About MONGOLIA

Mongolia, situated in the heart of Asia, is the country of endless sunshine and blue skies, grasses of the steppes, sand dunes and mountains. Mongolia is a remarkable sunny country enjoying 250 sunny days a year. It is a land of the nomads and one of the last to exist today. Come to Mongolia with AABC Travel and find out what Mongolian hospitality means in a land where people are far and few between and survival has been reliant on hospitality due this distance and difficult winters. Where ever you go you will be welcomed into a ger to share the nomad's fire and food.

Territory: 1 566 000 sq km

Population: 2.7 Million

Language: Mongolian

State structure: Mongolia is divided administratively into 21 aimags and a capital city.

Capital: Ulaanbaatar

Religion: Mongolia is a country where freedom of religion and worship are now written into the Constitution. For almost 70 years, scientific materialism and atheism was the formal ideology, replacing traditional beliefs with new ones (e.g. Marx, Lenin). However, the traditional religion of Mongolians is Tibetan Buddhism (since the 16th century), with pockets of surviving/coexisting Shamanism (from the pre-Buddhist era). 
The advent of a Parliamentary Democracy in 1990 also allowed a resurgence of Mongolia's Tibetan-Buddhist (Lamaist) religion. Monasteries are resuming their role as centers for cultural life, but while most people identify themselves as Buddhist, many are atheist. Sunni Islam is practiced among the Kazakh minority group in West Mongolia.
The first church in “Outer” Mongolia was established in 1991. And by 2007, there are 40000 (1.6%) Christians are meeting in total of 400 churches (Protestant and Catholic).

Economy: Traditionally based on agriculture, livestock breeding, mining (coal, copper, gold)

Government: Parliamentary with a president elected every 4 years

Currency & Exchange: Tugrik. The exchange rate is 1 USD ~1300 Tugrik (however this is constantly changing, for up to date information please visit Currency Converter on the internet)
http://www.mongolbank.mn/web/guest/statistics/xch_rate
 VISA, American Express, and MasterCard credit cards are accepted in banks, some restaurants and shopping malls. Travelers checks are excepted at most banks and money exchanges. However it is recommended that you have on hand enough Tugrugs (local currency) to buy your day to day goods. Especially out in the country side.

Climate: The continental positioning of Mongolia, joined with its high altitude creates a dry, cold climate with strong winds and low annual rainfall (400 mm in the Northwest and less than 100 mm in the south).  The total temperature variation is of 90 Degrees Celsius (from - 45 to +45) and daily variances can range between 2 and 30 Degrees Celsius. The mean country temperature is below 0 degrees Celsius.

Administrative Structures
The country is divided into 21 aimags (provinces), not counting Ulaanbaatar, with populations ranging from 45,000 to 110,000. These aimags are further sub-divided into aimag centre’s and an average of 12 to 15 surrounding sums (districts). Each sum is divided into a sum centre and an average of four bags (the smallest rural administrative unit).
The past six years have seen large-scale rural-urban migration to towns and cities as people search for economic opportunities. As a result of this 53.4% of people in Mongolia now live in urban areas (2000 Census). Migration into urban areas is putting increasing pressure on infrastructure and widening the gap between the haves and have-nots in terms of the provision of education and access to information, health and social services. According to the 2000 Census 46.6% of the population lives in rural areas. Nearly 30% of the population and workforce are semi-nomadic herders; there are 29 million head of livestock.

Infrastructure and Logistics
Telecommunications are poorly developed outside the capital, Ulaanbaatar. There is a single railroad line going north to link with the Trans-Siberian railroad and south to China. With large distances to cover and a sparse population, roads are few and poorly maintained making driving difficult. Transport and communications are a real challenge owing to numerous mountains, rivers and lakes and especially difficult during the spring and autumn. The distances between aimag centre’s and sums range between 5 and 380 km. Apart from the great expanse of Mongolia, geographical conditions can be extremely diverse within a single administrative area. 

Official Holidays: