Holidays and Festivals

                Tsagaan Sar

  The name means white and celebrates the passing of winter and beginning of spring. Tsagaan Sar was originally an end of summer festival, but once again it was Chinggis Khan who changed things, moving the event to the end of winter in 1216. The Mongolian lunar calendar uses five cycles of twelve years, each cycle being named after an element (earth, water, fire, iron and wind) and each year after one of twelve animals. The Lunar calendar doesn’t operate within European twelve-month system and hence Lunar New Year dates change every year. The festival is celebrated at the end of January or beginning of February and officially lasts three days.

The best place to celebrate Tsagaan Sar is in the countryside, where it is a real demonstration of Mongolia’s traditional customs and culture. People greet each other in a unique way, young people cross their hands under the hands of older people and say Amar baina uu, which is the traditional new year greeting that means how are you.

During Tsagaan Sar, almost everyone visits everyone, whom they know or who their realtives are. Much of the festival involves sitting round the ger stove passing food and drink backwards and forwards, always using right hand to accept food or alcohol. Visitors are given gifts in almost every ger they visit. In Ulaanbaatar Tsagaan Sar is a shorter holiday, but with the same hospitality, visiting schedule, food and drink.

               Naadam
  This annual sports festival Naadam is the most famous celebration across the country. It features the three manly sports: wrestling, archery and horse racing. Naadam is celebrated across the country and every town and village will hold its own wrestling, archery and horse racing contests. The official Naadam opening ceremony in Ulaanbaatar is quite spectacular. Riders dress as Chinggis Khan’s entourage lead the huge procession around the Naadam stadium, which features hundreds of adults and children dressed in costumes representing all Mongolia’s ethic groups. In Ulaanbaatar, wrestling takes place in the main Naadam stadium. Archery competitions are outside the stadium everywhere, while the famous, perilous horse races take place ourside the city.

         Wrestling
   Wrestling is the most national and popular of all Mongol sports. It is highlight of the Three Games of Men. Hinstorians claim that Mongol-style wrestling originated some seven thousand years ago. The technique and ritual of Mongolian wrestling is distinctly national.
There are no weight categories or age limits in Mongolians national wrestling. The wrestlers wear heavy boots (gutuls), a very small tight-fitting loin cloth (known as zodog and shuudag), a pair of sleeves which meet across the back of the shoulders, resembling a tiny vestige of a jacket, and a pointed cap of velvet. The contestants come out on the leaping and dancing flapping their arms in imitation of an eagle. Each wrestler has his attndant herald. The aim of the sport is to knock your opponent off balance and throw him down, making him touch the ground with his elbow and knee. The loser walks under the raised arms of the winner in a sign of respect, and unties his vest, after wich the victor, again leaping and dancing, takes a turn round the flag in the center of the field. The victor is a awarded symbolic prizes – biscuits and aaruul, or dried curds; once he has tasted these, he offers them to his seconds and to spectators.
Traditionally, either one thousand and twenty-four or five hundred and twelve wrestlers participate in the contest. At the national Naadam held in Ulaanbaatar, nine rounds are held. Those who lose in one round are eliminated from further rounds.
A wrestler who beats five opponents in a Naadam is awarded the title of “Falcon”; one who wins seven rounds is given title “Elephant”. A wrestler become a champion by winning nine rounds and is given the title of “Lion”, and if he wins two years in row, he is called “Giant”. If a wrestler become a third-time champion at the Naadam, the attribute “Nation-wide” is added to his title, and the fourth time, he is styled “Invincible”.
The winners of the tournament receive honorary titles and are also awarded various souvenirs. But for them, the main award is the truly nation-wide popularity and fame that they gain.

                  Horse-racing
     This sport is also centuries old, dating back to the Bronze Age. The horses for the Naadam races are selected a month before the big day. They are then taken to an abequate pasture separate from the herd and trained. Race-horses are divided into several age groups: two, three, four anf five years old; over five years or adult horses; and stallions. The riders are aged from 5 to 12. Mongolian children of these ages are good riders, as both boys and girls have been riding since infancy. As the popular saying goes, “The nomad is born in the saddle”.
Small saddles are made especially for children, but they usually prefer to ride without them. They are not only super riders, but also skillful tacticians. They know how to hold the horse back so it has enough strength to last the entire distance of the race. Competitions are not held on special racetracks, but right across the steppe, where riders are confronted with various abstacles such as rivers, ravines and hills. The distance varies according to the ages of the horses. Between 15 and 35 km. The riders are dressed in bright, colorful and comfortable cloths. On theirbacks are various symbolic pictures. Symbolic ornaments and designs also embellish the horse-cloth. The most exciting moments are the start and the finish. Before the beginning of the contest the young horseman ride round the starting point three times yelling the ancient call, “Giingi!”, a kind of war-cry. When all the horses step behind the boundary line, the starting command is given and the riders surge forward, setting in motion the long-awaited race.
The winning riders do a full circuit of the stadium, each accopanied by a herald. The winning horse receives the honorary title “forehead of Ten Thousand Race Horses” and the five runners-up are awarded with prizes. They are popularly called the “Airag Five”. In accordance with tradition, the riders on the winning horses do three laps of honor, then ride up to the grandstand, and each child is offered a large bowl of airag-fermented mare’s milk-from wich he drinks and then pours some on the rump of his horse. The herald in turn, chants in poem-form the virtues of the horse its rider and owner.
But there is also an interesting tradition in connection with the losers. Honor and praise of the winners of the race is to be expected; but the losers are also rewarded and honored. After the award ceremony for the victors, the racer who came in last is led up to the main stand with his young rider. But the spectators do not make fun of him. Instead they shout encouragement and try to give him confidence in himself. The national story-teller recites a special ode to the loser. The ode encourage him with words expressing faith in his future success.

                 Archery
  Ample information about archery can be found in leterary and historical documents of the 13th century and even before. It is an ancient sport of the Mongols which can be traced back to as early as 300-200 BC. According to historians, archery contests began in the 11th century.
The Mongols use a compound bow, built up of layers of horn, sinew, bark and wood. When unstrung it is not straight, but curved. Archery in more archaic and ritualistic than other sports and posture.
The target consists of a row several meters across, of small woven leather rings, some painted red, which are laid out laterally on the ground, the openings face upwards, providing challenging exercise in trajectory for the archers. In olden times, women did not participate in the contest, but in the last few decades they have started to do so. The distance is about 75 m for men and 60 m for women. Men shoot about 40 arrows and must score not less than 15 points and women shoot 20 arrows and must score at least 13 point using the same bow as the men.
When the arrow hits the target, a group of people standing near the target, acting as judges, raise the cry “Uukhai!” and make signs with their hands to indicate the result. The one who score the most points is the winner and the title of Mergen (Supermarksman) is bestowed on him or her.

          Traditional Wedding
Wedding ceremonies vary according to ethnic group the bride and the groom belong. But all wedding have to make palce on an auspicious d ay, a advised by a local lama. This is done in consultation with the traditional lunar calendar. Before the wedding date is negotiated relatives of the groom arrive at the brides home (or ger) with a mass of presents. Historically the main presents were livestock and in the countryside these traditions have continued. The number of livestock given depends on the wealth of the groom’s family, but an odd number of animals have to be presented to the bride’s relatives (e.g. 7, 9 or11). The bride’s father is given special presents (including a pot of glue) symbolizing the strength of the future relationship between his daughter and her new husband. If the bride’s parents accept all these gifts, they are also agreeing to the wedding. Both sides then discuss the date of the ceremony and consider the couple now formally engaged.
In the countryside a groom-to-be prepares his new ger with the assistance of his parents. The future bride’s responsibilities are buying cooking pots and cleaning materials, preparing the stove in the new ger the layer of felt on the ger ceiling. Tasks are clearly defined. The man alsways takes care of the walls and wooden furniture. On the day of the wedding ceremony the groom visits the bridal family with an elderly, respected member of the local community. When the two men arrive at the in-laws door, they will find it locked and have to persuade the family to open the door by uttering wise, appreasing words. Once they have charmed their way in they are provided with Mongolian arkhi and meat, at they approach the new bride. Phrases such as “the deer hunter (husband) is ours and the sable sewer (wife) is yours. We hold both their fates our hands and tsese fates have to be marged” are spoken.
The bride, dressed in her most elegant deel, follows the groom and his companion to her new home, followed by her own closest friends. The party arrive on horse back and a carpet is rolled from the ger entance to welcome them. The bride traditionally enters her new ger by noon and a huge meal starts, with the first toast being offered to the father of the groom. For the rest of the day the two families, their relatives and friends sing, eat and drink to celebrate the wedding, all sit around a large ceremonial table.
The next morning the new bride has to open the smoke holes of her own ger and the ger belonging to her new parents in-law. Three days later her pwn parents visit the new couple.

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Traditional music and dancing

 
    Laments about the open stppe, natures and horses are popular themes of traditional Mongolian music. Long songs, as the name suggests, last quite a while and are loved by Mongolians. The original long songs were written about eight hundred years ago and there are special songs written for weddings, festival and religious ceremonies.
 There are traditional Mongolian string and wind instruments, as well as drums and gongs, Mongolians have made their music through the ages using metal, stone, bamboo, leather and wood. The most popular musical instruments is Morin Khuur (horse fiddle) which is said to represent the movement and sounds of a horse. It is a square fiddle with a long, straight handle curving at the tip and topped with a carving of a horse’s head. Every Mongolian family strives to have a morin khuur in their ger, although thery are hand make and fairly expensive instruments. Small flutes and pipes are also popular.
Many musical instruments are used purely for religious ceremonies. A shell shaped bugle called dun is used to gather lamas before ceremony and ganlin horns are still used to dispel bad spirits. The ganlin is made from the femur of an eighteen-year-old female virgin (who died of natural causes) and is filled down to size. Example of this instruments can be ofund in Choijin Lama museum in Ulaanbaatar (see the city guide section) and in Manzushir monastery 5 km-s south of the capital.
    Mongolia’s Buddhist temples host the spectacular Tsam dances during special religious ceremonies. Lamas wearing huge, ornate masks and brilliantly decorated costume sway and circle to the sound of gongs and trumpets. It is threatrical art by those bearing the external appearance and characters of different apostles and devils, animals and real people. The scenery opening, inaction, musical climax and outcome of tsam dance reflect the character of the participicants in different ways: cruel, calm or humorous.

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Culture and traditions

   Mongolian Clothing
In Mongolia, young people favor western style clothes, many people wear cashmere and fur during the winter. But older Mongolians still wear the traditional deel (pronounced as del) in and outside of work. In the countryside most people also prefer the deel and gutuls (boots). They’re just more practical.

         Deel
   The deel is a calf length, loose tunic made of one piece of material. It has long sleeves, a high collar and buttons on the right shoulder. The buttons are either silver balls, or narrow strips of cloth tied into intricate knots. Deel is worn with a brightly colored sash. Deels have the same cut whether worn by men or women. Male deels are wider and made of more somber colors. Each ethnic group living in Mongolia has its own individual deel, distinguished by its cut, color and trimming. These distinctions go unnoticed by foreigners, but are obvious to Mongolians.
There are three different types of deel, each worn during a particular season. The dan deel is made of light, thin, brightly colored material and is only worn by women and only during the late spring and summer. The terleg is a slightly more padded version and is worn by both men and women. The winter deel is a serious, padded tunie, lined with shepskin or layers of raw cotton.

        Shoots
   Gutuls are knee high, unheeled boots made from thick, stiff leather, decorated with leather applique. The toes of gutuls are upturned and several explanations have been offered for this unconventional style. One of the most plausible explanations is the religious motive. Lamas were traditionally forbidden from disturbing “the earth’s blessed sleep” i.e. kicking soil as they walked. The gutuls were designed to prevent them from harming the earth as they moved around on foot. Another explanation is that the unturned tip prevents a rider’s feet from slipping out of the stirrups. However, it’s also true that gutuls are so thick and rigid that if they were flat they would be almost impossible to walk in. These hefty boots are still worm in Ulaanbaatar and are particularly in the countryside.

          Hats
  With regards to hats, the fur-trimmed hats, mostly made of sable, are popular in urban Mongolia. The essential piece of headgear has two flaps, which can either be tied to the top of the hat, or lowered to cover the weare’s ears. Both men and women wear this fur hat.

          Ger-Nomads’ Dwelling
    A round wooden-framed felt tent covered in durable while canvas seems to be the most simple describtion on this portable home, familiar to many from the Russian word “yurt”. The modern shape of the Mongolianger has been formed as the result of the long development through huts, marquees and wheeled abodes.
   During ancient tiems, people made shelters from dry branches and animal skins. This could have been the forst version of current Mongolian ger. The history of the ger goes back to 2500-3000 years BC. In medieval era large gers that belong to kings and nomadic chieftains were on special wheeled floors and were dragged by a number of oxen (22 was usual).
   The Mongolian ger has two key components: the wooden frame work and the felt cover. The wooden wall shell is called “khana”, the upper wooden poles (measuring 1.5-3 meters) are “uni”, the central supporting two columns are known as “bagana” and the uppermost smoke hole is “toono”. A ger 4-12 khanas, depending on its size. The number of uni or upper poles ranges between 45 and 120 depending on the number of khanas. Any ger has a toono, the smoke hole and bagans, 2 columns supporting the toono.
These are several felt layers, covering the wooden frame and outer white canvas which is designed to make the ger look prettier and protect the felt covers from rain and snow.
Mongolian nomads, who move several times each year, pack their gers onto the back camels or camel and ox carts. The weight of a ger is approximately 250 kgs. It only takes half an hour to collapse an average ger and a bit longer to rebuild it.
Assembling of a ger is done in the following order.

The collapsible wooden floor is laid.
The khanas and the door are erected in circle and tied together with a long rope.
Baganas, the two wooden columns are tied to the toono and erected in the center the circle.
the toono and upper edges of the khanas are connected with unis, the long thin poles.
Once the wooden frame work has been erected directly on the ground or wooden floor, it is overlaid with the cover, as well as, the outer while canvas.
Then the felt and canvas covers are fastened with 2-3 girdles that keep them tight.
The outer bottom edges of the flaps are covered with a long thin felt belt so that strong wind flow doesn’t go into the ger.
The uppermost smoke hole is partly covered with rectangle felt, cover, which is used to totally cover the hole during the nights and harsh climate.
The door is always on the southern side facing the sunrise, providing more light inside the home. This is also designed not to let the northern wind into the ger through its door. However, Mongolians build their gers with the doors facing the door to the south, as it has become a long-rooted tradition, whether the wind is usually from the north or south.
There is appropriate rules on placing the furniture in the ger. The central area with stove, which is called “golomt” in Mongolian is the most respected part of a ger. The ger is divided into two areas. The western half is male section, while the eastern section is regarded to be female section. Male belonging including the family host’s bed is palced in western section. His saddles, bridles and other horse harness are also kept in this side. Women occupy the eastern side, where they keep their kitchen utensils, their own and their children’s belongings. It is customary for a guest entering a ger to step to the western side. The hoimor, which is directly opposite the door, is where the valuable objects are stored or displayed.
The ger furniture is well-known for its bright colored patterns drawn on red and yellowish backround. All the furnishings including beds, wardrobe, cupboard and even the cooking utensils bear such vivid multi-colored decorations.
While modern, western style houses are being built in Ulaanbaatar and other cities, rural Mongolians have retained their traditional ligestyle, of which the ger is an inteegral part. As a visitor, you have a chance to stay in this unique dwelling at one of the ger camps in the countryside or experience living way of Mongolian nomads by visiting their homes.

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Economy

 
    Mongolia has abundant pasture land and the potential for mineral and hudrocarbon exploitation. About 80% of Mongolia is suitable for extensive animal husbandry, and traditional herds include cattle, horses, camels, goats and sheep. Intensive crop cultivation is limited by the short growing season and sharp daily fluctuations in temperature.
    The country is rich in mineral resources including coal, iron, tin, copper, gold, silver, tungsten, zinc, fluor spar and molybdenum, as well as semiprecious stones. Thermal power, produced from indigenous coal and imported diesel oil, and traditional sources of fuel are supplemented by electricity imports from the Soviet grid. Recently one of the largest reserves of copper and gold was found in Oyutolgoi, South Gobi province, Both domestic foreign direct investments have flown into mining sector of Mongolia due to its rich natural resources.
In 1990, the Government of Mongolia decided to abandon central planning with the intention to move to a marked-led system. The new economic structure was to be achieved through privatization of state assets, tight monetary and fiscal policy and liberalization of prices and tariffs. With the establishment of the Mongolian Stock Exchange in 1991, the process of privatization and the establishment of a secondary stock market started. Almost 100% of training, catering and service entities and animal husbandry has been privatized. Housing privatization started in 1997. Land privatization started in 2001 onlyt in urban areas, but the process is still quite sluggish.
    Other flourishing economic areas include banking sector, service and tourism.

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Religion

     Mongolia’s religious roots are bound up in Shamanism. However this religious phenomena doesn’t match the conventional description of a religion in the same way as Buddhism or Christianity. Shamanism has no founder from whom its teachings originate. There is no collection of sacred sutras or a bible, as it doesn’t possess any monastic communities to preach or distribute its doctrines. The origins of Shamanism are still unclear, but historians are certain it emerged at the same time as the first human artistic concepts of fetishism, tokenism and animism to name just a few.
Shamanism was the major religion during both the ancient Mongol states and the Mongol Empire until Tibetan Buddhism (also called Vajrayana Buddhism) gained more popularity after it was introduced in 13th century. Tibetan Buddhism shared the common Buddhist goals of individual release from suffering and reincarnation. Tibet’s Dalai Lama, who lives in India, is the religion’s spiritual leader, and is highly respected in Mongolia.

   Shamanism has continued to be practiced by a few of the ethnic groups living in northern and western Mongolia, including the Tsaatan, who are more commonly known as the reindeer people. Mongolians practice ritualistic magic, nature worship, exorcism, meditation, and natural healing as part of their shamanistic heritage.

   Buddhism was introduced to Mongolia from Tibet by Kublai Khan during the late 13th century. Kublai Khan invited an eminent Tibetan lama, Pagba, to be empire’s religious representative. From the late 14th century onwards hudreds of Buddhist temples were rapidly built across Mongolia. Thousands of Mongolian males vowed to live as lamas at one point almost one seventh of the male population has taken robes. Until the beginning of the twentieth century Buddhism developed and spread across the country, playing an important role on both religions and intellectual spheres of life.
 
    The 1921 People’s Revolution swiftly installed a socialist regime, which officially prohibited any religious practice. During the 1930’s political purges under resulted in the destruction of more than 700 temples and the death of around 10.000 lamas. It wasn’t until the early 1990’s that, as part of the rise of democracy, Buddhism was revived as Mongolia’s major religion.
 
    Mongolia’s largest monastery- Gandan-is in Ulaanbaatar. In October 1996, Gandan hosted a massive opening ceremony for its newly installed 25 meter high, 60 ton Megjid Janraisag statue, which is the symbol of the revival of Buddhism in Mongolia. The statue’s name translates as “the all seeing Lord”.
Meanwhile Mongolia’s Kazakhs are Muslims. Islam is mainly practiced in Bayan Olgii, the most westerly province in Mongolia.
Since the mid nineties large number of Christians, Bahais and Mormons have arrived in Mongolia seeking to convent Mongolians from Buddhism to their various faiths. There has recently been concern about missionaries working mainly as English teachers and seeking to convent in and outside of classrooms.

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Language

  The official language, Mongolian, is spoken and undrestood throughout the country. Russian is the other major language used. However , other foreign languages, primarily English, are becoming more popular.
   With regard to dialects, the twenty plus different ethnic groups who historically lived within their own territories each developed their own local dialects. The dialect spoken by Halha, Mongolia’s largest ethnic group, is the most widely known. The eastern Mongolian dialects include those spoken by ethnic groups who previously inhabited Inner Mongolia and now live on the far eastern steppe, in Drnod province. Northern dialects are spoken by Buriyat people, who still live in northern Mongolian and the Buriyat republic in southern Siberia. Western dialects include those spoken by the ethnic groups belonging to the Oirad. These groups live in western Mongolia and inhabit Altai mountain range.

   Alphabet
Mongolian is written in Cyrillic, but the traditional Mongolian script, which is written from the top downwards and sometimes known as the classical Mongolian script is gradually reappearing, mainly in sings and logos. The oldest example of this script has been preserved is the so-called Chinggis stone, which is still in display at St. Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum. The script was engraved as early as 1225 and is a eulogy of the fearless archer Esughe, who shot a sigle arrow 600 meters. The classic Mongolian script (also known as old Mongolian alphabet) was a landmark in the in the development of written language in central Asia.

 In 1941 the classical script was replaced by the new alphabet based on Russian Cyrillic characters and introduced to Mongolia as the official script of the country. There is no major difference between the spelling and the pronunciation of this script. The modern Mongolian alphabet consists of 35 characters. Below are each of the characters and a basic language guide, including greetings, simple questions and numbers.

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Population

 The population of Mongolian is 2.700.000 (official estimate 2010), out of which 45% are nomadic herdsmen. Most of Mongolia’s large land is very scarsely populated. The average population density is 1.5 per square kilometer, making the country one of the scarsest populated nations in the world. In the southern Gobi it is as scarce as 0.3 square kilometer.

 Although this small population of Mongolia is scattered across the vast steppe, the urbanization rate is high. During the last two decades, migration from the rural areas has accelerated, with the proportion of the population living in urban areas rising to 54%. More than a quarter of the entire population lives in Ulaanbaatar.

 The population is homogeneous, with Mongol-speaking people constituting 95% of the total. The only substantial non-Mongola group, representing over 5% of the population, is the Kazaks, a Turkish-speaking people dwelling in the far West. A Chinese minority lives in Ulaanbaatar. Mongolians can be subdivided into more thaqn 20 different ethic groups, which are scattered across the country. These groups can be distinguished by their individual customs, histories and dialects.

 The largest ethnic group is Khalkha, which accounts for over 75% of the total population mainly live in central, eastern and southern Mongolia.

 The Oirats are a group of ethnic western Mongolians, which includes smaller groups, Durvud, Torgud, Bayad, Uuld, Zakhchin, Myangad, and Uriankhai. Since the early history of Mongolian Oirat people have resided around Siberia’s Lake Biakal, the Sayan Mountain Ranges in Northern Mongolia and forested area within the Altai Mountain Range. The name Oirat translates as forest people. After the fall of the Mongol empire in the 14th century, Oirat became an independent state, known as Dzhungarian Kingdom. It covered western Mongolia and the eastern Chinese steppe and only became part of the Mongolian Republic during the Manchurian conquest in the 1600’s.

Northern Mongolian ethnic groups include the darkhat, Tsaatan, and Khotgoid.

They inhabit the dense forests of Huvsgul lake area, near the Russian border. The Buryat are the only group who originates from the vast eastern steppe.

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Climate

  Mongolia’s climate is very dry with extreme continental temperatures. Humid air from the Atlantic and pacific Oceans are blocked by the huge Central Asian mountain ranges. Although Mongolian winters are long and famously cold, with temperatures dropping as low as -50°C in the far north of the country, summers are generally pleasant.


 The mean temperature falls below freezing for seven to eight months of the year.


 For two or three months in summer, the weather is warm and pleasant and relatively hot in the southern Gobi region, where mid summer temperatures peak at around 40 degrees and there is little shade available.


 Winter usually lasts from mod-October until April, with the coldest period being between mid-December and the end of February or mid-March when the temperature drops to –20 or -30°C and occasionally even lower. Snow usually falls between mid-October and mid-April. There are some regions, especially in the northwest, where the temperature goes down to –40 to -50°C. In the Gobi it drops to -40°C.


 Spring, which generally starts in March, is known for its constant dust storms and huge fluctuations in air pressure. The steppe gradually starts to sprout fresh, green pasture and even in the capital, the change is both visible and welcome.


 Summer evenings in the Western Altai range tend to be cooler and local nomads have to wear warm and heavy clothes.
 The annual rian fall begins in late July and continues until September. Humidity winter. But in the country the number of sunny days ranges between 220 and 260 a year.

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History

   Mongolia’s history spans 5.000 years. From nomads helding the Central Asian steppe to the formation of the powerful    Mongol Empire and the gradual emergence of the Mongolian Republic, its history is steeped in conflict.

 Ancient Mongolian States

The first Mongolian state was established in 209 BC by Huns or Hunnu people. The name Hunnu comes from two ancient Mongolian words. “Hun” means “man” and “nu” translates as “sun”. The Hun’s first king was Modun Shan Yui, whose father Tumen was chieftain of Hun’s most influential tribe.

The Huns territory stretched from Korea in the Far East to Tian Shan Mountian in the northern China and from the southern section of the Great Wall to Lake Baikal in southern Siberia. From 200 BC until its collapse in 98 AD, the Hun state was the most powerful nomadic nation residing in the sprawling Central Asian steppe and mountain., But, after three hundred years of domination the Hun state imploded, ruined by internal conflicts between powerful chieftains.

After the Hun state collapsed several other ambitions clans established their own states and dominated Mongolian territory up until 1200 AD. The first domination state after the Hun’s collapse was the Sumbe State, which lasted until the 3rd century BC. The Toba finally took over the Sumbe state inn 250 AD and established its own state with a number of tribal allies. In turn the Tobas were defeated by the Nirun, who were forced to hand the state over to Turkic tribes who established the Tuger Kingdom On Mongolia in 552 AD. Thousand of Turkic people has arrived from the far west via the Altai Mountains during the 4th century AD. They extended the ancient feudal system, but were also defeated by their own internal conflicts in 745 AD.

The Uigar tribe then became the most powerful in Central Asia, but were unable to dominate the whole of Mongolia. It was the Kidans, who had peacefully coexisted with several previous ruling tribes, who took over Mongolia in 907. Their dominance lasted until the 12th century when a number of Central Asian tribes invaded at the same tiem. There was now no ruler in Mongolia and this vast territory was divided and subdivided into tribal areas.

   The Mongol Empire

Temujin was born into the Esugui in 1162 and is best known as Chinggis (Genghis) Khan. His father was a chieftain of one of the numerous tribes ansd was killed by the Tatars when Temujin was just 9 years old.

With the support of his father’s friends, Temujin established the Great Mongo State in 1189. By 1206 he had united 81 different Mongolian tribes and established the Great Mongolian Empire in 1206, when he was crowned as Chinggis Khan. 2006 is the year of 800th anniversary of the establishment of Mongol Empire. Chinggis Khan died in 1227. Subsequent Mongolian Khans were chosen from following generations of Chinggis Khan’s children.

During the 13-14th centuries, Mongolia developed in terms of its economy, culture, military strength and politics. It was a huge, sprawling empire which encompassed many separate Asian and Europian nations. Still known as the Golden Era of Mongolian history, during this time the Mongol Empire was the most powerful nation on earth. Chinggis Khan was a great military general, statesman and Mongolian national hero.

The Mongol Empire began to fall apart in 1368. This was bound up with the collapse of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, which had been established in China after Kublai Khan named Beijing the new Capital of the Mongol Empire.

The Manchurians conquered Mongolia in 1691 and the Manchuriancolonization lasted for 220 years. By the beginning of 20th century Mongolians were embroiled in a straggle for national liberation, which finally came to fruition in December 1911, when the Manchurians withdrew and Mongolia’s independence was proclaimed in Urguu (as Ulaanbaatar was previously known), Mongolia’s theocratic ruler Bogd Khan was awarded power across the entire country.

     Socialist and Democratic Mongolia

On 11 July 1921, the socialist revolution, known as People’s Revolution took place. In 1924, the Mongolian People’s Party proclaimed Mongolia a People’s Republic’s first constitution. As Mongolia maintained strong links with the former Soviet Union, the socialist era continued until 1990, when democratic changes first started in Mongolia.

The country’s first multi-party election was held in June 1990. The new parliament adopted Mongolia’s first democratic parliamentary republic operating with a President. Both parliament and president have to be directly elected by the general public. Throughout these political changes, Mongolia has slowly been paying its way towards a free market economy ans way from the old economic system.

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Location

  Located in the plateau of Central Asia between China and Russian Siberia, Mongolia covers an area of 1.566.600 sq. km, which is roughly the size of Western Europe. Mongolia stretches about 2.400 kilometers from west to east and about 1.260 kilometers from north and south. The total length of the country’s border is 8.158 kilometers. The country in mountainous with and average altitude of 1.580 meters above sea level, which makes Mongolia one of the highest countries in the world. The lowest point, Huh Nuur Depression, is 560 meters above sea level and the highest point is Huiten Mountain in the Mongolian Altai Range (4.374 m). The capital Ulaanbaatar lies at 1.380 meters. The geography of the country is characterized by great diversity. From north to south, it can be divided into four areas: mountain-forest steppe, mountain steppe and, in the extreme south, semi-desert and desert (latter being about 30% of the entire territory). In contrast to most visitors’ expectations, much of the country’s territory is mountainous. The principal mountains are concentrated in the west, with much of this region having elevations above 2.000 meters. The country’s highest peaks are permanently snow-capped land covered with glaciers.
Mountains and dense forest predominate central and northern Mongolia. The grasslands cover large areas of this region. Across the eastern part of the country stretches the vast grasslands of the Central Asian steppe. The steppe grades into the Gobi desert, which extends throughout southern Mongolia from the east to the west of the country. The Gobi Desert is mostly gravely, but also contains large areas of sand dunes in the drier areas of the Gobi near the southern border.
The country is dotted with hundreds of lakes, the largest being Uvs-Nuur (covering an area of 3.350 sq.km), Huvsgul (2.620 sq.km), and Har Us-Nuur (1.852 sq. km). Lake Huvsgul is also the largest fresh-water lake in Cnetral Asia. The Orkhon (1.124 kilometers), the Kherlen (1.090 kilometers) and the Selenge (539 kilometers) are the largest rivers.

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