Mongolian Geography
A look at the geography, landscapes, and populations of Mongolia.
Mongolia is a Central Asian nation bordering Russia to the north and China to the south. The country covers 599,831 square miles, or 1,553,556 square kilometers. Its largest city is its capital, Ulaanbaatar (approx. pop. 1.377 million). About half of the nation’s total population lives in this city. The majority of the other half are nomadic herders, moving between established summer and winter sites. A traditional part of the Mongolian homeland, Inner Mongolia, is now an autonomous state of China and home to another 6 million ethnic Mongolian people.
Although landlocked, Mongolia is home to many lakes and rivers fed by its mountain ranges. Largest of these are the Altai Mountains in the southwest. The Khangai range runs through the nation’s interior, while the Khentii Mountains border its northeast. Between these peaks lie expansive grasslands and the cold sands of the Gobi Desert. Mongolia’s high altitude, northern latitudes, and mountainous terrain all lead to a harsh and dry environment. Its climate swings between short, hot summers and long, icy winters. While much of its landscape is either open grassland, sand dunes, or mountain slopes, its northern border meets the coniferous, birch, larch, and poplar forests of Sibera. Native wildlife include ibex, camels, wolves, wild horses, antelope, snow leopards, cranes, and eagles.
Mongolia, from the CIA World Factbook.
References
Curtin, Jeremiah. The Mongols: A History. Little, Brown, and Company. 1907.
Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the West: 1221-1410. Routledge. 2014.
Lane, George. Daily Life in the Mongol Empire. Greenwood Press. 2006.
Rossabi, Morris. Modern Mongolia: From Khans to Commissars to Capitalists. University of California Press. 2005.
“The World Factbook: Mongolia.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 1 May 2018, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mg.html.
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