Mongolia

Mongolia

Population: 3,133,318

Political Leader/Chief of State: President Tsakhia ELBEGDORJ (since 18 June 2009)

Religions: Other 45.6%, Shamanist 31.2%, Buddhism 22.5%, Christianity 0.7%,

Percent of Corruption: 72%

Percent of People in Poverty: 36.1%

(Average salary in Mongolia is about $250 per month)
Language: Mongolian Khalkha

Location:

Mongolia is a country typically classified as being a part of East Asia, although sometimes it is considered part of Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. The geography of Mongolia is varied with the Gobi desert to the south and with cold and mountainous regions to the north and west.

Religion:

Over half the population follow Buddhism or Shamanism or both. Mongolia has strong links with Tibet and most Buddhist Mongolians will try to visit Lhasa in Tibet at least once in their lifetime. Christians comprised only 0.7% of the population.

Ulaanbataar

The city where we are going to be learning and working is the capital city of Ulaanbataar or UB for short.  The population in UB is 1.2 million people.  In the city of UB, you can see extremes of both poverty and wealth.  In the city center, there are huge buildings and shops; but on the outskirts of the city, you see the poverty in which the average Mongolian lives.  While on our survey trip a Mongolian explained the reason for this: 1/4 of Mongolian people are extremely wealthy, another 1/4 are well to do and able to buy extra things, the other half are living at or below poverty level and are just trying to make it.



 History:

 Mongolia is an independent nation that rose during the reign of Chinggis Khan (Genghis Khan) who founded the Mongol nation in 1206.Today Chinggis Khan is recognized by many as a military and political genius without parallel whose empire endured for generations while in comparison Alexander the Great’s empire crumbled as he died. The Mongol Empire at its greatest extent spanned most of Asia with its dominions reaching from Korea to Hungary and down to the Indus. The Mongol Empire Khans and their generals defeated the armies that controlled the territories of the nations we know of today as China, North Korea, South Korea, Myanmar, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Afghanistan, northern India, Hungary, Transylvania, Bulgaria, eastern Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Poland and others.



During the Manchu tribe’s Qing Dynasty in China (1644 – 1911) Mongolia was split into Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia and was administered by Manchu rulers. Outer Mongolia declared independence in 1911 after the Manchu government in China finally collapsed.With Russian assistance Mongolia was able to expel Chinese troops trying to reassert Chinese rule in Mongolia in 1921. From 1924 till 1990 Mongolia was known as the Mongolian Peoples Republic and was governed by a single Communist party system under the influence of the U.S.S.R. During the Soviet-style Communist period Mongolia was largely inaccessible to visitors from the West. Until the 1990’s Buddhist monasteries were mostly closed, industrial development was limited, private land ownership was not allowed and there was no official recognition of Chinggis Khan. In 1990 Mongolia had a peaceful transition to a democratic multiparty system of government with  democratic elections successfully held in July of 1990.

People:

Around 64% percent of Mongolians live in cities while 36% are still nomadic in nature. Approximately 58% of the total population is under the age of 30, and 47.8% of this group are under the age of 14.  The Mongolian people are a hospitable people, especially to Americans.  It is Mongolian custom to be prepared for welcoming any visitors that could come to their homes.  The current movement is to get back to the roots of Mongolian culture, unfortunately that means that they seeking the answers to life in Buddhism.