GENERAL INFORMATION

Country - Mongolia

Geographic position - MONGOLIA lies in Central Asia and borders with Russia and China

Territory - 1.564.100 sq km.  19-th and the most sparsely populated independent largest country in the World

Average altitude - 1.580 m above sea level

Population - 2.754.314 people with density of 1.6 person/sq km

Nationality - Mongolian

Language - Mongolian is the official language. Since 1944, the Russian Cyrillic alphabet has been used to write Mongolian. Common spoken foreign  languages are English and Russian.

Religion - Buddhism is dominant /94%/ with some  elements of Christianity, Muslim and Shamanism.

Landscapes - Semi-desert and plains, mountains in the West and Southwest, Gobi desert in the South and Southeast, taiga forests and lakes in the North.

Climate - There are four well defined seasons. Hot summers and cold winters. Average summer temperature +20C, average winter temperature -23C, average rainfall 200-220 mm per annum, the sun shines for over 300 days a year. Winter lasts from November to late February, spring from March to May, and summer from June to September.

Time zone - +7 hours to GMT

Form of State - Parliamentary republic

State structure - Mongolia is unitary state subdivided administratively into 21 aimags and a capital city. Aimags are subdivided into soums and soums into bags. The capital city into districts and districts into khoroos.

Capital city - Ulaanbaatar is the capital city. About 1 million residents in the capital city.

Economy - Traditionally based on livestock breeding, agriculture, and mining.

Currency - Tugrug /MNT/. USD 1=MNT 1460 /in January, 2010/. All the present, 20000, 10000, 5000, 1000, 500, 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, and 1 tugrug notes are in circulation. There is no limit on foreign currency but it must be registered with Mongolian Customs.

All major currencies can be exchanged at banks and licensed exchange Centers in Ulaanbaatar. Hotels and Tourist shops accept credit cards like American Express, Visa, Master cards, and Diners Club.

Electrocity - Power supply is 220 V and 50 Hz. Sockets require a twopin type plug or an adapter.

Country code - Country code for Mongolia is 976 and the area code for Ulaanbaatar city is 11.

Mobile phone - GSM 900, 1800, CDMA 450, 800, 1800, 1900.

Visa - Visa is issued by Mongolian Embassies and Diplomatic Missions abroad or can be obtained at the international airport by those with a formal letter of invitation.

If traveling on an organized tour, visa can be obtained through tourism companies or travel agencies.

Health - No specific requirements, all visitors should ensure that they come to Mongolia with suitable medical insurance.

Insurance - You are recommended to have travel insurance with an insurance company of your country. Also possible to get insurance from Mongolian Insurance company.

Food - There are variety of restaurants in Ulaanbaatar serving Mongolian, Chinese, Russian, European, Japanese, Korean, Thai and Latin American foods.

Public Holidays - January 1 - New years day

January-February - Lunar New Year- Tsagaan sar

March 8 - International Women’s Day

June 1 - Mother and Child Day

July 11-13 - Naadam /Three Manly sports/

November 26 - Independence Day