1.1 Location
1.2 Land surface
1.3 Climate
1.4. Population
1.5 Land Resources
1.6 Soil
1.7 Water resources
1.8 Flora
Mongolia is situated in Central Asia and its territory comprises 1.566 thousand square kilometres, which is 1.2% of the land surface in the world. The territory stretches 1,259 kilometres from north to south and 2,392 kilometres from east to west. The most northern point of Mongolia is Mongol Sharyn Davaa 52'09" latitude, 98'57" longitude. The most southern point is Orvog Gashuuny Bor Tolgoi 41'35" latitude, 105'00" longitude. The most eastern point is Mount Maant 48'53" latitude, 87'44' longitude, and most western point is Modtoi Hamar 46'43' latitude, 119'56' longitude. The total length of the border is 8,161.8 kilometres; 3,485.0 kilometres borders with Russia, and 4,676.8 kilometres with China.
Mongolia is a mountainous country. There is a relatively small area of plain. The western part of Mongolia contains the Altai range, the largest mountain range in Mongolia. The Altai mountain range stretches 1,500 kilometres and splits into the Mongol Altai and Gobi Altai ranges. Mongolia is approximately 1,580 meters above sea level. The highest peak in Mongolia is Munh Hairhany Orgil (Altai mountains) at 4,653 meters above sea level and the lowest point is Hoh Nuuryn Depression (Dornod Mongol Plain).
Beautiful plains can be seen in the west and east of Mongolia. The largest of them is Dornod plain which is around 250 thousand square kilometres. The Gobi occupies a third of Mongolia territory and is known as the Thirty three Gobies of Zag, Suj and Nomin. Generally, this area is flat and stretches into Dorno Gobi, Altain Ovor Gobi, Zuun Garyn Gobi and Hoid Gobi. The Great Desert of Central Asia joins from the south.
Mongolia's geography highly influences the weather. Due to the distance from the sea the climate is continental. The temperature varies not only between seasons, but also within a day. The climate in the northern part of the country is extremely cold, in winter the temperature can reach -50 C, while it is +4C in the south. The warmest July day may be between 10C and 15C in Altai, Hangai, Hovsgol and Hentii, where as temperatures might reach 20C and above in the eastern part of the Dornod plain. Maximum temperatures can reach 35C in Hangai, and 41C in the Gobi. The coldest time in winter is the middle of January when temperatures drop to -25C to -30C in the northern mountains and -15C to -20C in Gobi. Extremely low temperatures of -45C to -53C in the northern part of the country have been recorded. The land is covered in snow for 40-60 days in South, and 150 in the North. The ground freezes down to 3 meters, and the total number of cold days is 160-220 a year.
Mongolia has a population of 2.3 million. Most of the population (70%) is under 29 years of age. Population density in Mongolia is 1.4 people per square kilometre. The population is 49.9% male and 50.1% female. 56.4% of the population live in cities, and the remainder live in the countryside. 630 thousand people live in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar.
Mongolia has a huge territory of 1.566 million square kilometres. 80% of total area is for agricultural use; 0.1% is for special use; 11.2% for state forests; 1% for state water reserves and the remainder is state reserve. Total agricultural area is 122,381 thousand hectares, including 1,217 thousand hectares of arable land, 1,364 thousand hectares of working area, 119,434 thousand hectares of pasture.
Soil in Mongolia has been divided into the following classifications:
1. Black soil is found in Khangai, Khentii, Khovsgol provinces, Mongol Altai and Ih Hyangan Mountain ranges, and the in the Orhon, Selenge, Onon and Ulz river valleys which are in the forest steppe region. Black soil has 61.2%, 40-70 cm of thick humus.2. Brown soil is in the forest steppe and steppe region 1,000-1,200 meters above sea level. The content of humus is 35% in dark brown, 23% brown, 1.62% in light brown soil. There is no need irrigate in brown soil.
Mongolia's rivers total 67,000 kilometres in length. There are 4,000 lakes of more than 1 square kilometre and approximately 7,000 hot springs. Also Mongolia has a large resource of underground water. The largest river in Mongolia is the Selenge. The largest fleeting lake is Khovsgol which is the deepest lake in Central Asia and the largest lasting lake is Uvs Nuur (3,350 square kilometres). Fleeting water reserve is 39 cubic kilometres and 88% of it flows within the country. The lake water reserves are 180 cubic kilometres, and the underground water reserve is 12 cubic kilometres. There are many hot springs with varying mineral contents. The climate and geomorphology of the country influence water distribution in Mongolia. Lake and river flows increase due to heavy rainfall during the summer. There are numerous clear (limpid) waters in Mongolia. Water is used by both industry and households. It is, also used for generating electricity and there are possibilities to develop this further. Boats crossing Khovsgol lake are used for commercial and tourist transportation.
There is potential to contract small size hydropower plants on some of the rivers. Using developments in science and technology, water resources can be used widely. The estimated reserve of underground water is considerable which is a reliable source of water supply. However the Gobi is short of water.
Passing from north to south, there are four major latitudinal zones; forest-steppe, steppe, semi-desert and desert. There are also high mountains particularly in the forest-steppe zone including taiga and taiga Alpine belts. Depending on geographical zones, belts and topography, territory of Mongolia is divided 4 main botanical geographical districts; Khangai, Khentii, Altai mountains, the Eastern steppe and the Gobi. Although the amount of vegetation and flora of Mongolia is proportionally small. It is distinctive and heterogeneous because of the country's vast territory and geography.
At present, the vegetation of Mongolia comprises 2,251 species of higher vascular plant united in 596 genus and 103 families; 293 species of mosses united in 119 genus and 40 families; 570 species of lichens united in 70 genus and 30 families; 218 species of tungi united in 34 genus and 12 families; and 574 species of algae united in 154 genus, 52 families 8 types. The largest ones among the higher vascular plants are families of Compositae, Leguminosae Juss, Grami Naseous, Miscanthus, Suaeda Glauca Bunge, Dianthus and Scrophularia incisa weinm.
The vegetation of Mongolia contents plants of 2 large florist regions; the Siberian taiga in the north and the Central Asian steppe-desert in south. The basic vegetation form in the taiga belt is cedar and larch forests. The prevailing types of steppe plants are various kinds of Faether grass; Miscanthus, Artemisia and Potentilla. Most important in Mongolia's desert are Piptanthus Mongolicus Maxim, Convolvulus Gorchacowa and Oxytrpic Grubow. Mongolia has abundant medicinal plants and 700 species are used for traditional medicine. Generally the flowers and leaves of medicinal plants should be gathered in July and September and their roots from October to the spring of the next year.
