Overview - Mongolia

Though few travelers make it here, everyone has heard of Mongolia: horses galloping freely in the steppe, remote yurts, and the Great Gobi Desert: this is our universe, and we’re glad to have the opportunity to tell you all about it. Take a deep breath and let the freedom of the steppe fill your lungs. Traveling to Mongolia means choosing wide open spaces where the steppe stretches to the horizon and Mongol horsemen ride with the wind.

Of course, there’s more to Mongolia than the vast expanse of the steppe: kissing the sky, the Altai mountains make for an interesting visit, as do Dornod plain, the verdant landscape around Selenge, and of course, the arid world of the Gobi desert.

With a current population of about 2,750,000, Mongolia is one of Asia’s least populated countries. About 60% of the Mongolian population is urban, with more than half living in Ulaanbaatar. The population for this city is estimated at around 1,150000 people, half of which live in apartment building in the city enter.

Ulaan-Baatar’s population almost doubled in the last five years, due to mass rural exodus from provincial towns and the countryside, particularly following the two years of dzud. Most of these migrants now live in yurt communities set up around the capital.

Seventy percent of the population is less than 30 years old and life expectancy is about 65-70 years. Close to 36% of the population lives in extreme poverty, living on less than 0.68 USD per day. Public services are constantly deteriorating, particularly in the health and education sectors. Statistically, population density is 1.52 persons per square kilometer, making it the world’s lowest. Yet 38.3% percent of the population lives in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, where population density reaches 211.6 persons per square kilometer.

One third of the population is considered nomadic (or semi-nomadic), living in traditional felt tents called Ger, following the movements of their herds and resettling at least twice a year in search of greener pastures. In the winter, most of them migrate to the nearest city.

In terms of ethnicity, Mongolia is a rather homogenous country. The most notable ethnic minority are the Kazakhs who live in Western Mongolia and make up about 5% of the total population.

Though Mongolia is a free and democratic country, its economy was greatly scarred by the collapse of a once-dominant communist system. It is now largely dependent on a wide variety of semi-domesticated herds that outnumber humans by a ratio of 10:1. Thousands of sheep, horses, camels, goats, and yaks graze freely in this immense territory. The terrible winters of 2000 and 2001 had a horrible impact on the country, many nomad families losing all their cattle and forced to move to the city. Most people fled to the capital, whose population jumped from 850000 to over a million in the last two years.

Considering centuries of Russian and Manchurian rule, it’s almost a miracle that this country managed to stay independent and that their way of life and culture remained unchanged for so long. Renewing interest in their unique blend of Buddhism and animism, proud of their history and their glorious past, Mongols live in perfect harmony with their powerful neighbors. Mongolia is opening up to the world, despite its geographical isolation. Most Mongols hope their country continue widening its international presence, seeing this potential change as a chance to test the strength of their identity, and, perhaps, as an opportunity for the powerful winds of the Steppe to breathe a message of harmony and tolerance into the world.