Country Facts - Mongolia

The People

Ethnic Composition

Mongol(predominantly Khalkha)	84%
Turkic (of which Kazakh is the largest group)	7%
Tungusic	4.6%
Other (including Chinese and Russian)	3.4%

Religious Composition

Tibetan Buddhist Lamaism	96%
Muslim, Shamanism, and Christian	4%

Nationality

Mongolian(s)

Languages Spoken

Khalkha Mongol, Turkic, Russian, Chinese

Education and Literacy

97.8 percent of the population over the age of 15 can read. By gender, 98 percent of the male population, and 97.5 percent of the female population is literate. (2000)

Labor Force

Total: 1.4 million (2000)
By occupation: A majority of the population work in herding and agriculture.

Geography

Land Mass Total

604,249 sq mi (1.565 million sq km)

Land

600,543 sq mi (1,555,400 sq km)

Water

3,706 sq mi (9,600 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 5,071 mi (8,162 km)
Border countries: China 2,906 mi (4,677 km), Russia 2,165 mi (3,485 km)

Climate/Weather

Desert; continental (large daily and seasonal temperature ranges).

Terrain

Vast semidesert and desert plains; mountains in west and southwest; Gobi Desert in southeast.

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Hoh Nuur 1,699 ft (518 m)
Highest: Tavan Bogd Uul 14,350 ft (4,374 m)

Natural Resources

Oil, coal, copper, molybdenum, tungsten, phosphates, tin, nickel, zinc, wolfram, fluorspar, gold.

Land use

Arable land	1%
Permanent crops	0%
Other	99%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Dust storms can occur in the spring; grassland fires.

Environment - current issues

Limited natural freshwater resources; policies of the former communist regime promoting rapid urbanization and industrial growth have raised concerns about their negative effects on the environment; the burning of soft coal in power plants and the lack of enforcement of environmental laws have severely polluted the air in Ulaanbaatar; deforestation, overgrazing, the converting of virgin land to agricultural production have increased soil erosion from wind and rain; desertification and mining activities have also had a deleterious effect on the environment.

Geography Note

Landlocked; strategic location between China and Russia.

Demographics

Population

2,694,432 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	32%	male 438,176	female 422,960
15-64 years:	64.1%	male 864,033	female 865,172
65 years and over:	3.9%	male 45,080	female 59,011

Growth Rate

1.48% (2002)

Life Expectancy

64.62 years (2002)
female: 66.87 years
male: 62.47 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$1,770 (2001)

Infant Mortality

51.97 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	1 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.76 male(s)/female
Total population:	1 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

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, 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 (WTO) 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. Falling prices for Mongolia's mainly primary sector exports, widespread opposition to privatization, and adverse effects of weather on agriculture in early 2000 and 2001 restrained real GDP growth in 2000-01 (1.1% and 1% respectively). GDP shot up in 2002 to 3.4 percent, and growth is expected to top 5 percent in 2003 and 2004, mostly due to favorable conditions in both China and Russia. In June 2003, the European Commission approved a ¬1 million humanitarian aid package to support vulnerable groups affected by harsh climatic conditions and the nomadic lifestyle common in Mongolia.

Unemployment

20% (2000)

Inflation Rate

US11.8% (2000)

Industries

Construction materials, mining (particularly coal and copper); food and beverages, processing of animal products.

Exports

US$466.1 million (f.o.b., 2000)

Imports

US$614.5 million (c.i.f., 2000)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$4.7 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

China 59%, US 20%, Russia 10%, Japan 2% (2000)

Top Import Partners

Russia 34%, China 21%, Japan 12%, South Korea 9%, US 4% (2000)

Top Exports

Copper, livestock, animal products, cashmere, wool, hides, fluorspar, other nonferrous metals.

Top Imports

Machinery and equipment, fuels, food products, industrial consumer goods, chemicals, building materials, sugar, tea.

Debt - external

US$760 million (2000)

Economic aid

US$208.7 million (1999)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	9a.m. to 6p.m.	Saturday 9a.m. to 3p.m.
Retail	9a.m. to 6p.m.	Saturday 9a.m. to 6p.m.
Banks	9:30a.m. to 12:30p.m., and 2p.m. to 3p.m.	Saturday 9:30a.m. to 11:30a.m.
Government	9a.m. to 12:30p.m., and 2p.m. to 4p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Lunar New Year¹	February 1 to 3	January 22 to 24	February 9
Women's Day	March 8	March 8	March 8
Children's Day	June 1	June 1	June 1
Independence Day	July 11 to 13	July 11 to 13	July 11 to 13
National Proclamation Day	November 26	November 26	November 26

¹	Celebrations denoting the beginning of the New Year based on the exact astronomical observations of the longitude of the sun and phases of the moon according the the Chinese calendar. Holidays can last up to five days.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press