Geography:

Mongolia is occupying a territory of approximately 1.6 million square kilometers.  It is about 4 times bigger than Germany. In the north it is bounded by Siberia, on the south by China. The extension in east-west direction between the The Big Khingan and the Mongolian Altai Mountains is about 2400 km, north-south direction between Siberia and the Gobi Desert is about 1250 km. The largest rivers are the Selenge, Orkhon and the Kherlen. While Selenge and Orkhon flow into Lake Baikal, Rover Kherlen flows into the Pacific Ocean.

Climate:

The country in its vast territorial extension is divided into different climatic zones. From the foothills of the Siberian taiga in the north to the extremely arid regions of the Gobi Desert on the Chinese border in the south a wide range of climatic distictions can be observed in. There is an extreme continental climate with little snow and very long and severe winters, replaced by short rainy, warm, but seldom really hot summers. In Mongolia sun is shining up to 3200 hours per year, which is about 260 days.

People:

Mongolia has about 2.7 million inhabitants (Germany: 81.3 million). With only about 1.66 inhabitants per sq.km (Germany: 228 sq.mi. / sq km), Mongolia is one of the most sparsely populated countries on earth.  85% of the population are Khalkha Mongols. Buryat, Tuva and Kalmicken belong to the Mongolian minorities. . The main non-mongolian population with 7% are the Kasakhs, which, like the Uriankhaj 1.3% are among the Turkic peoples.  The most common religion is Tibetan Buddhism.  In recent years, particularly in large cities also Christian churches and different sects won influence.  The Kasakhs are predominantly Muslims.

Language:

Official language is Mongolian. Until about 1990, Russian was a second official language. Today English is officially recognized as a second language.

Statehood:

For the first time the name "Mongol" appears during the Chinese Tang Dynasty (619-906). Genghis Khan was able to merge in 1206, the tribes into a nation. He and his successors were able to temporarily extend its power into Eastern Europe. Kublai Khan was the last great ruler. Then followed the years of oppression by China and Russia. On November 26 1924 the Mongolian People's Republic was founded as a state on the Soviet model.  Since 1990, Mongolia is on the path to democracy and market economy.

Local currency is the Tugrik