com/2023/03/chinas-grip-on-mongolias-quest-for-spiritual-leadership/ |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=thediplomat.com |language=en-US |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325161712/https://thediplomat.com/2023/03/chinas-grip-on-mongolias-quest-for-spiritual-leadership/ |url-status=live}} and the search for the next Jebtsundamba Khutuktu is being complicated by Beijing's desire to assert control over Tibetan Buddhism.

The end of religious repression in the 1990s also allowed for other religions to spread in the country. According to the Christian missionary group Barnabas Fund, the number of Christians grew from just four in 1989 to around 40,000 {{As of|2008|lc=y}}. In May 2013, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) held a cultural program to celebrate twenty years of LDS Church history in Mongolia, with 10,900 members, and 16 church buildings in the country.{{Cite web |title=Members Celebrate 20 Years of Church in Mongolia |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/news/members-celebrate-20-years-of-church-in-mongolia?lang=eng |access-date=2013-06-02 |publisher=churchofjesuschrist.org |df=mdy-all |archive-date=10 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710143743/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/news/members-celebrate-20-years-of-church-in-mongolia?lang=eng |url-status=live}} There are some 1,000 Catholics in Mongolia and, in 2003, a missionary from the Philippines was named Mongolia's first Catholic bishop.{{Cite web |title=Religions in Mongolia |url=http://www.mongolia-attractions.com/religions-in-mongolia.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513073925/https://www.mongolia-attractions.com/religions-in-mongolia.html |archive-date=May 13, 2011 |access-date=2010-05-02 |publisher=Mongolia-attractions.com |df=mdy}} In 2017 Seventh-day Adventists reported 2,700 members in six churches up from zero members in 1991.{{Cite web |date=2019-12-16 |title=Mongolia Mission |url=https://www.adventistyearbook.org/entity?EntityID=13261 |access-date=2020-05-29 |publisher=Adventistyearbook.org |archive-date=9 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209182208/http://www.adventistyearbook.org/default.aspx?page=ViewAdmField&Year=9999&AdmFieldID=MGMF |url-status=live}}

{{Main|Politics of Mongolia}}

File:Mongolian parliament members.jpg chamber in session]]

Mongolia is a semi-presidential representative democratic republic with a directly elected President.{{Cite journal |last=Shugart |first=Matthew Søberg |author-link=Matthew Søberg Shugart |date=September 2005 |title=Semi-Presidential Systems: Dual Executive and Mixed Authority Patterns |url=http://dss.ucsd.edu/~mshugart/semi-presidentialism.pdf |journal=Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080819200307/http://dss.ucsd.edu/~mshugart/semi-presidentialism.pdf |archive-date=August 19, 2008 |access-date=21 February 2016}}{{Cite journal |last=Shugart |first=Matthew Søberg |author-link=Matthew Søberg Shugart |date=December 2005 |title=Semi-Presidential Systems: Dual Executive And Mixed Authority Patterns |url=http://www.palgrave-journals.com/fp/journal/v3/n3/pdf/8200087a.pdf |url-status=live |journal=French Politics |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=323–351 |doi=10.1057/palgrave.fp.8200087 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053112/http://www.palgrave-journals.com/fp/journal/v3/n3/pdf/8200087a.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |access-date=21 February 2016 |quote=Even if the president has no discretion in the forming of cabinets or the right to dissolve parliament, his or her constitutional authority can be regarded as 'quite considerable' in Duverger's sense if cabinet legislation approved in parliament can be blocked by the people's elected agent. Such powers are especially relevant if an extraordinary majority is required to override a veto, as in Mongolia, Poland, and Senegal. |s2cid=73642272 |df=mdy-all|doi-access=free}} The people also elect the deputies in the national assembly, the State Great Khural. The president appoints the prime minister, and nominates the cabinet on the proposal of the prime minister. The constitution of Mongolia guarantees a number of freedoms, including full freedom of expression and religion. Mongolia amended its constitution most lately in 2019 transferring some powers from the president to the prime minister.{{Cite web |last=Adiya |first=Amar |date=2022-06-30 |title=Mongolia Looks Into New Parliamentary System |url=https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/mongolia-looks-into-new-parliamentary-system |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Mongolia Weekly |language=en |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325212159/https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/mongolia-looks-into-new-parliamentary-system |url-status=live}} On May 31, 2023, Mongolia's parliament approved a constitutional amendment that increased the number of seats from 76 to 126 and changed the electoral system re-introducing proportional party voting.{{Cite web |date=2023-07-25 |title=Concerns Over Foreign Meddling Rise in Mongolia's Elections |url=https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/concerns-over-foreign-meddling-rise-in-mongolia-s-elections |access-date=2023-07-25 |website=Mongolia Weekly |language=en |archive-date=25 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725143104/https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/concerns-over-foreign-meddling-rise-in-mongolia-s-elections |url-status=live }}

Mongolia has a number of political parties; the largest are the Mongolian People's Party and the Democratic Party. The non-governmental organization Freedom House considers Mongolia to be free.{{Cite web |title=Freedom in the World, 2024, Mongolia |url=https://freedomhouse.org/country/mongolia/freedom-world/2024 |access-date=27 May 2024 |publisher=Freedom House |df=mdy-all |archive-date=27 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527235244/https://freedomhouse.org/country/mongolia/freedom-world/2024 |url-status=live }}

The People's Party – known as the People's Revolutionary Party between 1924 and 2010 – formed the government from 1921 to 1996 (in a one-party system until 1990) and from 2000 to 2004. From 2004 to 2006, it was part of a coalition with the Democrats and two other parties, and after 2006 it was the dominant party in two other coalitions. The party initiated two changes of government from 2004 prior to losing power in the 2012 election. The Democrats were the dominant force in a ruling coalition between 1996 and 2000, and an almost-equal partner with the People's Revolutionary Party in a coalition between 2004 and 2006. An election of deputies to the national assembly on 28 June 2012 resulted in no party having an overall majority;{{Cite web |date=June 29, 2012 |title=Preliminary Results Issued by the General Election Commission of Mongolia... |url=http://www.infomongolia.com/ct/ci/4423 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522164824/http://www.infomongolia.com/ct/ci/4423 |archive-date=May 22, 2013 |access-date=2013-06-28 |publisher=Infomongolia.com |df=mdy-all}} however, as the Democratic Party won the largest number of seats,{{Cite news |last=Hook |first=Leslie |date=June 29, 2012 |title=Democratic party leads Mongolia poll |work=Financial Times |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ec0e7c04-c1cb-11e1-8e7c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz24pxWkMSH |url-status=live |access-date=2013-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120705222046/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ec0e7c04-c1cb-11e1-8e7c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz24pxWkMSH |archive-date=July 5, 2012 |df=mdy-all}} its leader, Norovyn Altankhuyag, was appointed prime minister on 10 August 2012.{{Cite web |date=August 10, 2012 |title=N. Altankhuyag Becomes 27th Prime Minister of Mongolia |url=http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/?p=345 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208080845/http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/?p=345 |archive-date=February 8, 2013 |access-date=2013-06-28 |publisher=UBPost |df=mdy-all}} In 2014, he was replaced by Chimediin Saikhanbileg. The MPP won a landslide victory in the 2016 elections and the next prime minister was MPP's Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh. In June 2020, MPP won a landslide victory in the election. It took 62 seats and the main opposition DP, 11 of the 76 seats. Before the elections the ruling party had redrawn the electoral map in a way that was beneficial for MPP.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/07/07/heres-how-an-unpopular-ruling-party-swept-mongolias-june-elections/ |title=Here's how an unpopular ruling party swept Mongolia's June elections |newspaper=The Washington Post |first=Boldsaikhan |last=Sambuu |date=7 July 2020 |access-date=16 August 2021 |archive-date=18 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118064646/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/07/07/heres-how-an-unpopular-ruling-party-swept-mongolias-june-elections/ |url-status=live}}

In January 2021, Prime Minister Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh resigned after protests over the treatment of a coronavirus patient.{{cite web |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/world/news/mongolian-pm-resigns-2032101 |title=Mongolian PM resigns |work=The Daily Star |agency=Agence France Press |date=22 January 2021 |access-date=16 August 2021 |archive-date=11 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011051409/https://www.thedailystar.net/world/news/mongolian-pm-resigns-2032101 |url-status=live}} On 27 January 2021, Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene of MPP became new prime minister. He represents a younger generation of leaders that had studied abroad.{{cite web |url=https://thediplomat.com/2021/01/with-new-pm-a-new-generation-taking-charge-in-mongolia/ |title=With New PM, a New Generation Taking Charge in Mongolia |work=The Diplomat |first1=Bolor |last1=Lkhaajav |first2=Julian |last2=Dierkes |date=27 January 2021 |access-date=16 August 2021 |archive-date=17 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917223507/https://thediplomat.com/2021/01/with-new-pm-a-new-generation-taking-charge-in-mongolia/ |url-status=live}}

File:Archers in Traditional Mongolian Outfits Guide Secretary Kerry as He Prepares to Shoot an Arrow at a "Mini-Nadaam" Outside Ulaanbaatar (27443915682).jpg with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, June 2016]]

The President of Mongolia is able to veto the laws made by parliament, appoint judges and justice of courts and appoint ambassadors. The parliament can override that veto by a two-thirds majority vote. Mongolia's constitution provides three requirements for taking office as president; the candidate must be a native-born Mongolian, be at least 45 years old, and have resided in Mongolia for five years before taking office. The president must also suspend their party membership. After defeating incumbent Nambaryn Enkhbayar, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, a two-time former prime minister and member of the Democratic Party, was elected as president on 24 May 2009 and inaugurated on 18 June that year.{{cite web |url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/05/25/Opposition-leader-Mongolias-new-president/53731243264038/ |title=Opposition leader Mongolia's new president |work=UPI |date=25 May 2009 |access-date=16 August 2021 |archive-date=18 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818212933/https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/05/25/Opposition-leader-Mongolias-new-president/53731243264038/ |url-status=live}} The ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (2010) (MPRP) nominated Batbold Sukhbaatar as new Prime Minister in October 2009.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8331142.stm |title=Mongolia nominates a new leader |work=BBC News |date=29 October 2009 |access-date=16 August 2021 |archive-date=14 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814182010/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8331142.stm |url-status=live}} Elbegdorj was re-elected on 26 June 2013 and was inaugurated on 10 July 2013 for his second term as president.{{Cite web |date=July 3, 2013 |title=President to be sworn in on 10th in front of Genghis Khan monument |url=https://www.shuud.mn/?p=252264 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130705082636/http://www.shuud.mn/?p=252264 |archive-date=July 5, 2013 |access-date=July 3, 2013 |publisher=shuud.mn (in Mongolian) |df=mdy}} In June 2017, opposition Democratic Party candidate Khaltmaagiin Battulga won the presidential election.{{cite web |url=https://thediplomat.com/2017/07/mongolia-just-chose-a-new-president-what-now/ |title=Mongolia Just Chose a New President. What Now? |last=Dierkes |first=Julian |work=The Diplomat |date=8 July 2017 |access-date=16 August 2021 |archive-date=31 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731214600/https://thediplomat.com/2017/07/mongolia-just-chose-a-new-president-what-now/ |url-status=live}} He was inaugurated on 10 July 2017.{{Cite web |title=МОНГОЛ УЛСЫН ЕРӨНХИЙЛӨГЧИЙН 2017 ОНЫ СОНГУУЛИЙН 2 ДАХЬ САНАЛ ХУРААЛТЫН ДҮН |language=Mongolian |url=http://www.gec.gov.mn/details/2188 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710125442/http://gec.gov.mn/details/2188 |archive-date=10 July 2017 |access-date=11 July 2017}}

In June 2021, former Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, the candidate of the ruling Mongolian People's Party (MPP), became the country's sixth democratically elected president after winning the presidential election.{{cite news |title=Ex-Mongolian prime minister Khurelsukh wins presidential election in landslide |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/former-mongolian-prime-minister-khurelsukh-wins-presidency-2021-06-09/ |work=Reuters |date=10 June 2021 |language=en |access-date=18 May 2022 |archive-date=18 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220518170501/https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/former-mongolian-prime-minister-khurelsukh-wins-presidency-2021-06-09/ |url-status=live}}

Mongolia uses a unicameral legislature, the State Great Khural, with 76 seats, which is chaired by the Speaker of the House. Its members are directly elected, every four years, by popular vote. As per 2023 constitutional amendment the parliament increased the number of seats from 76 to 126.{{Cite web |last=Adiya |first=Amar |date=2023-07-25 |title=How is Mongolia Addressing Concerns Over Foreign Meddling in Elections? |url=https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/concerns-over-foreign-meddling-rise-in-mongolia-s-elections |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=Mongolia Weekly |language=en |archive-date=25 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725143104/https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/concerns-over-foreign-meddling-rise-in-mongolia-s-elections |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Foreign relations of Mongolia}}

File:Vladimir Putin in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on September 3, 2024 (1).jpg with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 3 September 2024]]

Mongolia's foreign relations traditionally focus on its two large neighbors, Russia and China.{{Cite news |last=Dierkes |first=Julian |date=16 February 2018 |title=Can Mongolia's Brash New President Navigate Between China and Russia? |work=WPR – World Politics Review |url=https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/22691/can-mongolia-s-brash-new-president-navigate-between-china-and-russia |url-status=live |access-date=18 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909005238/http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/22691/can-mongolia-s-brash-new-president-navigate-between-china-and-russia |archive-date=September 9, 2017 |df=mdy-all}} Mongolia is economically dependent on these countries: China is Mongolia's largest export partner at a 78% share, far above the other top countries (Switzerland at 15%; Singapore 3%). Mongolia receives 36% of imports from China and 29% from Russia.{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/mongolia/ |title=Mongolia |website=CIA World Factbook |date=28 May 2024 |publisher=CIA |access-date=28 May 2024 |archive-date=9 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109221145/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/mongolia |url-status=live }} Mongolia is also pursuing a trilateral partnership with China and Russia through the Power of Siberia 2 natural gas pipeline, with a contract to be signed in the "near future" according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.{{cite web |last1=Papachristou |first1=Lucy |title=Russia and China to sign Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline 'in near future', says Novak |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-china-sign-power-siberia-2-gas-pipeline-contract-in-near-future-says-2024-05-17/ |website=Reuters |access-date=28 May 2024}}{{Cite web |last=Adiya |first=Amar |date=2022-08-26 |title=Mongolia Maintains Neutrality After 6 Months of Ukraine War |url=https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/mongolia-maintains-neutrality-after-6-months-of-ukraine-war |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Mongolia Weekly |language=en |archive-date=28 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128053549/https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/mongolia-maintains-neutrality-after-6-months-of-ukraine-war |url-status=live}} Due to China's status as Mongolia's most important trading partner, Mongolia has been trying to stay out of the current U.S.-China confrontation.{{Cite web |last=Adiya |first=Amar |date=2021-07-28 |title=Mongolia forced to choose sides as 'friends' fight |url=https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/mongolia-forced-to-choose-sides-as-friends-fight |access-date=2022-09-25 |website=Mongolia Weekly |language=en |archive-date=25 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925181747/https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/mongolia-forced-to-choose-sides-as-friends-fight |url-status=live}}

It has begun seeking positive relations with a wider range of other countries especially in cultural and economic matters, focusing on encouraging foreign direct investment and trade.{{Cite web |title=Mongolia Country Brief |url=http://dfat.gov.au/geo/mongolia/pages/mongolia-country-brief.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150814043540/http://dfat.gov.au/geo/mongolia/Pages/mongolia-country-brief.aspx |archive-date=August 14, 2015 |access-date=18 February 2018 |website=Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade |publisher=Government of Australia |df=mdy-all}} Mongolia has been pursuing a 'third-neighbor' foreign policy since early 1990s to build deeper relations and partnerships with countries beyond its two surrounding neighbors.{{Cite web |last=Adiya |first=Amar |date=2022-04-26 |title=Why Mongolians Won't Take Sides in the Ukraine War |url=https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/why-mongolians-won-t-take-sides-in-the-ukraine-war |access-date=2022-07-01 |website=Mongolia Weekly |language=en |archive-date=1 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701025457/https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/why-mongolians-won-t-take-sides-in-the-ukraine-war |url-status=live}}

Mongolia has been a member of The Forum of Small States (FOSS) since the group's founding in 1992.{{Cite book|title=50 Years of Singapore and the United Nations |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=978-981-4713-03-0 |year=2015}}.

Then Vice President of the U.S. Joe Biden, visited Mongolia in 2011 supporting Mongolia's third neighbor policy.{{Cite web |last=Levick |first=Ewen |date=2020-11-17 |title=Why Mongolia matters to Joe Biden |url=https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/why-mongolia-matters-to-joe-biden |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Mongolia Weekly |language=en |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325204313/https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/why-mongolia-matters-to-joe-biden |url-status=live}}

{{Main|List of diplomatic missions of Mongolia}}

Mongolia maintains many diplomatic missions in other countries and has embassies in the following world capitals:{{Cite web |title=Mongolia Embassies & Consulates |url=https://www.embassypages.com/mongolia |access-date=18 February 2018 |website=EmbassyPages.com |archive-date=2 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902181641/https://www.embassypages.com/mongolia |url-status=live}}

{{div col|colwidth=10em}}

• Ankara
• Astana
• Bangkok
• Beijing
• Berlin
• Brasília
• Brussels
• Budapest
• Cairo
• Canberra
• Hanoi
• Havana
• Jakarta
• Kuala Lumpur
• Kuwait City
• London
• Moscow
• New Delhi
• Ottawa
• Paris
• Prague
• Pyongyang
• Rome
• Seoul
• Singapore
• Sofia
• Stockholm
• Tokyo
• Vienna
• Vientiane
• Warsaw
• Washington, D.C.

{{div col end}}

{{main|Mongolian Armed Forces}}

File:Vostok-2018 military manoeuvres (2018-09-13) 51.jpg in Eastern Siberia]]

Mongolia supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and has sent several successive contingents of 103 to 180 troops each to Iraq. About 130 troops were deployed to Afghanistan. 200 Mongolian troops are serving in Sierra Leone on a UN mandate to protect the UN's special court set up there, and in July 2009, Mongolia decided to send a battalion to Chad in support of MINURCAT.{{Cite web |title=Ban Ki-Moon on press conference in Ulaanbaatar, July 27th, 2009 |url=http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff.asp?nid=1312 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503184917/http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff.asp?nid=1312 |archive-date=May 3, 2011 |access-date=2010-05-02 |publisher=Un.org |df=mdy-all}}

From 2005 to 2006, about 40 troops were deployed with the Belgian and Luxembourg contingents in Kosovo. On 21 November 2005, George W. Bush became the first-ever sitting U.S. president to visit Mongolia.{{Cite web |title=President George W. Bush Visits Mongolia |url=http://mongolia.usembassy.gov/potus_visit.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080229154823/http://mongolia.usembassy.gov/potus_visit.html |archive-date=February 29, 2008 |access-date=2013-06-30 |publisher=US embassy in Mongolia, 2005}} In 2004, under Bulgarian chairmanship, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) invited Mongolia as its newest Asian partner.

{{Main|Judiciary of Mongolia}}

The judiciary of Mongolia is made of a three-tiered court system: first instance courts in each provincial district and each Ulaanbaatar district; appellate courts for each province and also the Capital Ulaanbaatar; and the court of last resort (for non-constitutional matters) at the Supreme Court of Mongolia.{{Cite web |title=Judicial System of Mongolia |url=http://www.supremecourt.mn/english/content/11 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220152649/http://www.supremecourt.mn/english/content/11 |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |access-date=10 December 2016 |publisher=Supreme Court of Mongolia |df=mdy-all}} For questions of constitutional law there is a separate constitutional court.

A Judicial General Council (JGC) nominates judges which must then be confirmed by the parliament and appointed by the President.

Arbitration centres provide alternative dispute resolution options for commercial and other disputes.{{Cite web |date=2012-05-22 |title=Эвлэрүүлэн зуучлалын тухай хууль |trans-title=Law on mediation and conciliation |url=http://www.legalinfo.mn/law/details/8689 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509142002/http://www.legalinfo.mn/law/details/8689 |archive-date=May 9, 2016 |access-date=13 May 2016 |publisher=www.Legalinfo.mn |df=mdy-all}}

{{Main|Provinces of Mongolia|Districts of Mongolia}}

{{Clickable map of Mongolian provinces}}

Mongolia is divided into 21 provinces (aimags) and subdivided into 330 districts (sums).{{cite web |url=https://www.nso.mn/en/statistic/file-library/view/80622441 |title=Social and economic profile of Mongolia 2019-2023 |language=mn |date=2024-05-17 |website=nso.mn |publisher=National Statistics Office of Mongolia |access-date=2024-05-22}} Ulaanbaatar is administered separately as a capital city (municipality) with provincial status. The aimags are:

{{div col|colwidth=10em}}

• Arkhangai
• Bayan-Ölgii
• Bayankhongor
• Bulgan
• Darkhan-Uul
• Dornod
• Dornogovi
• Dundgovi
• Govi-Altai
• Govisümber
• Khentii
• Khovd
• Khövsgöl
• Ömnögovi
• Orkhon
• Övörkhangai
• Selenge
• Sükhbaatar
• Töv
• Uvs
• Zavkhan

{{div col end}}

{{Main|List of cities in Mongolia}}{{Pie chart|value1=44.2|value2=3.1|value3=2.6|value4=1.4|value5=1.3|value6=1.2|value7=1.2|label1=Ulaanbaatar|label2=Erdenet|label3=Darkhan|label4=Choibalsan|label5=Mörön|label6=Nalaikh|label7=Ölgii|value8=1.0|value9=1.0|value10=1.0|footer=The percentage of the population the top 10 most populous cities make up.|label8=Arvaikheer|label9=Bayankhongor|label10=Khovd|other=42.0}}

As of 2020, 47.6% of the population lives in Ulaanbaatar, further 21.4% lived in Darkhan, Erdenet, the aimag centers and sum centers, and other permanent settlements, and 31.0% in rural areas.{{cite book |last=National Statistics Office of Mongolia |title=MONGOLIAN STATISTICAL YEARBOOK 2020 |date=2021-09-18 |url=https://www.nso.mn/en/statistic/file-library/view/47811478 |page=10 |publisher=Mongol Ulsyn Ündėsnij Statisikijn Horoo |isbn=978-99978-758-9-1 |archive-date=22 May 2024 |access-date=22 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522192729/https://www.nso.mn/en/statistic/file-library/view/47811478 |url-status=live }}

{{Largest cities

| name = Largest cities and towns of Mongolia

| country = Mongolia

| stat_ref = National Statistics Office of Mongolia, 2020 {{URL|1=https://www2.1212.mn/tables.aspx?TBL_ID=DT_NSO_0300_004V5}}

| div_name = Province

|city_1 = Ulaanbaatar | div_1 = Ulaanbaatar | pop_1 = 1,426,645 | img_1 = UlaanBaatar-2009.jpg

|city_2 = Erdenet | div_2 = Orkhon Province{{!}}Orkhon | pop_2 = 101,421 | img_2 = Erdenet 01.jpg

|city_3 = Darkhan (city){{!}}Darkhan | div_3 = Darkhan-Uul Province{{!}}Darkhan-Uul | pop_3 = 83,213| img_3 =

|city_4 = Choibalsan (city){{!}}Choibalsan | div_4 = Dornod Province{{!}}Dornod | pop_4 = 46,683| img_4 =

|city_5 = Mörön | div_5 = Khövsgöl Province{{!}}Khövsgöl | pop_5 = 41,586

|city_6 = Nalaikh{{!}}Nalaikh* | div_6 = Ulaanbaatar | pop_6 = 38,690

|city_7 = Ölgii (city){{!}}Ölgii | div_7 = Bayan-Ölgii Province{{!}}Bayan-Ölgii | pop_7 = 38,310

|city_8 = Arvaikheer | div_8 = Övörkhangai Province{{!}}Övörkhangai | pop_8 = 33,743

|city_9 = Bayankhongor | div_9 = Bayankhongor Province{{!}}Bayankhongor | pop_9 = 31,948

|city_10 = Khovd (city){{!}}Khovd | div_10 = Khovd Province{{!}}Khovd | pop_10 = 31,081

|city_11 = Ulaangom | div_11 = Uvs Province{{!}}Uvs | pop_11= 30,958

|city_12 = Baganuur{{!}}Baganuur* | div_12 = Ulaanbaatar | pop_12 = 29,342

|city_13 = Dalanzadgad | div_13 = Ömnögovi Province{{!}}Ömnögovi | pop_13 = 27,525

|city_14 = Sainshand | div_14 = Dornogovi Province{{!}}Dornogovi | pop_14 = 24,552

|city_15 = Öndörkhaan{{!}}Chinggis City | div_15 = Khentii Province{{!}}Khentii | pop_15 = 22,216

|city_16 = Sükhbaatar (city){{!}}Sükhbaatar | div_16 = Selenge Province{{!}}Selenge | pop_16 = 22,470

|city_17 = Züünkharaa, Selenge{{!}}Züünkharaa | div_17 = Selenge Province{{!}}Selenge | pop_17 = 21,093

|city_18 = Tsetserleg (city){{!}}Tsetserleg | div_18 = Arkhangai Province{{!}}Arkhangai | pop_18 = 20,645

|city_19 = Baruun-Urt | div_19 = Sükhbaatar Province{{!}}Sükhbaatar | pop_19 = 19,255

|city_20 = Zamyn-Üüd | div_20 = Dornogovi Province{{!}}Dornogovi | pop_20 = 19,116

}}{{refbegin}}^*Under Ulaanbaatar administration{{refend}}

{{Main|Economy of Mongolia}}

File:GDP_per_capita_development_of_Mongolia.svg

File:UB downtown.jpg ]]

Economic activity in Mongolia has long been based on herding and agriculture, although development of extensive mineral deposits of copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten and gold have emerged as a driver of industrial production.{{Cite web |title=Background Note: Mongolia |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2779.htm |publisher=Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs |df=mdy-all |access-date=21 May 2019 |archive-date=17 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217133623/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2779.htm |url-status=live}} Besides mining (21.8% of GDP) and agriculture (16% of GDP), dominant industries in the composition of GDP are wholesale and retail trade and service, transportation and storage, and real estate activities. Also, Mongolia produces one-fifth of the world's raw cashmere.{{Cite web |last=Adiya |first=Amar |date=2020-04-25 |title=Cashmere conflict: Politicians, Herders, Middlemen and Factories |url=https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/cashmere-conflict-politicians-herders-middlemen-and-factories |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Mongolia Weekly |language=en |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325205150/https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/cashmere-conflict-politicians-herders-middlemen-and-factories |url-status=live}}

The informal economy is estimated to be at least one-third the size of the official economy. {{As of|2022}}, 78% of Mongolia's exports went to the PRC, and the PRC supplied 36% of Mongolia's imports.{{cite web |title=CIA World Factbook, Mongolia |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/mongolia/#economy |website=CIA World Factbook |date=28 May 2024 |publisher=CIA |access-date=28 May 2024 |archive-date=9 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109221145/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/mongolia#economy |url-status=live }}

The World Bank has stated that Mongolia's development prospects are promising due to an expansion of mining and large public investment, although challenges remain from inflation, weaker external demand from China, and persistent fiscal risks due to sizable contingent liabilities.{{cite web |title=The World Bank in Mongolia |url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/mongolia/overview |website=The World Bank |access-date=28 May 2024 |archive-date=28 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528014029/https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/mongolia/overview |url-status=live }} According to the Asian Development Bank, 27.1% of Mongolia's population lived below the national poverty line in 2022.{{cite web |title=Mongolia and ADB |url=https://www.adb.org/where-we-work/mongolia/poverty#:~:text=Poverty%20Data%3A%20Mongolia&text=In%20Mongolia%2C%2027.1%25%20of%20the,die%20before%20their%205th%20birthday. |website=Asian Development Bank |date=21 May 2021 |access-date=28 May 2024 |archive-date=28 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528015529/https://www.adb.org/where-we-work/mongolia/poverty#:~:text=Poverty%20Data%3A%20Mongolia&text=In%20Mongolia%2C%2027.1%25%20of%20the,die%20before%20their%205th%20birthday. |url-status=live }} In the same year, GDP per capita was estimated at $12,100.

Mongolia's real GDP grew by 7% in 2023 due to record-high coal production, driven by strong demand from China.{{cite web |title=Mongolia-Assessment Letter for the Asian Development Bank |url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2024/04/01/Mongolia-Assessment-Letter-for-the-Asian-Development-Bank-547032 |website=International Monetary Fund |access-date=28 May 2024 |archive-date=28 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528014029/https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2024/04/01/Mongolia-Assessment-Letter-for-the-Asian-Development-Bank-547032 |url-status=live }} Inflation in early 2024 dropped to 7% due to lower global food and fuel prices. Despite a robust increase in import volumes, Mongolia recorded a current account surplus due to the sharp increase in coal exports. Mining sector growth is expected to continue driving GDP growth, although the International Monetary Fund predicts the current account balance will revert to a sizable deficit due to declining coal prices.

In 2011, Citigroup analysts determined Mongolia to be one of the "global growth generating" countries, which are countries with the most promising growth prospects for 2010–2050.{{Cite news |date=February 22, 2011 |title=Forget The BRICs: Citi's Willem Buiter Presents The 11 "3G" Countries That Will Win The Future |work=Business Insider |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/willem-buiter-3g-countries-2011-2?slop=1 |url-status=live |access-date=2013-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122092723/http://www.businessinsider.com/willem-buiter-3g-countries-2011-2?slop=1 |archive-date=November 22, 2011 |df=mdy-all}} The Mongolian Stock Exchange, established in 1991 in Ulaanbaatar, is among the world's smallest stock exchanges by market capitalisation.{{Cite news |last=Jeffs |first=Luke |date=February 12, 2007 |title=Mongolia earns a sporting chance with fledgling operation |work=Dow Jones Financial News Online |url=http://www.efinancialnews.com/content/1047180747 |access-date=2007-09-11 |archive-date=6 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906124830/https://www.fnlondon.com/content/1047180747 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Cheng |first=Patricia |date=September 19, 2006 |title=Mongolian bourse seeks foreign investment |work=International Herald-Tribune |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/09/19/bloomberg/bxmongol.php |url-status=dead |access-date=2007-09-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070820205402/http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/09/19/bloomberg/bxmongol.php |archive-date=August 20, 2007}} As of 2024, it has 180 companies listed with a total market capitalization of US$3.2 billion.{{cite web |title=Mongolia Market Capitalization |url=https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/mongolia/market-capitalization |website=CEIC Data |access-date=28 May 2024}} The International Finance Corporation (IFC) currently ranks Mongolia as 81st globally in its ease of doing business scoring.{{cite web |title=Ease of Doing Business rankings |url=https://archive.doingbusiness.org/en/rankings |website=Doing Business |publisher=World Bank |access-date=28 May 2024}}

{{main|Mining in Mongolia}}

File:Oyu Tolgoi 23.JPG employs 21,000 workers and produced 168,000 tons of copper in 2023.{{cite web |title=Oyu Tolgoi |url=https://www.riotinto.com/en/operations/mongolia/oyu-tolgoi |website=Rio Tinto |access-date=3 July 2024 |archive-date=6 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240706045938/https://www.riotinto.com/en/Operations/mongolia/oyu-tolgoi |url-status=live }}]]

Minerals represent more than 80% of Mongolia's exports, a proportion expected to eventually rise to 95%. Fiscal revenues from mining represented 21% of government income in 2010 and rose to 24% in 2018.{{Cite journal |last1=Lkhagva |first1=Davaajargal |last2=Wang |first2=Zheng |last3=Liu |first3=Changxin |date=2019-05-29 |title=Mining Booms and Sustainable Economic Growth in Mongolia—Empirical Result from Recursive Dynamic CGE Model |journal=Economies |volume=7 |issue=2 |page=51 |doi=10.3390/economies7020051 |issn=2227-7099 |doi-access=free|hdl=10419/256983 |hdl-access=free}}{{Cite book |title=Mongolian Statistical Yearbook 2018 |publisher=National Statistics Office of Mongolia |year=2018 |location=Ulan Bator}} About 3,000 mining licences have been issued.{{Cite news |date=January 21, 2012 |title=Booming Mongolia: Mine, all mine |newspaper=The Economist |url=http://www.economist.com/node/21543113/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121132118/http://www.economist.com/node/21543113 |archive-date=January 21, 2012 |df=mdy-all}} Mining continues to rise as a major industry of Mongolia as evidenced by the number of Chinese, Russian and Canadian firms starting mining businesses in Mongolia.

In 2009, the Mongolian government negotiated an agreement with Rio Tinto and Ivanhoe Mines to develop the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold deposit, the biggest foreign-investment project in Mongolia at the time. The mine is now a major producer of copper and gold, with plans to further develop underground production and reach an output of 500,000 tons of copper per year. Mongolian's gold production in 2015 is 15 metric tons.{{Cite web |title=Gold production |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/gold-production?tab=table |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129233804/https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/gold-production?tab=table |archive-date=29 November 2023 |access-date=2024-12-19 |website=Our World in Data |url-status=live }} Mongolian lawmakers have also attempted to finance the development of the Tavan Tolgoi area, the world's largest untapped coal deposit. However, proposed international partnerships failed in 2011 and 2015, with Mongolia further cancelling an international initial public offering in 2020, citing financial and political difficulties.{{cite web |last1=Jamasmie |first1=Cecilia |title=Mongolia cancels Tavan Tolgoi's $1 billion IPO plan |url=https://www.mining.com/mongolia-cancels-tavan-tolgois-1bn-ipo-plan/ |website=Mining.com |date=28 April 2020 |access-date=3 July 2024 |archive-date=19 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241219032241/https://www.mining.com/mongolia-cancels-tavan-tolgois-1bn-ipo-plan/ |url-status=live }}

In September 2022, Mongolia built and launched a 233-km direct rail link to China, which is a milestone in Mongolia's plan to become China's leading supplier of high-quality coal from the Tavan Tolgoi mine, which has more than six billion tonnes of coal reserves.{{Cite web |last=Adiya |first=Amar |date=2022-09-08 |title=New Coal Rail Network Comes Online Connecting Mongolia With China |url=https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/new-coal-rail-network-comes-online-connecting-mongolia-with-china |access-date=2022-09-25 |website=Mongolia Weekly |language=en |archive-date=11 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911183801/https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/new-coal-rail-network-comes-online-connecting-mongolia-with-china |url-status=live}}

{{excerpt|Agriculture in Mongolia}}

{{excerpt|Telecommunications in Mongolia}}

Postal services are provided by state-owned Mongol Post and 54 other licensed operators.{{Cite web |last1=Odgerel |first1=U. |last2=International Chinese Transportation Professional Association |date=2011 |title=White Paper 2011 Mongolia |url=http://workspace.unpan.org/sites/internet/Documents/UNPAN048133.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809121920/http://workspace.unpan.org/sites/internet/Documents/UNPAN048133.pdf |archive-date=August 9, 2016 |access-date=20 June 2016 |publisher=United Nations Public Administration Network |df=mdy-all}}

File:Thermal Power Plant No. 4 (Ulaanbaatar).jpg in Ulaanbaaatar is Mongolia's largest power station]]

{{excerpt|Energy in Mongolia}}

Mongolia imports 98% of its fuel and is building its first ever oil refinery to reduce its foreign energy dependency.{{Cite web |last=Adiya |first=Amar |date=2020-06-08 |title=Khurelsukh drives Mongolia to energy independence |url=https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/mongolia-will-become-an-oil-producing-country-says-prime-minister-khurelsukh |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Mongolia Weekly |language=en |archive-date=24 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124180524/https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/mongolia-will-become-an-oil-producing-country-says-prime-minister-khurelsukh |url-status=live}}

{{Main|Transport in Mongolia}}

File:Zamyn Uud traders.jpg station in Dornogovi aimag]]

File:Rider in Mongolia, 2012.jpg continues to be revered as the national symbol, they are rapidly being replaced by motorized vehicles.]]

File:Байкал и Хубсугул 332.jpg in Khovsgol Province]]

The Trans-Mongolian Railway is the main rail link between Mongolia and its neighbors. It begins at the Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia at the town of Ulan-Ude, crosses into Mongolia, runs through Ulaanbaatar, then passes into China at Erenhot where it joins the Chinese railway system. A separate railroad link connects the eastern city of Choibalsan with the Trans-Siberian Railway. However, that link is closed to passengers after the Mongolian town of Chuluunkhoroot.{{Cite web |title=Lonely Planet Mongolia: Choibalsan transport |url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mongolia/eastern-mongolia/choibalsan/transport/getting-there-away |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514101526/http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mongolia/eastern-mongolia/choibalsan/transport/getting-there-away |archive-date=May 14, 2011 |access-date=2010-05-02 |publisher=Lonelyplanet.com |df=mdy-all}} Mongolia also has a 233 km-long cargo rail link from the Tavan Tolgoi coal mine to Chinese border.{{Cite web |last=Adiya |first=Amar |date=2022-09-08 |title=New Coal Rail Network Comes Online Connecting Mongolia With China |url=https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/new-coal-rail-network-comes-online-connecting-mongolia-with-china |access-date=2022-09-11 |website=Mongolia Weekly |language=en |archive-date=11 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911183801/https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/new-coal-rail-network-comes-online-connecting-mongolia-with-china |url-status=live}}

Mongolia has a number of domestic airports, with some of them having international status. However, the main international airport is Chinggis Khaan International Airport, located approximately {{convert|52|km|abbr=on}} south of the capital Ulaanbaatar. Direct flight connections exist between Mongolia and South Korea, China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, Russia, Germany, and Turkey. MIAT Mongolian Airlines is Mongolia's national air carrier, operating international flights, while air carriers such as Aero Mongolia and Hunnu Airlines serve domestic and short international routes.

Many overland roads in Mongolia are only gravel roads or simple cross-country tracks. There are paved roads from Ulaanbaatar to the Russian and Chinese borders, from Ulaanbaatar east- and westward (the so-called Millennium Road), and from Darkhan to Bulgan. A number of road construction projects are currently underway. Mongolia has {{convert|4800|km|abbr=on}} of paved roads, with {{convert|1800|km|abbr=on}} of that total completed in 2013 alone.{{Cite web |date=December 26, 2013 |title=Tough challenges in 2014 | UBPost News |url=http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/?p=7086 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140401041502/http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/?p=7086 |archive-date=April 1, 2014 |access-date=2014-05-05 |publisher=Ubpost.mongolnews.mn |df=mdy-all}}

{{main|Education in Mongolia}}

During the state socialist period, education was one of the areas of significant achievement in Mongolia. Before the People's Republic, literacy rates were below one percent. By 1952, illiteracy was virtually eliminated,{{Cite news |title=Mongolian People's Republic |work=TheFreeDictionary.com |url=http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Mongolian+People's+Republic |url-status=live |access-date=2016-11-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212105459/http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Mongolian+People%27s+Republic |archive-date=February 12, 2017 |df=mdy-all}} in part through the use of seasonal boarding schools for children of nomadic families. Funding to these boarding schools was cut in the 1990s, contributing to slightly increased illiteracy.

Primary and secondary education formerly lasted ten years, but was expanded to eleven years. Since the 2008–2009 school year, new first-graders are using the 12-year system, with a full transition to the 12-year system in the 2019–2020 school year.{{Cite web |title=Зургаан настнууд зутрах шинжтэй |url=http://www.olloo.mn/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1134602 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525093517/http://www.olloo.mn/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1134602 |archive-date=May 25, 2013 |access-date=2013-06-28 |publisher=Olloo.mn |language=mn |df=mdy-all}}

{{As of|2006}}, English is taught in all secondary schools across Mongolia, beginning in fourth grade. English has taken over from Russian as the dominant foreign language in Mongolia, particularly in Ulaanbaatar.{{Cite web |last=Dovchin |first=Sender |date=2021-10-04 |title=The Rise of English in Mongolia |url=https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/the-rise-of-english-in-mongolia |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Mongolia Weekly |language=en |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325212203/https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/the-rise-of-english-in-mongolia |url-status=live}}

Mongolian national universities are all spin-offs from the National University of Mongolia and the Mongolian University of Science and Technology. Almost three in five Mongolian youths now enroll in university. There was a six-fold increase in students between 1993 and 2010.Jakob Engel and Annalisa Prizzon, with Gerelmaa Amgaabazar, July 2014, From decline to recovery: Post-primary education in

Mongolia, {{Cite web |title=Development Progress |url=http://www.developmentprogress.org/sites/developmentprogress.org/files/case-study-summary/mongolia_summary_digi.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016014354/http://www.developmentprogress.org/sites/developmentprogress.org/files/case-study-summary/mongolia_summary_digi.pdf |archive-date=October 16, 2014 |access-date=2014-10-10 |df=mdy-all}}

{{Excerpt|Health in Mongolia|paragraphs=1-4}}

{{Main|Culture of Mongolia}}

The symbol in the left bar of the national flag is a Buddhist icon called Soyombo. It represents the sun, moon, stars, and heavens per standard cosmological symbology abstracted from that seen in traditional thangka paintings.

Before the 20th century, most works of the fine arts in Mongolia had a religious function, and therefore Mongolian fine arts were heavily influenced by religious texts.{{Cite web |last=Terese Tse Bartholomew |year=1995 |title=Introduction to the Art of Mongolia |url=http://www.asianart.com/mongolia/introduct.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130306134950/http://www.asianart.com/mongolia/introduct.html |archive-date=March 6, 2013 |access-date=2013-03-22 |publisher=asianart.com |df=mdy-all}} Thangkas were usually painted or made in appliqué technique. Bronze sculptures usually showed Buddhist deities. A number of great works are attributed to the first Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, Zanabazar.

In the late 19th century, painters like "Marzan" Sharav turned to more realistic painting styles. Under the Mongolian People's Republic, socialist realism was the dominant painting style,{{Cite book |last=Veronika Ronge |title=Die Mongolen: Beiträge zu ihrer Geschichte und Kultur |publisher=Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft |year=1986 |isbn=978-3-534-03579-3 |editor-last=Michael Weiers |pages=125–148 |chapter=Kunst und Kunstgewerbe}} however traditional thangka-like paintings dealing with secular, nationalist themes were also popular, a genre known as "Mongol zurag".

Among the first attempts to introduce modernism into the fine arts of Mongolia was the painting Ehiin setgel (Mother's love) created by Tsevegjav in the 1960s. The artist was purged as his work was censored.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

All forms of fine arts flourished only after perestroika in the late 1980s. Otgonbayar Ershuu is arguably one of the most well-known Mongolian modern artists in the Western world, he was portrayed in the film "ZURAG" by Tobias Wulff.{{Cite web |title=ZURAG – a movie about Otgonbayar Ershuu |url=http://www.zurag.de/zurag-film.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729204853/http://www.zurag.de/zurag-film.html |archive-date=July 29, 2013 |access-date=2013-06-28 |publisher=Zurag.de |df=mdy-all}}

{{Main|Architecture of Mongolia}}{{More sources|section|date=April 2025}}File:Gurvger.jpg in front of the Gurvan Saikhan Mountains]]

The traditional Mongolian dwelling is known as a ger. In the past it was known by the Russian term yurt, but this has been changing as the Mongolian term becomes better known in English-speaking countries. According to Mongolian artist and art critic N. Chultem, the ger was the basis for development of traditional Mongolian architecture. In the 16th and 17th centuries, lamaseries were built throughout the country. Many of them started as ger-temples. When they needed to be enlarged to accommodate the growing number of worshippers, the Mongolian architects used structures with 6 and 12 angles{{clarify|r=is sides or corners meant?|date=April 2011}} with pyramidal roofs to approximate to the round shape of a ger. Further enlargement led to a quadratic shape of the temples. The roofs were made in the shape of marquées.{{Cite book |title=Искусство Монголии |year=1984 |location=Moscow}} The trellis walls, roof poles and layers of felt were replaced by stone, brick, beams and planks, and became permanent.{{Cite web |title=Cultural Heritage of Mongolia |url=http://www.indiana.edu/~mongsoc/mong/heritage.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070702015556/http://www.indiana.edu/~mongsoc/mong/heritage.htm |archive-date=July 2, 2007 |access-date=2007-07-07 |publisher=Indiana University}}

Chultem distinguished three styles in traditional Mongolian architecture: Mongolian, Tibetan and Chinese as well as combinations of the three. Among the first quadratic temples was Batu-Tsagaan (1654) designed by Zanabazar. An example of the ger-style architecture is the lamasery Dashi-Choiling in Ulaanbaatar. The temple Lavrin (18th century) in the Erdene Zuu lamasery was built in the Tibetan tradition. An example of a temple built in the Chinese tradition is the lamasery Choijing Lamiin Sume (1904), which is a museum today. The quadratic temple Tsogchin in lamasery Gandan in Ulaanbaatar is a combination of the Mongolian and Chinese tradition. The temple of Maitreya (disassembled in 1938) is an example of the Tibeto-Mongolian architecture. Dashi-Choiling monastery has commenced a project to restore the temple and the {{convert|25|m|ft}} sculpture of Maitreya.

{{Main|Music of Mongolia}}

File:Mongolian Musician.jpg]]

The music of Mongolia is strongly influenced by nature, nomadism, shamanism, and also Tibetan Buddhism. The traditional music includes a variety of instruments, famously the morin khuur, and also the singing styles like the urtyn duu ("long song"), and throat-singing (khoomei). The "tsam" is danced to keep away evil spirits and it was seen as reminiscent of shamanism.

{{Main|Media of Mongolia}}

File:Mongolia media.jpg in 2008. The media has gained significant freedoms since democratic reforms initiated in the 1990s.]]

Mongolian press began in 1920 with close ties to the Soviet Union under the Mongolian Communist Party, with the establishment of the Unen ("Truth") newspaper similar to the Soviet Pravda.{{Cite web |title=Mongolia media |url=http://www.pressreference.com/Ma-No/Mongolia.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130415220841/http://www.pressreference.com/Ma-No/Mongolia.html |archive-date=April 15, 2013 |access-date=2013-06-28 |publisher=Press reference |df=mdy-all}} Until reforms in the 1990s, the government had strict control of the media and oversaw all publishing, in which no independent media were allowed. The dissolution of the Soviet Union had a significant impact on Mongolia, where the one-party state grew into a multi-party democracy, and with that, media freedoms came to the forefront.

A new law on press freedom, drafted with help from international NGOs on August 28, 1998, and enacted on January 1, 1999, paved the way for media reforms.{{Cite book |last1=Ole Bruun |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vEvbqA5PInIC |title=Mongolia in Transition |last2=Ole Odgaard |publisher=Routledge |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7007-0441-5 |access-date=2013-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111083322/http://books.google.com/books?id=vEvbqA5PInIC |archive-date=January 11, 2014 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all}} The Mongolian media currently consists of around 300 print and broadcasting outlets.{{Cite news |title=Country Profile: Mongolia |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1235560.stm#media |url-status=live |access-date=2013-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206003152/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1235560.stm#media |archive-date=February 6, 2009 |df=mdy-all}}

Since 2006, the media environment has been improving with the government debating a new Freedom of Information Act, and the removal of any affiliation of media outlets with the government.{{Cite book |title=Asian communication handbook 2008 |publisher=AMIC |year=2008 |isbn=978-981-4136-10-5 |editor-last=Indrajit Banerjee |editor-last2=Stephen Logan}}{{Cite book |title=The World Trade Organization legal, economic and political analysis |publisher=Springer |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-387-22685-9 |editor-last=Patrick F.J. Macrory |location=New York |editor-last2=Arthur E. Appleton |editor-last3=Michael G. Plummer}} Market reforms have led to an annually increasing number of people working in the media, along with students at journalism schools.

In its 2013 World Press Freedom Index report, Reporters Without Borders classified the media environment as 98th out of 179, with 1st being most free.{{Cite web |year=2013 |title=2013 World Press Freedom Index: Dashed Hopes After Spring |url=http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2013,1054.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215183842/http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2013%2C1054.html |archive-date=February 15, 2013 |publisher=Reporters Without Borders |df=mdy-all}} In 2016, Mongolia was ranked 60th out of 180.{{Cite web |year=2016 |title=2016 World Press Freedom Index |work=RSF |url=https://rsf.org/en/ranking/2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314000216/https://rsf.org/en/ranking/2016 |archive-date=March 14, 2017 |publisher=Reporters Without Borders |df=mdy-all}}

According to 2014 Asian Development Bank survey, 80% of Mongolians cited television as their main source of information.{{Cite web |last=Enkhbold |first=Enerelt |year=2016 |title=TV drama promotes financial education in Mongolia |url=http://blogs.adb.org/blog/tv-drama-promotes-financial-education-mongolia |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160530104121/http://blogs.adb.org/blog/tv-drama-promotes-financial-education-mongolia |archive-date=May 30, 2016 |website=Asian Development Bank Blog}}

File:Boortsog Aaruul.JPG cookies, aaruul (dried curds), and ul boov cakes]]

{{excerpt|Mongolian cuisine|only=paragraphs}}

{{Main|Mongolia at the Olympics}}

File:Naadam Festival 2024 Opening Ceremony.jpg is the largest summer celebration]]

The main national festival is Naadam, which has been organized for centuries and takes place over three days in the summer, consisting of three Mongolian traditional sports, archery, cross-country horse-racing, and wrestling, traditionally recognized as the Three Manly Games of Naadam. In modern-day Mongolia, Naadam is held from July 11 to 13 in the honor of the anniversaries of the National Democratic Revolution and foundation of the Great Mongol State.

Another very popular activity called Shagaa is the "flicking" of sheep ankle bones at a target several feet away, using a flicking motion of the finger to send the small bone flying at targets and trying to knock the target bones off the platform. At Naadam, this contest is popular among older Mongolians.

File:Three Naadam riders.jpg festival]]

Horse riding is especially central to Mongolian culture. The long-distance races that are showcased during Naadam festivals are one aspect of this, as is the popularity of trick riding. One example of trick riding is the legend that the Mongolian military hero Damdin Sükhbaatar scattered coins on the ground and then picked them up while riding a horse at full gallop.

Mongolian wrestling is the most popular of all Mongol sports. It is the highlight of the Three Manly Games of Naadam. Historians claim that Mongol-style wrestling originated some seven thousand years ago. Hundreds of wrestlers from different cities and aimags around the country take part in the national wrestling competition.

Other sports such as basketball, weightlifting, powerlifting, association football, athletics, gymnastics, table tennis, jujutsu, karate, aikido, kickboxing, and mixed martial arts have become popular in Mongolia. More Mongolian table tennis players are competing internationally.

Freestyle wrestling has been practised since 1958 in Mongolia.{{Cite web |title=Монголын Чөлөөт Бөхийн Холбоо |url=http://wrestling.mn/page/show/19 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330025955/http://wrestling.mn/page/show/19 |archive-date=March 30, 2015 |df=mdy-all}} Mongolian freestyle wrestlers have won the first and the most Olympic medals of Mongolia.

Naidangiin Tüvshinbayar won Mongolia's first ever Olympic gold medal in the men's 100-kilogram class of judo.{{Cite news |last=Mark Bixler |date=August 15, 2008 |title=Mongolia wins first-ever gold medal |publisher=CNN.com/world sport |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/08/15/mongolia.medal/index.html |access-date=2008-08-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080822162813/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/08/15/mongolia.medal/index.html |archive-date=August 22, 2008}}

Amateur boxing has been practised in Mongolia since 1948.{{Cite web |title=Д.Батмєнх: Анх дээлтэй, монгол гуталтай бокс тоглодог байлаа |trans-title=D. Batmunkh: The first Mongolian boxer was dressed in Mongolian boots |url=http://www.olloo.mn/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=108135 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031203607/http://www.olloo.mn/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=108135 |archive-date=October 31, 2013 |language=mn}} The Mongolian Olympic boxing national team was founded in 1960. The Communist government of Mongolia banned boxing from 1964 to 1967 but the government soon ended the ban. Professional boxing began in Mongolia in the 1990s.

Mongolia national basketball team enjoyed some success recently, especially at the East Asian Games.

Association football is also played in Mongolia. The Mongolia national football team began playing national games again during the 1990s; but has not yet qualified for a major international tournament. The Mongolia Premier League is the top domestic competition.

Several Mongolian women have excelled in pistol shooting: Otryadyn Gündegmaa is a silver medalist of the 2008 Olympic Games, Munkhbayar Dorjsuren is a double world champion and Olympic bronze medal winner (now representing Germany), while Tsogbadrakhyn Mönkhzul is, as of May 2007, ranked third in the world in the 25-metre pistol event.{{Cite web |date=May 29, 2007 |title=World ranking: 25 m Pistol Women |url=http://www.issf-shooting.org/update/worldranking.asp?mode=allbyevent&event=SP |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070425032544/http://www.issf-shooting.org/update/worldranking.asp?mode=allbyevent&event=SP |archive-date=April 25, 2007 |access-date=June 4, 2007 |publisher=International Shooting Sport Federation}}

Mongolian sumo wrestler Dolgorsürengiin Dagvadorj won 25 top division tournament championships, placing him fourth on the all-time list. In January 2015, Mönkhbatyn Davaajargal took his 33rd top division championship, giving him the most in the history of sumo.

Bandy is the only sport in which Mongolia has finished higher than third place at the Asian Winter Games, which happened in 2011 when the national team captured the silver medal. It led to being chosen as the best Mongolian sports team of 2011.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ocasia.org/News/IndexNewsRM.aspx?WKegervtea1MGkNnT6j12w==|title=Mongolia NOC announces sports press awards|access-date=2 November 2022|archive-date=19 April 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140419105406/http://www.ocasia.org/News/IndexNewsRM.aspx?WKegervtea1MGkNnT6j12w==|url-status=dead}} Mongolia won the bronze medal of the B division at the 2017 Bandy World Championship after which the then President of Mongolia, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, held a reception for the team.{{Cite web |title= PressReader – the UB Post: 2017-02-06 – President praises national bandy team|url=https://www.pressreader.com/mongolia/the-ub-post/20170206/281663959744789 |via=PressReader |access-date=28 May 2018 |archive-date=28 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528215525/https://www.pressreader.com/mongolia/the-ub-post/20170206/281663959744789 |url-status=live}}

Ulaanbataar holds an annual marathon in June. 2015 was the sixth marathon that has been organized by Ar Mongol. The race starts at Sukhbataar Square and is always open to residents and runners who come especially for this event.{{Cite web |title=MongoliaTourism – Мэдээ, мэдээлэл – 6th International Ulaanbaatar Marathon – June 2015 |url=http://www.mongoliatourism.info/1/news/6 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015162724/http://mongoliatourism.info/1/news/6 |archive-date=October 15, 2015 |df=mdy-all}}

File:Eagles and Hunters.JPG hunters in Mongolia with eagles]]

Mongolia holds other traditional festivals throughout the year. The Golden Eagle Festival, held annually, draws about 400 eagle hunters on horseback, including the traveler {{lang|mn-Cyrl|Мөнхбаярт Батсайхан}} ({{transliteration|mn|Mönkhbayart Batsaikhan}}), to compete with their birds.{{cite web |last1=Adiya |first1=Amar |title=Most Important Thing You Need To Know About Golden Eagle Hunting Festival in Mongolia |url=https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/most-important-thing-you-need-to-know-about-golden-eagle-hunting-festival-in-mongolia |website=Mongolia Weekly |language=en |date=4 September 2022 |access-date=25 March 2023 |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325211154/https://www.mongoliaweekly.org/post/most-important-thing-you-need-to-know-about-golden-eagle-hunting-festival-in-mongolia |url-status=live }} The Ice Festival and the Thousand Camel Festival are amongst many other traditional Mongolian festivals.

{{portal|Asia|Geography}}

• Index of Mongolia-related articles
• Outline of Mongolia

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book |first = Baasanjav |last = Terbish |title = Humans, Dogs and Other Beings: Myths, Stories, and History in the Land of Genghis Khan |url=https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0450 |isbn=978-1-80511-519-9 |year=2025 |publisher=Open Book Publishers}}
• [https://www.britannica.com/nations/Mongolia Mongolia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614161810/http://www.britannica.com/nations/Mongolia |date=14 June 2008 }}, Encyclopædia Britannica
• [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/mongolia/ Mongolia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109221145/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/mongolia |date=9 January 2021 }}. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency
• [https://2009-2017.state.gov/p/eap/ci/mg/ Background notes on Mongolia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604160514/https://2009-2017.state.gov/p/eap/ci/mg/ |date=4 June 2019 }}, US Department of State
• [http://www.nbr.org/research/activity.aspx?id=245 Mongolia: Growth, Democracy, and Two Wary Neighbors] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131025084557/http://www.nbr.org/research/activity.aspx?id=245 |date=25 October 2013 }} (Q&A with Alan Wachman, May 2012)

{{refend}}

{{Sister project links|voy=Mongolia}}

; Government

• [https://www.gov.mn Government of Mongolia] {{in lang|en|mn}}
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20101210081632/http://www.pmis.gov.mn/pmis_eng/index.php Mongolia Government Overview]}} {{in lang|mn}}
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090114082958/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/world-leaders-m/mongolia.html Chief of State and Cabinet Members]}}

; General information

• [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/mongolia/ Mongolia]. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency
• [https://www.amicusmongolia.com/mongolia-travel-guide/ Mongolia Travel Guide]
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080607085250/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/mongolia.htm Mongolia]}} at UCB Libraries GovPubs
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15460525 Mongolia profile] from the BBC News
• [https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/389335/Mongolia Mongolia] at Britannica.com
• {{cite EB1911 |wstitle = Mongolia |volume= 18 |last= Kropotkin |first= Peter Alexeivitch |author-link= Peter Kropotkin| pages = 711–712 |short=1}}
• {{wikiatlas|Mongolia}}
• [http://wrestlingroots.org/ Wrestling Roots]
• [http://www.countryreports.org/country/mongolia.htm Mongolia, Facts and Culture on CountryReports.org]

{{Clear}}

{{Mongolia topics}}

{{Mongol ethnic groups |state=collapsed}}

{{Countries of Asia}}

{{East Asian topics}}

{{Shanghai Cooperation Organisation}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Mongol states

Category:Countries in Asia

Category:East Asian countries

Category:Eurasian Steppe

Category:Inner Asia

Category:Landlocked countries

Category:Member states of the United Nations

Category:Northeast Asian countries

Category:Republics

Category:States and territories established in 1911