Mongolia is a country of blue sky, as enjoying 250 sunny days a year. It has a remarkable variety of natural contrasts: eternally snow-capped mountains in the west, hills covered with highland plants and marshy coniferous forests and the fresh water lake Khuvsgul in the north, huge flat steppe in the east and famous Gobi desert in the south and situated 1580 m above the sea-level. There are numerous clear-water lakes and rivers.

Name: Mongolia

Capital : Ulaanbaatar

Territory: 1.564.116 sq.km (973.586.07 sq. miles) and is the 6-th largest country in Asia and 18-th in the world. Nearly 3 times the size France and almost 4 times the size Sweden. Mongolia borders with the Russia in the north and China in the south.

Population: 2,951,786. The average population density of Mongolia is very low (1.8 persons per 1 sq.km), and in Southern Gobi it is extremely low (0.2 persons per sq.km). Mongolia is considered as a country of young population: the two-third of the population is below 30 years of age.

Government and Politics: Mongolia is a multi-party, parliamentary democratic country. Presidential and Parliamentary elections take place once for four years.
 
Religion: Shamanism and Buddhism co-existed in Mongolia from the times of Chingis Khan. Khubilai Khan (grand  son of Chingis) made Buddhism the state religion of the Yuan Empire. During the 16th century, Tibetan Lamaism came to Mongolia and numerous monasteries were built from the 17th century and onwards, when Mongolia developed into a theocracy with strong links with Tibet. In the 1930s and 40s, following the Stalinism, more than 740 temples and monasteries were destroyed.

Language: The modern Mongolian language. However, it comprises several dialects. The Khalha Mongol dialect is spoken by the 90 % of the population. The Russian cyrillic script was introduced in 1946, but in recent years the traditional Mongolian script has been taught again in primary and secondary schools.

Time zone: There are three time-zones-the sixth, seventh and eighth, starting from the prime meridian of 0°

Administrative units: The country is divided into 21 administrative territorial units - aimags, including 3 big cities Darkhan, Erdenet, and Choir.

Climate: Continental and quite rigorous. In winter the temperature can reach is -20 to -35° C in average. The Uvs Lake basin in the north-west is known as one of the coldest places in all of Asia, the lowest temperature ever recorded is -58° C. By contrast, summer temperatures in the Gobi desert can climb as high as +40° C.

The highest point is the Huiten peak (4.653 m or 15.272.4 feet) in the Tavan Bogd mountain range at a point where the three borders of Mongolia, Russia and China meet. The lowest point is Hoh Nuur (Blue lake), lying at an altitude of 532 m (1.746 feet) above sea level.