Mongolia Country Overview
Where is Mongolia located? After Kazakhstan, Mongolia is the second largest landlocked country in the world. At the same time, it is one of the least populated countries in the world. Because of this enormous area, Mongolia is also divided into two time zones on the time zone map. There is the “Ulaanbaatar Time” which can be found in the eastern part of Mongolia. There is a time difference of 8 hours to the coordinated world time (UTC+8). In the West, on the other hand, the time is different. It is called “Hovt Time” and is a standard difference of 7 hours to the world clock (UTC+7). In both time zones, a time change to summer time is not common.
Population Distribution
As of 2023, the latest population of Mongolia is 3,168,026, based on our calculation of the current data from UN (United Nations).
| Total population | 3,168,026 |
| Population growth rate | 0.99% |
| Birth rate | 18.90 births per 1,000 people |
| Life expectancy | |
| Overall | 68.95 years |
| Men | 66.46 years |
| Women | 71.56 years |
| Age structure | |
| 0-14 years | 27.00% |
| 15-64 years | 68.59% |
| 65 years and above | 4.42% |
| Median age | 27.50 years |
| Gender ratio (Male to Female) | 1.00 |
| Population density | 2.03 residents per km² |
| Urbanization | 56.70% |
| Ethnicities | |
| 94% Mongols (88.5% Chalcha, 3.1% Dürbeten, 2.4% Bayats, 1.9% Buryats, 1.5% Dariganga and others), 4.8% Kazakhs; Minorities of Chinese and Russians | |
| Religions | |
| Tibetan Buddhists Lamaism 96%, followers of shamanism and Christians 4% Muslims (mainly in the southwest of the country), (2004) | |
| Human Development Index (HDI) | 0.735 |
| HDI ranking | 92th out of 194 |
People in Mongolia
Most of the Mongols belong to the Chalcha people. Then there are the Bourjats in the north, the Dariganga in the southeast and the oil solder in the northwest of the country. But then there are also Kazakhs, Toungus, Russians and Chinese. Mongolia is very sparsely populated. This means that very few people live in a large area. The fact that so few people live here is due to the country’s geography. It is very cold in Mongolia and the whole country is shaped by the steppe. Many people lead a life as nomads, they move through the country with their herds of cattle and look for good conditions for their animals. Then they move on again. So you never get settled. When the animals run out of food, they are forced to find a new, better place for the animals.
Mongolian life
To get from place to place, the Mongols use their horses. They drive goats, cattle or camels across the whole country on these, always looking for good pasture. But you don’t earn much money from it, which is why Mongolia is a very poor country. About a third of all Mongols live in great poverty. But people have one thing enough: time. Human life is largely determined by nature. And has been for centuries. Mongolian families move their yurts four to six times a year. Almost half of the people in Mongolia make a living from raising livestock.
Opposites
Mongolia is a land of contrasts. While some are drawn to the big city in order to find better living conditions here, others remain clinging to their old traditions. Mongolia is developing into a modern state, young people want to live just like other young people in the world and show their children the way to modernity. You can find both forms of life in Mongolia if you would make the long journey.