Mongolia (Mongolian: Монгол Улс, Mongol Uls) is a large country in Asia. The country has more than 3 million inhabitants and is 40 times the size of the Netherlands. The capital is Ulan Bator (Ulaan Bataar).

Geography

According to ABBREVIATIONFINDER, Mongolia is a very large country, sandwiched between the even bigger countries China and Russia. The country measures 2,400 kilometers from east to west and a maximum of 1,100 kilometers from north to south. The capital Ulan Bator or Ulaanbataar is located fairly centrally in the eastern half of the country. There are no other major cities of interest. The city has 1.1 million inhabitants or more than a third of the total population of the immense country. Southern Mongolia consists of the Gobi Desert, with cold and mountainous areas in the north and west. Large parts of the country consist of steppe. The Khüiten Peak is the highest point in Mongolia at 4,374 meters. The country has a number of larger lakes, especially in the northwest of the country. The climate of Mongolia is continental, with very cold winters and warm summers. In general, there is little precipitation.

Demographics

Mongolia’s population has grown slowly, from 650,000 in the first census of 1918 to 2.6 million in 2007. Today, the population is estimated to be around 3 million. See Mongolia population density. Mongolia’s birth rate dropped extremely from the 1990s.

Ethnic Mongols make up about 95% of the country’s population, in addition, Turkic peoples such as the Kazakhs and Tuvans make up the remaining 5%. There are very small groups of Russians, Chinese, Koreans and Americans in the country.

Mongolian is spoken in Mongolia, a language without much affinity with other languages. The language is written in two scripts, the Mongolian script and the Cyrillic script, which were introduced in the 1940s under Soviet influence. In the past, Mongolian was also written in the Latin script for some time. The Mongolian script is vertical, which makes Mongolian difficult in contemporary applications, making the Cyrillic script more widely used.

Economy

Although Mongolia is rich in raw materials, its economy is based on agriculture. A large part of the population consists of nomads. The country is experiencing strong economic growth, but is lagging behind compared to the two neighboring countries.

History

What is now Mongolia was the territory of various nomadic peoples. In 1206, the Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan, which became the largest land-based empire in world history. The Mongol Empire encompassed much of Asia in the 13th century, except south of the Himalayas. It also included parts of the Middle East and much of Eastern Europe. However, this empire only existed for a short time on this scale and the Mongols had to retreat to the present-day region of Mongolia. In 1911, Mongolia declared its independence from China and actually obtained it in 1921. The adjacent Chinese region is still called Inner Mongolia. Between 1924 and 1990, Mongolia was a Soviet-style communist people’s republic, with a strong presence from the Soviet Union. In 1990 a revolution to a democratic state followed.

Road Network

Due to the very low population density, immense distances and inhospitable climate, the road network is particularly thin. Only about 5,000 kilometers of road is paved in Mongolia, mainly the transit route from the Russian border via Ulaanbaatar to the Chinese border, regional roads around the capital Ulaanbaatar and a somewhat longer route from Ulaanbaatar to Kharkhorin towards the west. About 40,000 kilometers of routes exist in the form of dirt roads, or tracks, that serve the other parts of the country. A 2,000-kilometer east-west route called the Millennium Road is being built. The poor road network hinders economic growth outside Ulaanbaatar. In 2019, the Airport Expresswayof Ulaanbataar, the first highway in Mongolia. The doubling of the road between Ulaanbaatar and Nalaikh was completed in 2020, this 20-kilometer stretch could be considered the first stretch of 2×2 lanes between two cities in Mongolia.

Road numbering

State Roads

Mongolia has a network of numbered roads, with the prefix ‘A’. The numbers have two digits with a leading zero between A01 to A09. The numbers are again divided into sections, for example the A0101 to A0103 runs from Ulaanbataar to the border with China at Zamin-Űűd.

• A01: Nalaikh – Zamin-Űűd (CN)
  • A0101: Nalaikh – Choir
  • A0102: Choir – Saynshand
  • A0103: Saynshand – Zamin-Űűd (CN)
• A02: Ulaanbaatar – Gashuun Sukhait (CN)
  • A0201: Ulaanbaatar – Mandalgovic
  • A0202: Mandalgovi – Dalanzadgad
  • A0203: Dalanzadgad – Gashuun Sukhait (CN)
• A03: Ulaanbaatar – Ulaan Balshin (RUS)
  • A0301: Ulaanbaatar – Arvaikheer
  • A0302: Arvaikheer – Bayan Kongor
  • A0303: Bayankonger – Altai
  • A0304: Altai – Khovdi
  • A0305: Khovd – Ulgiic
  • A0306: Ulgii – Ulaan Balshin (RUS)
• A04: Ulaanbaatar – Altanbulag (RUS)
  • A0401: Ulaanbaatar – Darkhan
  • A0402: Darkhan – Sűkhbaatar
  • A0403: Sűkhbaatar – Altanbulag (RUS)
• A05: Ulaanbaatar – Ereentsav (RUS)
  • A0501: Ulaanbaatar – Undurkhaan
  • A0502: Undurkhaan – Choibalsan
  • A0503: Choibalsan – Ereenetsav (RUS)
• A06: Khogno Tarna – Doctor Suurin Boomt (RUS)
  • A0601: Khogno Tarna – Kharkhord
  • A0602: Kharkhord – Tsetserleg
  • A0603: Tsetserleg – Numrug
  • A0604: Numrug – Doctor Suurin Boomt (RUS)
• A07: Ulgii – Uvsiin Khar Us
• A08: Arvaikheer – Kharkhord
• A09: Lun – Murun
  • A0901: Lun – Bulgaria
  • A0902: Bulgan – Murun
• A10: Darkhan – Bulgan
  • A1001: Darkhan – Erdenet
  • A1002: Erdenet – Bulgaria
• A11: Khankh (RUS) – Burgastai (CN)
  • A1101: Khankh (RUS) – Murun
  • A1102: Murun – Uliastai
  • A1103: Uliastai – Altai
  • A1104: Altai – Burgastai (CN)
• A12: Buuntsagaan – Tsagaankhairkhan
• A13: Namnan Uul – Baga Beaktai (RUS)
• A14: A0304 – Yarantai (CN)
• A15: Ulgii – Dayax (CN)
• A16: Tsagaannuur – Turgan
• A17: Khovd – Khandgax (RUS)
  • A1701: Khovd – Ulaangom
  • A1702: Ulaangom – Khandgax (RUS)
• A18: Ulaangom – Tunamai Lake
• A19: Undurkhaan – RUS
• A20: Undurkhaan – Gadabuqizhen (CN)
  • A2001: Undurkhaan – Baruun-urt
  • A2002: Baruun-urt – Gadabuqizhen (CN)
• A21: Choibalsan – Onon
• A22: Choibalsan – Baruun-urt
• A23: Yakhi – Khavirga (CN)
• A24: Nalaikh – Taraf
• A25:
• A26: Bayankhongor – Khangai Nuruu
• A27: Lun – Dashincilen

Asian Highways

• AH3: Altanbulag (RUS) – Darkhan – Ulaanbaatar – Nalayh – Choir – Saynshand – Zamin-Uud (CN)
• AH4: Ulaanbaishint (RUS) – Hovd – Yarantai (CN)
• AH32: Numrug (CHI) – Sumber – Choybalsan – Ondorhaan – Nalayh – Ulaanbaatar – Uliastay – Hovd
• AH35: Undurkhaan – Baruun-Urt – Bichigt (CN)

Signage

Signage is virtually non-existent in Mongolia.