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Mongolia is an East Asian country. Located between
Russia to the north and China to the south, it covers an
area of 1 564 116 km2. The main cities are
Ulan Bator, the capital, with 819,400 inhabitants
(2004), Darhan (70,900 inhabitants), Choybalsan (45,000
inhabitants), Erdenet (73,600 inhabitants) and Ölgiy
(30,200 inhabitants). The Southeast of the country is
part of the Gobi Desert. The western half of Mongolia is
much more mountainous than the eastern half.
Climate
The climate is desert, cold and continental, with
extremely long winters, cold and dry, and short, hot
summers.
Economy
Pastoralism continues to be the dominant activity,
having its greatest expression in the steppes that
surround the Gobi desert. The dominant crops are
cereals, potatoes and vegetables. The most important
mining resources are copper, molybdenum, gold, coal,
lead, zinc, uranium, iron, tin, phosphorite, tungsten,
fluorite and semi-precious stones. Although the industry
is underdeveloped, production includes food products,
footwear, clothing and wood products. Imports are made
up of machinery, transport equipment, fuels and food
products. Mongolia's main trading partners are Russia,
Japan, Switzerland and China. Environmental indicator:
the value of carbon dioxide emissions,per capita (metric
tons, 1999), is 3.2.
Population
The population of Mongolia in 2006 was 2 832 224
inhabitants, which corresponds to a density of
approximately 2 inhab./km2. The birth and
death rates are, respectively, 21.59% and 6.95%. Average
life expectancy is 64.89 years. The value of the Human
Development Index (HDI) is 0.661 and the value of the
Gender-adjusted Development Index (IDG) is 0.659
(2001). It is estimated that, in 2025, the population
will be 3,631,000 inhabitants. The main ethnic groups
are Mongol Khalkha (79%), Kazakh (6%) and Mongolian
Dorbed (3%), Tantric Buddhists (Lamaists) represent 96%
of the population and Muslims account for 4%. The
official language is Mongolian.
History
With the end of the Tsarist regime in Russia in 1917,
Mongolia came to be controlled by China. It was invaded
in 1920, during the Russian Civil War. A year later, the
Chinese were expelled from Mongolia. In 1924, the
People's Republic of Mongolia was proclaimed, and the
Communist Party was established. The country started to
have a great political, economic, cultural and
ideological proximity with Russia. During the 1960s and
1970s relations between Mongolia and China
deteriorated. Tensions did not end until 1986, when
diplomatic relations were established. In 1990 and 1991,
Mongolia joined democratic changes in eastern Europe and
the Soviet Union, having won the PRMP (Mongolian
People's Revolutionary Party) in the first multiparty
elections in July 1990. However, as time passed the MPRP
lost ground and in the 1996 elections it was defeated by
the DUC (Coalition of the Democratic Union). After four
years of reforms in the economic and political system,
the MPRP won the 2000 legislative elections. The regime
is multiparty and the prime minister governs with a
legislative assembly.
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