Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in Northeast Asia located between the latitudes of 41o35’N and 52o09’N and the longitudes of 87o44’E and 119o56’E. Mongolia’s territory reaches relatively high altitudes: while the average altitude is 1,580 meters above sea level, 81.2% of the territory is higher than 1,000 meters, and half of the territory is higher than 1,500 meters. It covers an area of over 1.5 million square kilometers (making it the 19th largest country in the world and the third largest in the region) but has a population of just over 3.1 million (CIA, 2011). The country’s Human Development Index ranking of 100 out of 169 (UNDP, 2010) places it at the midpoint for the region. The country’s economy is traditionally based on herding and agriculture, although presently also includes industrial production of copper, coal, tin, tungsten and gold (USDS, 2010).