Gap Year Destinations

Where to go

Mongolia

Horse racing across desert steppes, nomadic lifestyles, yurts, yaks and the epic storms of Zud...

Environment

The contrasting geography of Mongolia extends from the cold, mountainous north and west to the Gobi desert, which covers much of the south of the country. In fact, Mongolians distinguish the desert steppes (a type of land with insufficient vegetation to support marmots, but enough to support camels), which they call ‘Gobi’, from the desert itself (a rocky waste than even camels cannot survive on) – a distinction that can be invisible to visitors. The capital of Mongolia is Ulan Bator.

Climate

Like its geography, Mongolia’s climate is polarised into very hot summers and very cold winters. In fact, Ulan Bator is the coldest capital in the world: in January, temperatures can drop as low as -30°C! Mongolians also have to cope with Zud. This is a local term for the extremely harsh conditions that happen roughly twice a year as a result of the hot summer/cold winter mix, including frozen ground so hard that water cannot be extracted, dust storms and occasional freak snowfalls so heavy herd animals can drown in them. Every year, people die in the storms of Zud.

Demographics and Language

Mongolia is home to just under three million people – far less than neighbouring Russia and China. While the majority are Mongols (85% - which can be subdivided into the largest ethnic group – Khalkhas – and others such as Buryats), small minorities of Kazakh, Tuvan and Tungus people also live in the country. Roughly 40% of the population live in urban settings, while 60% are rural dwellers, however this changes with the seasons, as many people who live in villages during the winter move into yurts (portable wood lattice structures, covered with felt) during the summer. Also, many people in Mongolia live traditional nomadic lives, moving from place to place with livestock.

90% of people in Mongolia speak Khalkha Mongolian – the official language, which uses the Cyrillic alphabet – however there are many differing dialects spoken across the country. Russian is the most frequently spoken foreign language in Mongolia, followed by English.

Cuisine

Mongolian food is largely animal based, traditionally consisting primarily of dairy and meat. Mongolians need this animal fat to help them sustain a hard agricultural lifestyle, and the very cold winter weather. Nomadic Mongolians keep horses, cattle, yaks, camels, sheep and goats, with which to provide them with food. Milk and cream are often used in a variety of drinks, as well as being made into cheese. Meat (usually mutton) is dried for winter (called Borts), eaten on its own, or made into soups (lapsha), combined with rice or noodles into stews (tsuivan) or made into steamed, boiled or deep fried dumplings. Normally, cooking takes place on a wok in the yurt and local restaurants on the nomad trails are known as Guanz.

Religion

Most Mongols are Buddhists practising Tibetan Buddhism, which arrived in Mongolia in the seventeenth century. Prior to this Shamanism was practised, however it was marginalized in favour of the rituals of the Tibetan religion, or incorporated into the practises. Both the Stalinist Purges in Russian and the Cultural Revolution in China had big effects on Mongolian religion, and in the 1930s both Shamanism and Buddhism were almost outlawed. At the end of the twentieth century, several Christian sects were attempting to convert Mongols, and about 4% of the population are Muslims.

Economy and money

Agriculture – nomadic herding and growing of wheat, barley, vegetables, tomatoes and watermelons – is at the centre of Mongolia’s economy, however the country also has mineral reserves of copper, coal, tin and gold, so the mining industry is important. Despite this, Mongolia is heavily indebted to Russia, unemployment and inflation are high and almost one third of the population are classed as living below the poverty line. The Mongolian Stock Exchange, based in the capital, is the world’s smallest. The currency is the Mongolian Tögrög.

Culture and politics

Prior to 1990, Mongolia was only allowed to elect communist parties to power, however, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mongolia has held multi party elections and become a parliamentary republic. It also has a constitution which allows full freedom of expression and religion.

Mongolian culture is ancient – the main festival, Naadam (held annually from July 11th to 13th), has been celebrated for centuries and consists of three sports – horse racing, archery and wrestling. Musically, khoomii is very popular. It is a style of singing using mainly the throat. Painting and carving are also common activities – the Mongolian national flag actually shows a Buddhist symbol called ‘soyombo’ – this represents the sun, moon, stars and heavens – and is often seen in traditional thangka paintings.