• International Calendar 2026


Mongolia

Mongolia

Mongol Uls

Northern Asia

AREA 604K mi2; 1.6M km2

ARABLE 0.4%

POP 3.3M (5/mi2; 2/km2)

GOV’T Semi-presidential republic

CAPITAL Ulaanbaatar (1.7M)

GDP/CAPITA $16,200

UNEMPLOYMENT 6%

IN POVERTY 27%

LIFE EXP 72 years

MEDIAN AGE 32 yrs

INFANT MORT 19/1K live births (78th)

LITERACY 99%

INTERNET USERS 84%

LANGUAGES Mongolian (official; Khalkha dialect predominant), Turkic, Russian

RELIGIONS Buddhist 52%, Muslim 3%, Shamanist 3%, Christian 1%, other 1%, none 41%

HEALTH 4.9% of GDP 

EDUCATION 4.7% of GDP (88th)

MILITARY 0.6% of GDP (154th)

PCVs 1991–present  CURRENT: 80, TTD: >1,490

Mongolia

A father and his daughter, dressed in traditional Mongolian clothing-and blue jeans-are entertaining visitors in their family home outside of a small town in Mongolia's Gobi Desert. Their home is an elaborately furnished ger, portable round tent covered by and insulated with felt and skins, and often a canvas cover. The ger's interior is warm and welcoming thanks to handmade rugs, colorful furniture, and solar-powered appliances, including a small refrigerator and a television. The father trains and trades native Bactrian (two-humped) camels for a living, as can be seen in the photos on the wall behind them. Domesticated Bactrians remain important in Mongolia today, just as they were in the past, along the Silk Road.

John Donelson © 2016 | PCV Ghana 1965-1967 | Secondary School Math & Science Teacher




​Adult Books

Lost in Mongolia: Rafting the Last Unchallenged River
By Colin Angus

2003

Summary:

The Yenisey river is 3500 miles long, running from Central Asia to the Arctic Ocean. The memoirist and his two friends know what they’re doing as pioneer explorers, but they still find themselves in several situations where they fly by the seats of their pants. Risk is part of the expedition, especially on the upper river with its great sucking whirlpools and punishing whitewater. Only once does inexperience jeopardize the exploration, when an expeditionist gets separated from his companions for nearly two weeks with only a kayak, a lighter, and his khakis. There is a continual stream of hardships such as biting insects to tempests to wading through chest-deep snow. The Mongolians endure problems stoically as a part of their daily lives. Explorers and the Mongolians encounter Russians everywhere, and they consistently try to undermine the quality and safety of daily life both. There is a mob man in Bratsk, an afternoon in a bear-fat-illuminated banya with a hunter-gatherer, and a period of sharing a teepee with a Nenet family above the Arctic Circle. The voice of the book is hapless exuberance and optimism. The storytelling sheds a bright light on how Mongolians’ everyday realities are changing as they encounter outsiders.


Editorial Reviews:

From Publishers Weekly

Angus didn't know the Yenisey River existed until he came across its name in a book while researching another trip. The Yenisey, he learned, is the world's fifth-longest river, flowing 5,500 kilometers (3,300 miles) from western Mongolia to the Arctic Circle, and had never been run from source to sea. That kind of challenge proved irresistible to the Canadian adventurer. In short order, Angus (Amazon Extreme) cobbled together three companions and (barely) enough sponsorship dollars to keep them afloat, and in spring 2001 set off for Mongolia. The quartet paddled through territory covered by few travelers and even fewer writers. They dealt with financial difficulties, freezing temperatures, a kayak-swallowing maelstrom and more. The book is nearly a blow-by-blow account of the harrowing five-month journey, with trivial events reproduced as faithfully as extraordinary ones. Some sections read as though they were plucked unedited from Angus's journal (e.g., after mentioning fresh milk in one entry, he concludes, "The remaining liter of milk turned into yogurt overnight. I guess with unpasteurized milk, you don't need to stimulate the process. Still, it tasted great"). The characters Angus meets along the way-a kindly Mongolian army officer; a Russian mafia boss; and the indigenous people of the Arctic-are tantalizing, but Angus doesn't linger on them or on the three young men he's traveling with. Some readers may wish Angus had something more to say, in the end, than "we did it." Still, his book should please readers looking for a straightforward, uncomplicated adventure tale. Photos.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist 

Asia's Yenisey River, the world's fifth longest (at 3,250 miles), had not been navigated until the author and his two companions made the five-month journey in a whitewater raft and two kayaks. Angus, a "full-time adventurer," describes the trip that began at the 13,000-foot summit of Otgon Tenger in Mongolia, which entailed treacherous rapids; extreme heat, cold, and snow; intense fog; and plagues of mosquitoes and blackflies. One of the most interesting sections details his being separated from his fellow travelers and of a run-in with Russian police. His journey took him through Siberia and into the Arctic Ocean, and Angus describes the people the trio encountered along the way, including shepherds in the Gobi Desert and the Nenets of the Arctic, who lived in reindeer-skin tepees. It's a trip that readers will relish--from the comfort of their homes. George Cohen


​Kids' Books

My Trip to Mongolia
By Ondbayar Aliyafu; illustrated by Uchral Jiguur

Publisher: Bloomington,IN: AuthorHouse, 2024.

Format: 24 pgs; col illus.

ISBN: 970-8-8230-2162-3

Age Range: 5-10 yrs.

Summary:

This book is about a 5-year-old boy with family ties to Mongolia. He travels to the country to visit his grandmother and explains this different, exciting cultural experience through his own eyes. (Child author)

​Films

Film:The Cave of the Yellow Dog
Genre: Drama/Adventure
Director: Byambasuren Davaa
Release Date:    2005
Language: Mongolian
Run Time:1 hr 33 minutes

Synopsis:

A beautiful, quiet movie about the scenic Mongolian nomad life. It very well befits as—but not only as—a children’s movie as it doesn't contain violence or sexual hints. It’s above all a praise for a life close to nature and enchants with its depiction of the nomad family life and breathtaking landscape views. The story of the heroine of the movie, a little girl, is quietly told in a manner that Hollywood productions have almost exclusively unlearned. Movies don't need to cost $80 million to create a lasting memory. This little movie has an odd strength to it, drawing it from the old Mongolian culture it themes to depict.

​Music

​Recipes

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