A country of short more than3 millionpeople in East Asia , Mongolia is often overlooked , especially equate to its prevalent neighbors Russia and China . But this landlocked state boasts a rich tapis of cultures , geography and political history that truly make it deserving explore . Here are eight absorbing facts about Mongolia .
1. Mongolia Is Totally Landlocked
Mongolia is a landlocked nation with only two official neighbour : Russia to the north andChinato the south . " I wish to call it a ' sandwich country , ' " says Christopher Atwood , chair of the East Asian Languages and Civilization section at the University of Pennsylvania and the writer of the " Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire . " " Which is to say — a nation that has only two neighbors . And that creates a really interesting dynamic . "
" Both countries have had an crucial influence on Mongolia , with Russia assuming an especially vital role throughout most of the 20th century , shape Mongolia ’s economy and political establishment along Soviet lines while also settle its extraneous policy , " compose Jonathan Addleton by email . However , in recent years , China has take on the rife economical use in trade and investiture with Mongolia .
Addleton serve for three year as U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia between 2009 - 2012 ; he is also the former executive film director of theAmerican Center for Mongolian Studiesand author of " Mongolia and the United States : A diplomatical chronicle " .
Due to the influence of these two dominant powerhouses , Mongolia has borrow something jazz as the ' third neighbor ' policy with countries like the U.S andJapan . " The estimate is Mongolia test to find a metaphoric third neighbour , given the fact that it does n’t have a literal third neighbour , " says Atwood .
2. Mongolia Is a Democracy With a Turbulent Political History
Did you know that there are historically two freestanding regions known as " Outer " and " Inner " Mongolia ?
" Old maps designate the territory that is now [ present - sidereal day ] Mongolia as ' Outer Mongolia . ' As for ' Inner Mongolia , ' it is a state of China that borders main Mongolia , " says Addleton . " [ Inner Mongolia ] is also home to most of China ’s Mongol nonage . "
How did this split occur ? The solution dates back tothe rise of the Chinese Qing ( Manchu ) dynastyand its conquest of Mongolia in the 1600s and 1700s . " The part [ of ] Outer and Inner Mongolia is a lineal final result of the Manchu conquest , " says Katarzyna Golik , Ph.D. , a learner affiliated with the Polish Academy of Sciences and an expert on Taiwanese - Mongolian relations .
" During the 1990s , Mongolia made its ' decision for commonwealth , ' interchange the political system it had inherit from the U.S.S.R. with a operate parliamentary system and a mart - found economy , " says Addleton .
3. Chinggis Khan (or Genghis Khan) Was a Pretty Big Deal
History - savvy readers will likely have hear ofGenghis Khan(also get it on as Chinggis Khan in Mongolia ) . He was the war - mongering tactician and Mongol loss leader who bring under his control the different tribal group of Mongolia in the former 1200s and afterward began the conquest of China , which was to the full stamp down by Genghis Khan ’s grandson , Kublai Khan . And he ’s a pretty big hatful in the country .
" Chinggis Khan is wide considered the founder of the Mongol nation , having unite the Mongol tribes and conquered much of Eurasia , " says Addleton . " His prototype appears everywhere — in government offices and on stamp , billboards , vodka bottles and monument across the country . "
For a major tourist attraction , Addleton says that you may check out theenormous monumentof Khan atop a horse , which was constructed on the 800th anniversary of the Mongol Empire ’s creation . This stainless - steel repository is reportedly the largest equestrian statue in the world .
4. Religion in Mongolia Is Complicated
More than50 percentof Mongolians were followers of Tibetan - styleBuddhismin 2010 . But a strong share ( nearly 40 percent ) of Mongolians expressed opinion in no spiritual praxis whatsoever .
Atwood explains that the Soviet - corroborate rotatory political science in Mongolia fundamentally forcedatheismon the country ’s people — and also suppress Buddhism — which has had long - lasting effects on the population ’s tie to organized religion .
Nonetheless , Buddhism still run a fair central character in day-to-day Mongolian aliveness . And there ’s a pretty important form at the heart of Mongolia ’s Buddhism : the Bogd Khan .
" So , Bogd Khan was really authoritative in Mongolia , in particular thekhalkhagroup , which is about 85 pct of the Mongol population , " says Atwood . " They primitively formed as the adherent — the people who looked up to Bogd Khan . "
Addleton expand on the pivotal political role of the Bogd Khan in Mongolia : " The Bogd Khan was the last theocratic ruler of Mongolia , take on a part in both the religious and political life of the country . He is accredit with precede the apparent motion that result in the reassertion of Mongol independence from China during the early 1900s . "
5. Mongolia’s Geography Shapes Its Culture
If you want to experience the vast beauty of Earth ’s topography , then you need look no further than Mongolia , which cross snowy mountain elevation and wide desert region .
" Broadly speaking , Mongolia can be divide into several main geographic regions : 1 ) the Gobi desert to the southward ; 2 ) the Altai mountains reaching up to 13,000 feet ( 3,962 beat ) in the Far West ; 3 ) a Siberian - character landscape with streams , rivers , lakes and larch tree forests to the north ; and 4 ) the huge steppe pore in the in high spirits plateau characteristic of the middle of the res publica and stretch to the Far East , " says Addleton .
But this variegate landscape painting also shapes Mongol civilization in surprising ways . The northern part of the country — which is wetter than other parts — is have sex as the " Khanghai . " There is also the " Gobi " in the southward , which Atwood says is a general condition used to refer to a desert inhabitable for humans . " Mongolic cogitate of khanghai and gobi people as sustain unlike personality , " says Atwood .
However , the large geographical influence on Mongolia ’s culture lies not in the countryside , but in its cap , Ulaanbaatar .
" Ulaanbaatar is the huge urban center . comparatively speaking — it ’s about a million and a half mass . In Mongolia , that ’s almost half the population . So , it ’s an tremendous center of all aspects of Mongolian life — political , economic , cultural , social , educational , " read Atwood .
6. The Nomadic Life in Mongolia Includes Horses and Yurts
Images on Mongolian tourist websites will often have image of the commonwealth ’s nomadic people .
" In all of Mongolia , the better way to make enjoyment of land is through livestock rather than farming , " says Atwood . Livestock herding bring itself well to a mobile lifestyle .
The five main types of farm animal in Mongolia admit gymnastic horse , Bos taurus , camels , sheep and goats , accord to Atwood .
" Horses are less important now than they used to be , but the Mongolian philia is still the horse . The horse is to the average Mongolian young guy what a athletics cable car is to your average American untried guy wire , " says Atwood .
But perhaps the image most assort with bucolic life in Mongolia is not a knight , but a house . Specifically : the yurt . Atwood says that yurt are typically made of a wooden framework clear with felt , which put up cushy insulation during the winter . Addleton adds that the “ the iconic ger ( yurt ) can be seen everywhere ” and that the style of the yurt motley from region to region .
" Yurt " is the Russian word for what the Mongol masses call a ger . The main departure is in the style of the ceiling . According to Atwood , only one family line typically resides in each yurt . Traditionally , if a group of nomad family line — or an lengthy family — is move around together , they ’ll ordinate the yurts in an east - west formation , and the most senior member of the clan will be on the correct bound of the camp . But these courtly rankings have fall in down in recent year .
" Today , most of the the great unwashed who hold up in the countryside of Mongolia — who are livestock stock breeder — do still be in yurt , because they ’re actually very convenient for moving . A yurt can be broken down and put on a camel — or a truck , more likely today — and be moved in about an hr , two hours , ” says Atwood .
However , the nomadic way of life story is in jeopardy . Atwood says the percentage of on-key nomads in Mongolia may be as depleted as 15 percent . Part of the reason for the drop in peregrine bread and butter is the rapid urbanisation in Mongolia as nomad migrate to urban centers .
7. Mongolia’s Main Ethnic Group Is the Khalkha
According to Atwood , the majority of the Mongolian multitude are known askhalkha , which is the dominant heathen mathematical group in Mongolia comprising more than 80 per centum of the country ’s population .
However , one ethnic group stands out : the Kazakh population in westerly Mongolia . The Kazakh people areMuslim by religious belief — compare to the largely Buddhist and atheistical majority of Mongolia — and also address a Turkic language rather than Mongolian . The Kazakh people are a nonage in the nation but constitute the absolute majority of the population in the Bayan - Ulgii ( also write Bayan - Ölgii ) province .
Beyond the Kazakhs , there are also a small-scale smattering of other ethnic group . " Buriats ( also known as Buryats ) — a Mongol community from Siberia — represent another minority , " says Addleton . And " the so - call ' Rangifer tarandus people ' ( " Dukha " or " Tsaatan " ) experience in northerly Mongolia are a tiny minority living in the forests around Lake Hovsgol ; their traditional homes reckon like teepees . "
8. Golden Eagle Hunting Attracts International Attention
In 2014 , a then-13 - yr - old female child name Ashol - Pan blew up the internet when a BBC lensman enamour the petite teen using a turgid golden eagle to hunt in the Altai Mountain region of westerly Mongolia .
Ateam of hunterson horseback will flush out an animal — say , a dodger or a woman chaser — into the out-of-doors . A hunter will ascend to the top of a drop or great deal , where they will release the eagle . If the William Holman Hunt proceed well , the eagle(s ) will pounce down tokill the prey , providing food and fur for the hunters and their family .
Girls like Ashol - Pan have helped convey the long - standing nomadic Kazakh hunt exercise into outside consciousness . Festivals involving lucky bird of Jove hunt , have also picked up external attention .
This practice has hereditary roots in the body politic . " In Mongolian imperium history , Chinggis Khan and Kublai Khan were famous for going hound with large birds , " say Atwood . " So the Kazakh Eagle fete , in a way , is uphold an ancient Mongolian tradition . "
