The Mongols gained fame in the 13th century when under Chinggis KHAN they conquered a huge Eurasian empire. After his death the empire was divided into several powerful Mongol states, but these broke apart in the 14th century. The Mongols eventually retired to their original steppe homelands and later came under Chinese rule. Mongolia won its independence in 1921 with Soviet backing. A Communist regime was installed in 1924. The ex-Communist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) won elections in 1990 and 1992, but was defeated by the Democratic Union Coalition (DUC) in the 1996 parliamentary election. Since then, parliamentary elections returned the MPRP overwhelmingly to power in 2000 and produced a coalition government in 2004.
total: 24.6 years male: 24.2 years female: 24.9 years (2007 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.486% (2007 est.)
Birth rate:
21.07 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate:
6.21 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.041 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.998 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.769 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 42.65 deaths/1,000 live births male: 45.86 deaths/1,000 live births female: 39.27 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 66.99 years male: 64.61 years female: 69.48 years (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate:
2.25 children born/woman (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
less than 0.1% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
less than 500 (2003 est)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
less than 200 (2003 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Mongolian(s) adjective: Mongolian
Ethnic groups:
Mongol (mostly Khalkha) 94.9%, Turkic (mostly Kazakh) 5%, other (including Chinese and Russian) 0.1% (2000)
Religions:
Buddhist Lamaist 50%, Shamanist and Christian 6%, Muslim 4%, none 40% (2004)
Languages:
Khalkha Mongol 90%, Turkic, Russian (1999)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97.8% male: 98% female: 97.5% (2002)
conventional long form: none conventional short form: Mongolia local long form: none local short form: Mongol Uls former: Outer Mongolia
Government type:
mixed parliamentary/presidential
Capital:
name: Ulaanbaatar geographic coordinates: 47 55 N, 106 53 E time difference: UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Saturday in March; ends last Saturday in September
blend of Soviet, German, and US systems that combine "continental" or "civil" code and case-precedent; 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 Nambaryn ENKHBAYAR (since 24 June 2005) head of government: Prime Minister Miegombyn ENKHBOLD (since 25 January 2006); Deputy Prime Minister Mendsaikhan ENKHSAIKHAN (since 28 January 2006) cabinet: Cabinet nominated by the prime minister in consultation with the president and confirmed by the State Great Hural (parliament) elections: presidential candidates nominated by political parties represented in State Great Hural and elected by popular vote for a four-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 22 May 2005 (next to be held in May 2009); following legislative elections, leader of majority party or majority coalition is usually elected prime minister by State Great Hural election results: Nambaryn ENKHBAYAR elected president; percent of vote - Nambaryn ENKHBAYAR 53.44%, Mendsaikhanin ENKHSAIKHAN 20.05%, Bazarsadyn JARGALSAIKHAN 13.92%, Badarchyn ERDENEBAT 12.59%; Miegombyn ENKHBOLD elected prime minister by the State Great Hural 56 to 10
Legislative branch:
unicameral State Great Hural 76 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms elections: last held 27 June 2004 (next to be held in June 2008) election results: percent of vote by party - MPRP 48.8%, MDC 44.8%, independents 3.5%, Republican Party 1.5%, others 1.4%; seats by party - MPRP 36, MDC 34, others 4; note - 2 seats disputed and unfilled; following June 2004 election MDC collapsed
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 and approved by the president)
Political parties and leaders:
Citizens' Will Republican Party or CWRP [Sanjaasurengiin OYUN] (also called Civil Courage Republican Party or CCRP); Democratic Party or DP [Tsakhiagiyn ELBEGDORJ]; Motherland-Mongolian New Socialist Democratic Party or M-MNSDP [Badarchyn ERDENEBAT]; Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party or MPRP [Miegombyn ENKHBOLD]; Mongolian Republican Party or MRP [Bazarsadyn JARGALSAIKHAN]; People's Party or PP [Lamjav GUNDALAI] note: DP and M-MNSDP formed Motherland-Democracy Coalition (MDC) in 2003 and with CWRP contested June 2004 elections as single party; MDC's leadership dissolved coalition in December 2004
chief of mission: Ambassador Ravdan BOLD chancery: 2833 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 333-7117 FAX: [1] (202) 298-9227
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Mark C. MINTON embassy: Big Ring Road, 11th Micro Region, Ulaanbaatar mailing address: PSC 461, Box 300, FPO AP 96521-0002; P.O. Box 1021, Ulaanbaatar-13 telephone: [976] (11) 329095 FAX: [976] (11) 320776
Flag description:
three equal, vertical bands of red (hoist side), blue, and red; centered on the hoist-side red band in yellow is the national emblem ("soyombo" - a columnar arrangement of abstract and geometric representation for fire, sun, moon, earth, water, and the yin-yang symbol)
general assessment: network is improving with international direct dialing available in many areas domestic: very low density of about 6 main lines per 100 persons (roughly 25 per 100 persons including cellular mobile phones); there are 3 wireless providers international: country code - 976; satellite earth stations - 7
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 7, FM 115 (includes 20 National radio broadcaster repeaters), shortwave 4 (2006)
Radios:
155,900 (1999)
Television broadcast stations:
456 (including provincial and low-power repeaters) (2006)
total: 12 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 10 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2006)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 32 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 24 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2006)
Heliports:
2 (2006)
Railways:
total: 1,810 km broad gauge: 1,810 km 1.524-m gauge (2005)
Roadways:
total: 49,250 km paved: 1,724 km unpaved: 47,526 km (2002)
Waterways:
580 km note: only waterway in operation is Lake Hovsgol (135 km); Selenge River (270 km) and Orhon River (175 km) are navigable but carry little traffic; lakes and rivers freeze in winter, are open from May to September (2004)
Merchant marine:
total: 61 ships (1000 GRT or over) 319,053 GRT/479,190 DWT by type: bulk carrier 8, cargo 49, passenger/cargo 1, roll on/roll off 3 foreign-owned: 49 (China 4, Japan 1, North Korea 3, Lebanon 1, Malaysia 1, Russia 13, Singapore 10, Syria 1, Thailand 1, UAE 5, Ukraine 1, Vietnam 8) (2006)
Mongolian People's Army (MPA), Mongolian People's Air Force (MPAF); there is no navy (2005)
Military service age and obligation:
18-25 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 12 months in land or air defense forces or police; a small portion of Mongolian land forces (2.5 percent) is comprised of contract soldiers; women cannot be deployed overseas for military operations (2006)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 18-49: 736,182 females age 18-49: 734,679 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18-49: 570,435 females age 18-49: 607,918 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males age 18-49: 34,674 females age 18-49: 34,251 (2005 est.)
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