II.

Land and Resources

Mongolia is bounded on the north by Russia and on the east, south, and west by China. The country has a total area of 1,564,100 sq km (603,902 sq mi), or about three times the size of France. Most of the country is a high plateau ranging from 900 to 1,500 m (3,000 to 5,000 ft) in elevation. Rocky desert and grassy semiarid steppe cover most of the land. Forests, which are limited to the mountainous areas, cover about 7 percent of the land.

The mountainous northern and western areas are seismically active zones, with frequent strong earthquakes and many hot springs. The country’s highest peak, Tavan Bogd Uul (4,373 m/14,347 ft), rises in the west where the borders of Mongolia, Russia, and China meet. It is one of many permanently snow-capped peaks in the Altay Mountains, which extend across western Mongolia in two spurs, the Mongolian Altay and the Gobi Altay. In the southwest, the Gobi Altay taper off into the Gobi desert, which occupies the southern third of the country. The Gobi forms the coldest and farthest north of the world’s deserts. Ancient fossils show that it was once part of a large inland sea basin. The Gobi’s northern half lies in Mongolia, while its southern half lies in China. The desert includes rocky low-lying mountains, basalt-column formations, rolling sand dunes, and barren flat expanses.

Central and northern Mongolia is a land of forested mountains and fertile river valleys. Dominating the central area are the Hangayn (Khangai) Mountains, with peaks rising to more than 3,700 m (more than 12,000 ft). To the northeast are the Hentiyn (Khentei) Mountains, with peaks generally between 1,850 and 2,400 m (between 6,000 and 8,000 ft). These ranges are geologically older and more eroded than the higher Altay ranges. They surround the fertile agricultural area of the Selenge River basin, the cradle of Mongol civilization. Ulaanbaatar, the capital, lies on the Tuul River at the southwestern foot of the Hentiyn Mountains. Eastern Mongolia is a high plateau with steppes extending to the frontier with China, where the plateau meets the enormous faulted scarps of the Greater Khingan Range.

A.

Rivers and Lakes

Large rivers originate in the country’s mountainous northern and western areas, while very few surface streams are found in the south. The rivers of Mongolia generally flow in three directions: north toward the Arctic Ocean, east toward the Pacific Ocean, or south into the Gobi desert. In the north, the Selenge River and its main tributary, the Orhon River, form the country’s major river system. These rivers join near the country’s northern border with Russia, where they empty into Lake Baikal, the world’s largest freshwater lake in water volume.

Another important river is the Kerulen (Hereleng), which flows across northeastern Mongolia and into China, where it empties into Hulun Lake. The few streams of southern and southwestern Mongolia run into salt lakes or disappear in the arid, rocky soils of the Gobi. Water runs underground in the Gobi and can be obtained from wells.

In the northwest, a great basin east of the Altay Mountains contains more than 300 lakes. Here lies the saltwater Lake Uvs, which ranks as the country’s largest lake in surface area (about 3,300 sq km/1,300 sq mi). It is a strictly protected conservation area, with many rare animal and plant species.

Hövsgöl Lake, a deep alpine lake nestled in the northern mountains, is the country’s largest in terms of water volume. It ranks as the second largest freshwater lake in Asia, after Lake Baikal, and contains 2 percent of the world’s fresh water. Its surface area is about 2,760 sq km (about 1,070 sq mi). Dozens of rivers feed the lake, but only one flows from it, the Egiyn Gol, a tributary of the Selenge. Through these rivers, Hövsgöl Lake is connected to Lake Baikal.

B.

Plant and Animal Life

Mongolia possesses a great diversity of plant and animal life. Ecologically, Mongolia occupies an important transition zone in Asia. Siberian taiga forest, glacier-covered mountains, Central Asian steppe, and windswept desert all meet in Mongolia. Largely undisturbed by humans, these ecological areas provide habitat for wild plants and animals that are increasingly rare in other parts of Asia. Mongolia is internationally recognized as an important habitat for many threatened or endangered species, including the wild horse, saiga (horned antelope), argali (wild mountain sheep), wild camel, Gobi bear, wild ass, snow leopard, and white-naped crane.

Mongolia has five main vegetation zones: taiga forest, mountain forest steppe, steppe, desert steppe (semidesert), and desert. These zones generally follow the climatic pattern, forming belts of vegetation by altitude (from mountains to plains) and latitude (from north to south).

B.1.

Forest to Steppe

The taiga forest zone is located in northern Mongolia, covering about 5 percent of the country. Here, the southern edge of Siberia’s vast taiga forest—the world’s largest continuous forest system—extends into Mongolia. The Siberian larch is the most widespread tree in the taiga forest, but many other species also grow here, including cedar, pine, spruce, and white birch. These dense, damp forests are home to mammals such as reindeer, moose, brown bear, wolf, lynx, and sable.

The mountain forest-steppe zone covers about 25 percent of the land area, including lower mountain elevations and the north-central Selenge-Orhon river basin. Here, the taiga meets the steppe: The cooler, wetter northern mountain slopes contain taiga species, while the warmer, drier southern slopes contain steppe species. This transition zone has the greatest diversity of plant and animal life. It is also the most populated and developed area of the country.

The steppe zone is a swath of rolling grasslands covering more than 20 percent of the country’s land area, including most of its eastern portion. Mongolia’s steppe is part of a vast plain that stretches from Eastern Europe, across Central Asia, and to the Manchurian Plain in northeastern China. In central Mongolia, the steppe provides important grazing lands for domesticated livestock. The drier southeastern steppe is largely uninhabited and is one of the world’s largest remaining examples of an undisturbed steppe ecosystem. Teeming with wildlife, it is home to hundreds of thousands of gazelles and a diverse array of migratory birds, including golden eagles and white-naped cranes.

B.2.

Steppe to Desert

The desert steppe zone is located in the great lake basin east of the Altay Mountains and in the eastern part of the Gobi. Extending between steppe and desert, it is a transitional zone of semidesert that covers about 20 percent of the country. Although not part of the Gobi desert proper, Mongolians call this land gobi, which in the Mongol language generally refers to an area of arid rangeland. Some Mongolian herders graze livestock in this zone. Its low grasses and shrubs also provide grazing land for an impressive variety of wild mammals. These include Mongolia’s wild horses, called takhi or Przewalski’s horse, famous for their role in the empire-building conquests of Genghis Khan. By the 1960s decades of hunting and livestock overgrazing had rendered the wild horses extinct in Mongolia, but they were reintroduced in the early 1990s and are now protected in the Khustain Nuruu Nature Reserve, established in 1993. The protected steppe environment of the reserve also supports populations of other endangered species, including the wild ass and saiga antelope.

These animals also inhabit Mongolia’s southern desert zone, in the Gobi. Other endangered animals in this zone include Gobi bears, wild camels, gazelles, and argali sheep. These mammals feed on the Gobi’s sparse growth of grass and scrub and find water in the desert’s tree-fringed oases. The Gobi is also home to many reptile species (including geckos, racerunners, and Tatar sand boas) and hundreds of bird species (including vultures, houbara bustards, desert finches, and desert warblers). Fossilized dinosaur eggs and skeletons have been uncovered in the Gobi. The Gurvansaikhan Nature Reserve and other reserves protect large areas of the Gobi in Mongolia.

C.

Climate

Mongolia has a dry continental climate, with long cold winters and short warm summers. Winter temperatures range from a high of -21°C (-5°F) to a low of -30°C (-22°F). Some lakes in the north remain frozen until June. Summers are generally moderate, with temperatures ranging between 10° and 27°C (50° and 80°F). Nights are always cool due to the high elevation of the country. The capital, Ulaanbaatar, located approximately midway between the northern mountains and the Gobi desert, has an average January temperature of -23°C (-9°F) and an average July temperature of 17°C (63°F).

Due to its high elevation and inland location, the country is usually at the center of a region of high atmospheric pressure. In addition, high mountain ranges shield the country from humid air masses from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. As a consequence, Mongolia averages 257 cloudless days each year and is known as the Land of Blue Sky. The winters are predominantly dry, although snow is heavy in the mountains and blizzards sweep over the eastern steppe. Most precipitation comes during the summer’s short rainy season, when sudden torrential thunderstorms and more prolonged gentle showers occur. Rainfall seldom exceeds 380 mm (15 in) in the northern mountains and 125 mm (5 in) in the southern areas. In most years, some areas of the Gobi receive no precipitation at all. There, violent dust storms kick up in spring and fall, with wind speeds up to 140 km/h (90 mph).

D.

Natural Resources

Mongolia contains forests of larch, pine, and cedar in the mountains, but these are of little economic importance. Furbearing animals, especially marmot and squirrel, are abundant, and the country has a well-developed fur industry. Rich prairie land in the northeast and northwest supports large herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. Mineral resources such as coal, iron, copper, fluorspar, gold, uranium, and silver have not been fully exploited.

E.

Environmental Issues

Deforestation and livestock overgrazing have made some areas of Mongolia prone to soil erosion in wind and rain storms. Overgrazing in pasturelands adjacent to the Gobi has led to desertification, a process whereby soils become degraded by vegetation loss. Some rivers and lakes receive pollutants such as agricultural runoff, industrial wastes, and untreated sewage. Only 90 percent of urban residents and 48 percent of rural inhabitants have access to safe drinking water (2006). The burning of soft coal and the concentration of factories in Ulaanbaatar cause severe air pollution in the valley of the Tuul River when the air is stagnant, especially in winter.

Awareness of these problems led the government of Mongolia to create the Ministry of Environmental Protection in 1987. Protecting Hövsgöl Lake from industrial and shipping pollution were among its highest priorities. Since the early 1990s the government has created numerous nature reserves, and 13.9 percent (2007) of the country’s land area is officially protected. The government also has ratified international environmental agreements on biodiversity, desertification, ozone layer protection, endangered species, and other issues.