Mongolia

Geography

Location: Northern Asia, between China and Russia. Area: 1,565,000 sq. km. Principal cities: Ulaanbaatar. Tourist attractions: Amarbayasgalant Khiid, Shiliin Bogd and Tavanbogd National Park. Time zone: GMT+ 8 hours.

People

Population: 2,951,786 (July 2007 est). Population growth rate: 1.486%
{2007 est.). Sex ratio: I male(s)/fe-male {2007 est.). Religions: Tibetan Buddhist Lamaism, Muslim (primarily in the south-west), Shamanism, and Christian. Languages: Khalkha Mongol, Turkic, Russian. Literacy rate: To­tal 99.1%, Male 99.2%, Female 99% (2003 est.). Infant mortality rate: 42.65 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.). Life expectancy: Total 66.99 years, Male 64.61 years, Female 69.48 years {2007 est.).

Government

Capital: Ulaanbaatar. National an­them: Bugd Nairamdakh Mongol. Gov­ernment type: Parliamentary. Independence: II July 1921 (from China). Legal system: Mixture of So­viet, German, and US systems of law that combines aspects of a parliamen­tary system with some aspects of a presidential system. Executive branch: Chief of state: President Nambaryn Enkhbayar (since 24 June 2005). Head of government: Prime Minister Miyeegombo Enkhbold (since 25 January 2006). Election and election results: The president is nominated by parties in the State Great Hural and elected by popular vote for a four-year term. The last elections were held on 22 May 2005. Legislative branch: Mongolia has a unicameral parliament called the State Great Hural. It has 76 seats and the members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. Judicial branch: Supreme court.

Economy

Currency: Togrog. Currency conversion: Togrog per Indian rupee— 28.8509 {June 2007 est.). GDP: Purchasing power parity—$5,852 billion (2006 est.). GDP—real growth rate: 7.5% official estimate (2006). GDP—per capita: Purchasing power parity—$2,100 (2006 est.). Inflation rate: 9.5% (2005 est.). Population below poverty line: 36.1% (2004 est.). Unemployment rate: 36.1% (2004). Exports: $1,064 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.). Imports: $1,184 billion c.i.f. (2005 est.). External debt: $1.38 billion (2005 est.).

Transport and Communications

Railways: 1,815 km. Roads: 49,250 km. Airports: Chinggis Khaan Interna­tional Airport. Telephones: 156,000 (2005). Mobile cellular: 557,200 (2005). Internet users: 268,300 (2005). Internet country code: .mn. ISD code: 976.