Anthropologically, the Mongols are quite homogeneous, belonging to the classic physical type to which they lent their name. Within Mongolia, Khalkha-speaking Mongols constitute almost four-fifths of the population. Other Mongolian groups—including Dörbed, Buryat, Bayad, and Dariganga—account for about one-eighth of the population. By tradition the Mongols have been Buddhists. Much of the rest of the population consists of Turkic-speaking peoples, mainly Kazaks, who traditionally have been Muslims; located mainly in the western part of the country, they have been granted an autonomous area. A small but significant number of Russians live mainly in the cities. The Chinese, who were formerly important in cities, trade, and finance, have largely left the country.
At the time of the founding of the modern state, the social composition was strongly influenced by the then-prevailing religious traditions of the lamas (monks), who followed tenets derived from Tibetan Buddhism, with a strong admixture of more primitive elements. Control lay in the hands of the head of the Mongolian Tibetan Buddhist Church (who was proclaimed the khan of all Mongolia) together with various local khans, hundreds of princes and noblemen, and the higher clergy. The new regime sought to replace feudal and religious structures with socialist and secular forms. During the 1930s the government closed monasteries, confiscated their livestock and landholdings, induced large numbers of monks to renounce religious life, and eliminated others. The number of Buddhist monks dropped from 100,000 in 1924 to 110 in 1990. Many aspects of the national cultural traditions are preserved in museums.
In the early 15th century, Mongol unity gave way to internal quarrels and dissension. Tibetan Buddhism gained ascendancy in the 16th century, and in 1650 the son of the Mongol khan of Urga (now Ulaanbaatar) was named a Living Buddha. An alliance of Buddhist theocracy and secular Mongol aristocracy ruled the country from 1696 until the 20th century, under the suzerainty of the Qing (Manchu) dynasty of China.
The Mongols constitute one of the principal ethnographic divisions of Asian, or Oriental, peoples. Their traditional homeland is centred in Mongolia, a vast plateau in Central Asia now divided politically into an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (Inner Mongolia) and Mongolia (Outer Mongolia), which lies at the eastern end of what was a great corridor of migration between Northeast China (Manchuria) and Hungary throughout history. It is unfortunate, because confusing, that 19th-century physical anthropologists introduced the terms Mongol and Mongolian as descriptive of racial type. The Mongols exhibit a wide range of physical characteristics and should be considered not as a race but as a group of peoples bound together by a common language and a common nomadic tradition.
After the Chinese revolution of 1911, Mongolia, except the Uriankhai Territory (now Tuva, Russia), declared its independence from China, but the Living Buddha continued to rule. In 1920 a military force that was supplied and financed by Japan and led by Baron Roman Nikolaus von Ungern-Sternberg, a Russian anti-Bolshevik general, took the capital, Urga, and set up a puppet government. In 1921 the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party, formed by Russian-trained Mongols, established an independent Provisional People’s Government and, with aid from the Russian Communists, defeated Ungern-Sternberg and his supporters. The theocratic monarchy, its powers limited, was retained by the provisional government until 1924, when the last Living Buddha died. At that time the Mongolian People’s Republic, modeled on Soviet lines, was founded, but its independence was not recognized by China until 1946. After the Communists won power in China in 1949, trade and cultural relations were established between the two nations. However, China’s split with the USSR in the late 1950s curtailed Chinese-Mongolian relations. A Sino-Mongolian border treaty was signed in 1962, but Mongolia maintained its closest ties with the USSR, which in 1961 sponsored its membership in the United Nations. In 1966 the two countries signed a treaty of friendship, trade, and mutual assistance, which was renewed in 1986. In the 1980s the USSR was Mongolia’s leading trade partner and aid donor, and about 65,000 Soviet troops were stationed in Mongolia.
Contemporary cultural life in Mongolia is a unique amalgam of traditional elements—the heritage of centuries—and a growing modern element.
Mongolia did not achieve a cohesive culture until the 20th century, when it became an independent nation. Only a few remnants of ancient cultures exist, including Stone Age campsites, and much of Mongolia’s traditional folklore has been lost with succeeding generations. The Republic of Mongolia has tried to establish a national culture and has sponsored drama, art schools, and a state theater of music and drama. Mongolian literature is rich and epic in form.
Mongolian literature evolved a wealth of traditional genres: heroic epics, legends, tales, yurol , and magtaal , as well as a host of proverbial sayings. These genres are infused by what Mongols regard as a national characteristic—a good-humoured love of life, with particular fondness for witty sayings and jokes, particularly evident in the image of Dalan Khuldalchi, the hero of humorous folktales, and in the stories about the badarchins, clever but wily wandering monks. The baatar—the popular hero of folk legend—is also a symbolic figure. Khurchins—folk poets and singers—carried down the oral epics and ballads; and their mime and gesture gave rise to the popular trenchant satirical vaudevilles, Sumya Noyon and Dunkher Da-Lam. The religious mysteries, tsam and maidari, were formerly staged as mass spectacles. Other folk arts include the making of shirdeg, richly ornamented felt carpets noted as adorning the entrances to yurts by 13th-century European travelers. The Mongolian form of chess, shatar, with a stern khan for king, a dog—the cattle breeder's traditional honoured friend—as queen, and a camel as a bishop, has very deep roots and has produced some finely carved chess sets.
The ethnic composition of Mongolia is fairly homogeneous. Halh (Khalkha) Mongols constitute the great majority of the population, while other ethnic Mongols exist in small numbers. Other groups are the Kazaks, Dörvöds, Chinese, and Russians. The society is 63 percent urban.
Mongolia can be divided into three major topographic zones: the fingerlike mountain ridges that thrust into the northern and western areas, the basin areas that lie between and around them, and the enormous upland plateau belt that sweeps across the southern and eastern sectors. The entire country is prone to seismic movements, with some earthquakes reaching extreme limits of severity; their effects, however, are diminished by the low population density.
Animals raised include sheep, goats, cattle, horses, and camels.
Crop farming and livestock breeding form the basis of Mongolia’s economy. Manufacturing is devoted largely to the processing of agricultural and livestock products. During the Communist era, the government attempted to increase industrial and agricultural production through a series of five-year plans, first initiated in 1948. The state controlled all industry and trade, through either direct ownership or cooperatives. In the 1990s Mongolia began to transition from a planned socialist economy under Communism to a market system under a democratic government. Economic reforms have included the transfer of some state-owned enterprises to private ownership. In 1999 the gross domestic product (GDP) was $0.92 billion, or about $390 per capita.
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Mongolia possesses mineral resources. Geologic surveys have confirmed the existence of large deposits of coal and iron, tin, copper, gold, and silver ore and a number of lesser known minerals. Mongolia's biological resources consist largely of the great herds of livestock in the country. Overall livestock figures rose throughout most of the 20th century, providing a rich agricultural resource base that even enabled some exports of meat to be made. In addition, the northern rivers of Mongolia offer great potential for hydroelectric development, whereas the wildlife of the country offers potential for commercial exploitation.
Economic activity traditionally has been based on agriculture and breeding of livestock. Mongolia also has extensive mineral deposits: copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and gold account for a large part of industrial production. Soviet assistance, at its height one-third of GDP, disappeared almost overnight in 1990-91, at the time of the dismantlement of the USSR. Mongolia was driven into deep recession, which was prolonged by the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party's (MPRP) reluctance to undertake serious economic reform. The Democratic Coalition (DC) government has embraced free-market economics, easing price controls, liberalizing domestic and international trade, and attempting to restructure the banking system and the energy sector. Major domestic privatization programs were undertaken, as well as the fostering of foreign investment through international tender of the oil distribution company, a leading cashmere company, and banks. Reform was held back by the ex-communist MPRP opposition and by the political instability brought about through four successive governments under the DC. Economic growth picked up in 1997-99 after stalling in 1996 due to a series of natural disasters and declines in world prices of copper and cashmere. In August and September 1999, the economy suffered from a temporary Russian ban on exports of oil and oil products, and Mongolia remains vulnerable in this sector. Mongolia joined the World Trade Organization (WTrO) in 1997. The international donor community pledged over $300 million per year at the last Consultative Group Meeting, held in Ulaanbaatar in June 1999. The MPRP government, elected in July 2000, is anxious to improve the investment climate; it must also deal with a heavy burden of external debt.
general assessment: very low density: about 3.5 telephones for each thousand persons
domestic: NA
international: satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean Region)
The traditional faith in Mongolia is Lamaist Buddhism, which the Communist government began suppressing in 1929. In 1992 the country adopted a democratic constitution that established the separation of church and state. Some monasteries have since reopened, and Buddhists are again openly practicing their faith. As a result of the years of government suppression of religion, however, many Mongolians are now thought to be nonreligious or atheistic. The Mongolian language is one of the Altaic languages.
Citizens' Will Party or CWP (also called Civil Will Party) [Sanjaasurengyn OYUN]; Democratic Party or DP [D. DORLIGAN]; Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party or MPRP [Nambaryn ENKHBAYAR]; Mongolian Democratic New Socialist Party or MDNSP [B. ERDENEBAT]; Mongolian Republican Party or MRP [B. JARGALSAIHAN]
note: the MPRP is the ruling party
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
The supreme organ of state power was the People’s Great Hural (Khural), a 430-member assembly that usually met twice a year. The Communist party, called the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP), was the sole legal party until 1990, when the constitution was amended to allow opposition parties, institute a presidential system of government, and add a 53-member standing legislature, the Small Hural. In January 1992 a new constitution was adopted. By this constitution, the legislative power of the republic resides in the 76-member Great Hural; the delegates of the Great Hural are chosen for four-year terms through direct, free elections. The president is head of state and is also elected to a four-year term. Voting is universal beginning at age 18.
Legal system: blend of Russian, Chinese, Turkish, and Western systems of law that combines aspects of a parliamentary system with some aspects of a presidential system; constitution ambiguous on judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Natsagiyn BAGABANDI (since 20 June 1997)
head of government: Prime Minister Nambaryn ENKHBAYAR (since 26 July 2000)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the State Great Hural in consultation with the president
elections: president nominated by parties in the State Great Hural and elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 20 May 2001 (next to be held NA May 2005); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition is usually elected prime minister by the State Great Hural; election last held 2 July 2000 (next to be held NA 2004)
election results: Natsagiyn BAGABANDI reelected president; percent of vote - NA%; Nambaryn ENKHBAYAR elected prime minister by a vote in the State Great Hural of 68 to 3
Legislative branch: unicameral State Great Hural (76 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 2 July 2000 (next to be held NA July 2004)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - MPRP 72, other 4
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (serves as appeals court for people's and provincial courts, but rarely overturns verdicts of lower courts; judges are nominated by the General Council of Courts for approval by the president)
International organization Member
ARF (dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (observer), CCC, EBRD, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Education in Mongolia is compulsory between the ages of 8 and 16. In the 1996 school year 234,200 students attended primary school, 89 percent of primary-aged children. The secondary school enrollment rate was 56 percent. About 38,600 students attended institutions of higher education, which include the Mongolian State University in Ulaanbaatar.
Military branches: Mongolian Armed Forces (includes General Purpose Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces, Civil Defense Troops); note - Border Troops are under Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs in peacetime
Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 748,779 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 486,491 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 30,230 (2001 est.)
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