Mongolia a great history and possibly a great future

Mongolia is solely bordered by two countries, namely china and Russia. The main language is Mongolian and the currency is the tögrög. The great war strategist Genghis Khan came from there, he is mostly known for his successes in battle and his book ‘The Act of War’. They were also part of the reason why the Chinese enforced The Great Wall of China. Up until 1990’s the country functioned under communists and held close ties to Russia. Because of their recent economic structure change the country has suffered a great deal of economic crisis, although they are showing great financial improvement. This brings the advantage that the currency exchanges are very low and thus profitable for tourists.

The climate is quite harsh as it experiences heavy effects of the seasons. During the winter the temperature goes to -30° C and the average annual temperature of the capital Ulaanbaatar is – 1.7° C. Only half of the land is inhabitable and the population only lives on 1% of the land, which makes it the most sparsely populated fully sovereign country. There are multiple large mammals who live in Mongolia, such as gray wolves and the Siberian Ibex, but also more endangered species as the snow leopard and the Asiatic wild ass. Different kinds of foxes and deer also inhabit the area.  

The main sports practiced in Mongolia can be seen in a three day event named Naadam. On the first day they hold archery contests. The following day one can see horseracing. Unlike Western horseracing the Mongolians race over a long distance, testing their endurance a lot more. On the final day wrestling is held, these aren’t by the Olympic norms, but by the Mongolian traditions. Furthermore other small games are held during the festival for the crowd to enjoy. Mongolia also practices a lot of Western sports, but none on a high level yet.

Because it has had close ties with Russia, the effects of the Bolsheviks are still visible among the religious groups. Over half is still Buddhist, a very common religion in that area. Surprisingly nearly 40% identifies as irreligious. This means that they do not believe in a God, but are in certain ways spiritual. Furthermore there are also Muslims and Shamans.

In conclusion Mongolia has a great history and are currently trying to rebuild their country after large economic difficulties, such things are visible in their high HDI-index. I hope they do succeed in this and I believe they will overcome their difficulties and rise up to be a strong nation.