The territory of Mongolia is a huge plateau, which is elevated above sea level. Mountains with a height of 1500-3000 m occupy at least 40% of the area of ​​the entire country, and its high-mountain areas with a height of more than 3000 m occupy about 2.5-3%. Mongolia ranks 17th in the world in terms of the size of its territory.

Interesting fact: Mongolia is the smallest country in terms of population density, its density is approximately 1.7 people/sq.km. And the total population reaches about 3 million people.

Mongolia is a country where you can drive hundreds of kilometers and not meet a single person. In a number of areas, such as deserts and highlands, population density reaches a minimum threshold - from 0.01 to 1%.

In its great history, the ethnic groups of Mongolia have gone through a great many different periods of formation. As a result, with the formation of a single, united Mongolian people, the Greatest Mongolian state emerged. It was a great world empire, which to this day has no equal. Arin V.D. Russia and Mongolia at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries: economics, diplomacy, culture / V.D. Arin.--Irkutsk, BGUEP, 2013.--402 p.

In Mongolia, there is the world's tallest statue of a horse rider, which is an hour's drive from the capital. The Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital in the whole world.

Mongolia is home to 25% of all snow leopards living on our planet.

Mongolia is a country with an ancient history, and is fraught with many mysteries from the past.

An interesting discovery was announced in Mongolia. A Scythian warrior was found. It was discovered in the Altai region at an altitude of 2.6 kilometers. And the most interesting thing is that it was completely intact in the burial mound. As is obvious, he was a rich man, since he was covered with beaver and sable fur, and he also had a sheepskin on him. The warrior's body was covered with many tattoos.

And the main feature of this find was the warrior’s hair; he was blond. True, some scientists say that the hair could have become this color even after his death.

Near the grave, 2 horses were found with richly decorated bridles and saddles, as well as weapons, a clay vessel and animal horns. They were placed in the grave next to the mummy so that they could accompany him on the other side of life.

The rivers of Mongolia are born in the mountains. Most of them are the upper reaches of the great rivers of Siberia and the Far East, carrying their waters towards the Arctic and Pacific oceans. The largest rivers in the country are the Selenga (within the borders of Mongolia - 600 km), Kerulen (1100 km), Tesiin-Gol (568 km), Onon (300 km), Khalkhin-Gol, Kobdo. The deepest is the Selenga.

Mongolia has many permanent lakes and a much larger number of temporary lakes that form during the rainy season and disappear during the dry season. In the early Quaternary period, a significant part of the territory of Mongolia was an inland sea, which was later divided into several large bodies of water. The present lakes are what is left of them.

Next, consider the climate of Mongolia. Mongolia has a sharply continental climate with harsh winters and dry, hot summers. In the capital, the city of Ulaanbaatar, located approximately halfway between the mountain ranges of the north-west and the desert arid zone of the south-east of the country, temperatures range from minus 25 - 35 degrees in winter, to plus 25 - 35 degrees in summer. Ulaanbaatar is one of the coldest winter capitals in the world: the coldest month is January. The warmest month is July.

It is often cold in the mountainous regions, north and west of the country. Much of the country is hot in summer and very cold in winter, with January averages dropping to -30 degrees.

Let us consider in detail the administrative division of Mongolia.

Mongolia is divided into 21 aimags, which in turn have 329 somons. The capital Ulaanbaatar is an independent administrative unit.

Mongolia has an interesting address system. Due to the significant number of temporary settlements (yurts) in the country, which change their spatial location over time, traditional address systems (city, street, house) are not very suitable for Mongolia.

On February 2, 2008, the Government of Mongolia decided to adapt the Universal Address System technology to the needs of the country, that is, the use of Natural Area Code to address objects on the ground. This system allows you to address on the ground within the Earth, both entire regions and cities, individual houses and even small objects with an accuracy of up to a meter. The more accurately the address is specified, the longer its code. For example, the address of the city of Ulaanbaatar as a whole is RV-W QZ, and the address of the monument in the center of Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar is RW8SK QZKSL.

Although more people live in cities, Mongolia's economy is centered on industries such as mining and agriculture. Mineral resources such as copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten and gold make up a significant part of the country's industrial production.

In the period from 1924 to 1991, the MPR received large financial and economic assistance from the USSR. At its peak, this aid accounts for one third of its GDP. In the early 1990s. years and into the next decade, Mongolia's economy experienced a severe decline followed by stagnation.

Exports: copper and other non-ferrous metals, fluorspar, uranium ore, coal, oil, clothing, livestock, wool, hides, animal products, cashmere. The main buyers in 2011 are China (85.7%), Canada (6.3%) and Russia in 10th place (3%).

Imports: machinery and equipment, fuel, automobiles, food, industrial consumer goods, chemicals, building materials, cigarettes and tobacco products, household appliances, soaps and detergents, sugar, tea. The main suppliers in 2011 were China (43.4%), Russia (23.3%, mainly oil and electricity), South Korea (5.6%), Japan (5.1%).

Mongolia is a member of the World Trade Organization (since 1997). The country's main trading partners are China and Russia, and Mongolia's economy largely depends on these countries. In 2006, 68.4% of Mongolia's exports went to China, while imports accounted for only 29.8%. Mongolia imports about 95% of its petroleum products and part of its electricity from Russia, making the country extremely economically dependent.

Tibetan Buddhism was officially adopted in the country in 1578, but shamanism continues to be practiced by a small part of the population (primarily in the north of the country). By the time of the People's Revolution of 1921, there were 755 Buddhist monasteries and 120 thousand monks and priests in the country (out of a total population of 650 thousand people).

As a result of repression, by the end of the 1930s. years, all monasteries were closed or destroyed, and their property was nationalized.

In 1949, a single monastery was reopened in Ulaanbaatar, but the freedom of religion declared by the 1960 constitution was only ensured in the late 1980s. years and the revival of traditional Buddhism, shamanism, and Islam began (among the Kazakhs). Since the early 1990s, foreign Christian missions, Baha'is, Moonies and Mormons began their activities. Baabar History of Mongolia: From world domination to the Soviet satellite / Baabar. - Kazan: Tatarstan, 2010. - 543 p.

Mongolia's culture is heavily influenced by the traditional Mongolian nomadic lifestyle, as well as Tibetan Buddhism, Chinese and Russian cultures. Love of one's origins and family are valued in Mongolian culture; this is evident in everything from old Mongolian literature to modern music. Another characteristic and most important feature of the steppe people is hospitality. The yurt is an important part of Mongolian national identity; to this day, many Mongols live in yurts.

Education is one of the priority areas of Mongolia's domestic policy. To date, illiteracy in the country has been practically eliminated, thanks to the creation of seasonal boarding schools for children from nomadic families.

Since 1990, Mongolia has experienced social change and improvements in health care. The healthcare system includes 17 specialized hospitals, four regional diagnostic and treatment centers, nine district hospitals, 21 aimak and 323 soum hospitals. In addition, there are 536 private hospitals.

Some of the earliest examples of Mongolian fine art are rock paintings and bronze and copper weapons with images of animals. There is also an Iron Age stone stele here. Mongolian art was strongly influenced by the visual canons of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as Indian, Nepalese and Chinese art. At the beginning of the 20th century, the tradition of secular painting began to develop in Mongolia, its founder was Baldugiin Sharav. After the revolution, for a long time the only acceptable style in Mongolian painting was socialist realism, and only in the 1960s did artists have the opportunity to move away from the canons. The first representatives of modernism in Mongolia were Choydogiin Bazarvaan and Badamzhavyn Chogsom.

The oldest literary and historical monument is the “Secret Legend of the Mongols.” One of the founders of modern Mongolian literature is the writer, poet and public figure Dashdorzhiin Natsagdorzh, the first translator of Pushkin’s works into the Mongolian language.

The instrumental ensemble occupies an important place in Mongolian music. Folk instruments: amankhur (harmonica), morinkhur and limbo (bamboo flute). There are traditional works for key instruments in Mongolian music. Vocal art also has a long tradition. Baldaev R.L. Public education in the Mongolian People's Republic / R.L. Baldaev. - M.: Mir., 1971. - 230 p.

In modern sports, Mongols are traditionally strong in single events. These are boxing, freestyle wrestling, judo, and shooting. In terms of the number of Olympic medals per capita, Mongolia is ahead of many highly developed countries. Quite exotic sports for Mongols, such as bodybuilding and powerlifting, are developing at an active pace.

The number of Armed Forces is 10.3 thousand people (2012).

Recruitment is carried out by conscription, the service period is 12 months. Men aged from 18 to 25 years are called up. Currently, the Mongolian army is undergoing a reform aimed at increasing combat effectiveness and updating the technical fleet of weapons and military equipment. Russian, American and other specialists are actively participating in this process.

Since 2002, Mongolia has been involved in peacekeeping activities.

INFORMATION FOR TOURISTS

RELIEF, GEOGRAPHICAL ZONES

Mongolia has an area of ​​1,564,116 sq. km and is mainly a plateau raised to an altitude of 900-1500 m above sea level. A series of mountain ranges and ridges rise above this plateau. In the south and east of the country there are extensive hilly and ridged plateaus, intersected by individual hills. The average altitude of Mongolia is very high - 1580 m above sea level. There are no lowlands in the country at all. The lowest point of the country - the Khukh Nuur basin - lies at an altitude of 560 m. Forests mainly grow in the forest-steppe zone, located in the northern part of the country. The forest fund area is 15.2 million hectares, i.e. 9.6% of the entire territory.

To the east and south of Ulaanbaatar towards the border with China, the height of the Mongolian plateau gradually decreases, and it turns into plains - flat and level in the east, hilly in the south. The south, southwest and southeast of Mongolia are occupied by the Gobi Desert, which continues into north-central China. In terms of landscape features, the Gobi desert is by no means homogeneous; it consists of areas of sandy, rocky, covered with small fragments of stones, flat for many kilometers and hilly, different in color - the Mongols especially distinguish the Yellow, Red and Black Gobi. Land-based water sources are very rare here, but groundwater levels are high.

Natural conditions of Mongolia extremely diverse - from north to south (1259 km) there are taiga forests, mountain forest-steppes, steppes, semi-deserts and deserts. Researchers call Mongolia a geographical phenomenon that has no analogues anywhere. Indeed, within the Mongolian People's Republic there is the southernmost permafrost center on Earth, and in Western Mongolia, in the Great Lakes Basin, the world's northernmost border of dry deserts lies, and the distance between the permafrost distribution line and the beginning of the deserts does not exceed 300 kilometers. In terms of temperature fluctuations, both daily and annual, Mongolia is one of the most continental countries in the world (the maximum annual amplitude of temperature fluctuations in Ulaanbaatar reaches 90 ° C): in winter Siberian frosts are raging there, and the summer heat in the Gobi can only be compared with Central Asian. These are truly paradoxical physical-geographical phenomena, coupled with the vastness of the territory (the straight line length from west to east is 2368 and from north to south 1260 kilometers), the clear delineation of geographical zones (from taiga to steppe and from steppe to desert), with sharp differences in elevation and the clear predominance of mountainous terrain create the unique face of the country, define and explain its wealth.

HIGH MOUNTAINS

Mongolia is a mountainous country. Mountains occupy more than 40% of its total area, highlands (over 3000 m) - about 2.5%. The highest of the mountain ranges of Mongolia is the Mongolian Altai with mountain peaks up to 3000–4000 m high, stretching in the west and southwest of the country for a distance of 900 km. Its continuation are lower ridges that do not form a single massif, collectively called the Gobi Altai. The highest point is the Kuiten-Uul (Nairamdal) peak with a height of 4370 m. It is located in the Mongolian Altai at the westernmost tip of Mongolia near the border with Russia.

Along the border with Siberia in the north-west of Mongolia there are several ranges that do not form a single massif: Khan Huhei, Ulan Taiga, Eastern Sayan, in the north-east - the Khentei mountain range (2800 m).

In the center of the country are the Khangai Mountains, about 700 km long and 2000–3000 m high (the largest is 3905 m, Otkhon Tengri), which are divided into several independent ranges.

Highest mountains of Mongolia

In mountainous areas, vertical zonation of the soil appears. With increasing altitude, chestnut soils are replaced by chernozem-like and sometimes chernozem-like soils, then mountain-meadow and partially peaty. The southern slopes of the mountains, as a rule, are sandy and rocky, while the northern slopes have denser soil and are clayey. The steppes are dominated by loam and sandy loam, the colors of ripe chestnut and light chestnut.

TAIGA

The taiga zone, which covers only 5 percent of Mongolia's territory, is located primarily in northern Mongolia, in the Khentii Mountains, the mountainous landscape around Lake Khuvsgul, the rear of the Tarvagatai mountain range, the upper Orkhon River and parts of the Khan Khentii mountain range. The taiga zone receives more rainfall than other zones of Mongolia (12 - 16 inches annually).

The northern mountain taiga zone is replete with forest; forests cover the northern slopes of the mountains and consist of Siberian larch, cedar, pine, birch and aspen. The inhabitants of this zone are the same as in the Siberian taiga - deer, elk, wild boars, lynxes, bears, sables, wolverines and other animals. Reindeer are also found here.

FOREST-STEPPE

The mountain steppes of the middle steppe zone lie between the Khentei, Khangai and Mongolian Altai ridges. There are gazelle antelopes, wolves and foxes, and in the alpine zone there are rare cat predators, such as snow leopard - irbis, lynx, tiger, which hunt wild goats and wild argali sheep.

In the forest-steppe and steppe zones, various chestnut soils are most widespread, accounting for almost 60% of all soils in the country.

STEPPE ZONE

In the mountains, the Mongolian steppes rise to a height of 1500 m or more, and with increasing moisture in the mountains, the proportion of forbs in the vegetation cover increases. On the northern slopes of the mountains of Mongolia (precipitation 500 mm or more) predominantly coniferous forests of Siberian larch, cedar, and pine grow.

Unlike the European steppes, the zonal soil type of the Mongolian steppes is not chernozems, but leached chestnut soils. They are formed on sandy and gravelly parent rocks and are not solonetzic. There are chestnut, dark chestnut and light chestnut soils. The intensity of their color depends on the specific gravity of humus. In the upper layer, dark chestnut soils have from 4% to 6% humus, light chestnut soils from 2% to 4%. The life forms of steppe plants are determined by summer precipitation and sharp temperature fluctuations throughout the year and during the day. Among the steppes, various types are distinguished depending on the predominance of certain plant groups. The Mongolian steppes are poorer than the steppes of Russia and Kazakhstan. The grass is lower in them, and there is almost no continuous cover. The dominant formations are tyrs, serpentine, serpentine-tyrs and others. Among the shrubs, there are especially many small-leaved caragana (Caragana microphylla), and subshrubs of wormwood (Artemisia frlgida). As we approach semi-deserts, the role of low-growing feather grasses and onions increases.

SEMI-DESERT

Semi-deserts occupy more than 20 percent of Mongolia's territory, stretching across the country between desert and steppe zones. This zone includes the Great Lakes Depression, the Valley of the Lakes, and most of the region between the Khangai and Altai mountain ranges, as well as the eastern Gobi region. The zone includes many low-lying areas, soils with salt lakes and small ponds. The climate is arid (frequent droughts and annual precipitation of 4-5 inches (100-125 mm). Frequent strong winds and sandstorms greatly affect the area's vegetation). However, many nomadic herders of Mongolia occupy this zone.

A race is a historically established human population that is distinguished by certain physical and biological characteristics. Differences can be observed in eye shape, hair structure, body type, and skin tone. In due time these criteria of people They were divided into three main races: Mongoloid, Negroid, Caucasoid.

In contact with

The emergence of the term "Mongoloids"

A little over two hundred years ago, scientists began to seriously study the anatomical features of representatives of various peoples and nationalities. In particular, the Mongols attracted significant interest from researchers. There is an opinion that these are the descendants of the Mongols, who conquered most of Eurasia in the 13th century and created Great Mongol Empire. Peoples are diverse and multifaceted, differ in some characteristic features and are divided according to the following factors:

• continent, country, region, area of ​​residence;
• beliefs, religion, customs and traditions;
• political and socio-social structure.

All of them make up the most a larger group. The appearance of the term “Mongoloid race” is associated with the research of Christoph Meiners, who created a binary racial scheme.

In his opinion, the Tatar-Caucasians consisted of the Celtic - Western and Slavic - Eastern groups, and a separate Asian branch of the Mongols.

Later, the German anthropologist Johann Blumenbach called the Mongols a second race living in the Asian territories, in the basin of the Ganges and Amur rivers, and also inhabiting the Pacific islands and Australia.

• 1861, to the Mongoloids belongs to the Australian subrace;
• end of the 19th century Georges Cuvier classifies American Indians as Mongols, who, in his opinion, have a similar type of face;
• Arthur de Gobineau studies the Altai, Finnish, Mongolian and Tatar branches;
• Thomas Huxley includes the Arctic indigenous population of North America in the Mongoloid race;
• 1882 August Henry Kean made a statement that the Mongoloids are Tibetans, Burmese, Thais, Koreans, Japanese, Malays. In his opinion, the classic representatives are the Buryats .

Attention! Today, based on many years of research, geneticists have determined that the white-skinned population of the northern regions of Europe and Russia has at least 47.5% Mongolian genes and 52.5% European ones.

Modern vision

Ethnic Mongols are considered prominent representatives. Today, anthropologists divide into two branches:

• Northern Mongoloids - peoples and nationalities of Kalmykia, Tuva, Yakutia, Buryatia. A special type is represented by the Tatars inhabiting Siberia, who for centuries mixed with the Western Siberian Mongoloids;
• Southern peoples have some genetic features of mixing with the indigenous population of Australia. Modern science calls the most prominent representatives of this trend the indigenous people of southern China, Japan, and representatives of some nationalities of the Korean Peninsula.

Not everyone knows some interesting facts. The peoples of the Asian Southeast are the most closely related to the aborigines of Australia. Clinical medicine, physiology and genetics define Mongoloids as a racial type characterized by the strongest immunity and high adaptability to dramatic changes in climatic conditions. The origin of the Mongoloid group is not fully understood. According to one hypothesis, the formation of the nationality took place in the central part of the Asian continent (the Gobi Desert), characterized by a harsh, sharply continental climate.

Character traits

When Europeans mention the Mongols, they immediately conjure up the sophisticated appearance of a miniature Japanese geisha, a figurine of a Chinese emperor, or a sculptural image of Buddha. Despite the fact that impression is a minimal characteristic, it has a certain value for the researcher. Objective signs of Mongolian representatives:

1. Dark smooth coarse hair.
2. A special shape of the eyes with overhanging upper eyelids and a characteristic curve above the inner corners, making the eyes slanted and narrow. The color of the iris can be brown or black, the skin of the face is yellowish or deep tan, sometimes even brown.
3. Facial features also have specific shapes: a thin or moderately wide nose with clearly defined lines, a low bridge of the nose or the presence of a hump is characteristic. Usually bright lips of medium size, sharp outlines of high cheekbones stand out, which can be noticed even with distant kinship with the Mongols.
4. Another special sign is poor development of body hair in both men and women. The male torso is extremely rarely covered with sparse hair, and it is generally rare to meet a Chinese, Japanese or Korean with luxuriantly growing curls on the skin of the chest or lower abdomen. In adulthood, men also do not have pronounced vegetation, some have no hair at all.

Most Mongoloids are different have a strong build, are of average height or below average, the men are stocky, this is especially true for representatives of the northern branch.

Important! If we take into account the statistics that confirm that more than 20% of the population of our planet are to varying degrees similar to the Mongoloids, then this gives us the right to call them the prevailing race.

In the vast majority of cases, racial characteristics are weakly expressed, since over the centuries there has been a mixing of the blood of various peoples and tribes.

When making comparisons, this fact must be taken into account. This is called hybridization and heterosis.

In the industrial regions of East Asian countries, it is extremely difficult to find classical representatives; they mainly live in mountainous, inaccessible areas of Tibet, Mongolia, China, Korea and Japan.

Territorial interracial contacts

Since prehistoric times the population The Earth has actively migrated over considerable distances. Today, the hypothesis about the resettlement of entire tribes and nationalities from continent to continent is being confirmed. Overcoming gigantic distances, rivers, seas and oceans, people looked for places with better living conditions, rich in animals, fish, where they could engage in gathering and plant growing without being subjected to oppression by neighbors, raids and destruction. The most actively migrating peoples were those belonging to the Mongoloids.

Where do these people live today and What territories did you previously occupy?

• First of all, the Mongols developed large continental territories - Central Asia, Siberia, Kazakhstan. Initially, Scythian tribes lived here - Caucasians, but already in the middle of the 5th century, the vast expanses of the Great Steppe were inhabited by Mongoloids;
• the same great migration was the penetration of the latter into the regions of Southeast Asia and the displacement of fellow Australoids further to the South.

Thus, the Mongoloids were divided according to anthropometric parameters into five types. Today these are North Asian, South Asian, Arctic, Far Eastern and American subraces.

The main differences have developed in the phenotypes of subraces based on habitat, cultural traditions and other indirect characteristics.

According to a more careful classification, this is diversity of peoples and nationalities has small races, which were hypothetically formed in several ways:

• based on poorly differentiated populations living on the boundaries of geographical zones;
• as a result of contacts between representatives of different races, mixed small races appeared;
• influenced by distant migrations to places with qualitatively different living conditions. The natural process of adaptation made it possible to develop new characteristic features and a set of characteristics.

As a result, significantly different types among themselves. However, interracial mixing made it possible to classify the Mongoloids according to various indicators, in particular, the population of coastal areas and the inhabitants of the depths of the continent.

Variety of appearance options

Modern science, based on an analysis of many years of research by ascetic anthropologists, data from specialists who devoted themselves to studying the population of our planet, and the achievements of modern high-tech research, has come to the conclusion that all Mongols are divided into types . There are two types of Mongoloid race:

• continental - characterized by a dark skin tone, thin, sharply defined lips, a flat face without sharp profile lines, and not particularly prominent jaws. The head is large, with pronounced temporomygomatic joints;
• Pacific - distinguished by a thin bone structure, light skin, a small head, a slight protrusion of the upper jaw, and full, bright lips.

According to the territory of residence, the Mongoloids differ in the northern ones - with light skin, round flat faces and the southern ones - with refined features of medium-sized faces, a miniature figure, short stature and a special eye shape. The famous Mongoloid eye shape are extremely valued by artists and poets, sung in paintings and poetry. Thanks to centuries-old migrations, humanity has received such a variety of external characteristics of the inhabitants of Asia that determining whether a particular person is a Mongoloid can be quite problematic.

Mongoloid race from the point of view of anthropogenesis

Ethnogenesis of the Mongoloids

Conclusion

Whatever race or racial branch an individual belongs to, first of all, he is a person whose rights and freedoms must be guaranteed by the world community, striving to create equal conditions for the life and development of all peoples.

Mongolia is an amazing country that amazes tourists with its uniqueness and originality. Located in Central Asia, this country borders only Russia and China and is landlocked. Therefore, the climate of Mongolia is sharply continental. And Ulaanbaatar is considered But still, Mongolia is popular among tourists all over the planet.

General information

Mongolia still preserves its traditions; it has managed to carry its cultural heritage through the centuries. The Great Mongol Empire had a huge impact on world history; the famous leader Genghis Khan was born on the territory of this particular country.

Today, this unique place on the planet attracts primarily those who want to take a break from the noise of big cities and usual resorts and immerse themselves in a special world of pristine natural beauty. Geographical location, climate, plants, animals - all this is unusual and unique. High mountains, endless steppes, blue skies, and a unique world of flora and fauna cannot but attract tourists from all over the world to this country.

Geographical position

Mongolia, whose topography and climate are naturally interconnected, combines on its territory the Gobi Desert and such mountain ranges as the Gobi and Mongolian Altai, Khangai. Thus, Mongolia contains both high mountains and vast plains.

The country is located at an average altitude of 1580 meters above sea level. Mongolia is landlocked and shares borders with Russia and China. The area of ​​the country is 1,566,000 square meters. km. The largest rivers flowing in Mongolia are the Selenga, Kerulen, Khalkhin Gol and others. The capital of the state, Ulaanbaatar, has a long and interesting history.

Population of the country

Today, about 3 million people live in the country. The population density is approximately 1.8 people per square meter. m. territory. The population is distributed unevenly; in the capital the population density is very high, but the southern regions and desert areas are less populated.

The ethnic composition of the population is very diverse:

• 82% - Mongols;
• 4% - Kazakhs;
• 2% are Buryats and other nationalities.

There are also Russians and Chinese in the country. Among the religions here, Buddhism predominates. In addition, a small percentage of the population professes Islam, and there are many adherents of Christianity.

Mongolia: climate and its features

This place is called the "land of blue skies" as it is sunny most of the year. Located in the temperate climate zone, Mongolia has a sharply continental climate. This means that it is characterized by sharp changes in temperature and low amounts of precipitation.

The cold but practically snowless winter in Mongolia (temperatures can drop to -45˚C) gives way to spring with its strong gusts of wind, sometimes reaching hurricane force, and then warm and sunny summers. This country is often the site of sandstorms.

If we briefly describe the climate of Mongolia, it is enough to mention large temperature fluctuations even within a day. There are harsh winters, hot summers and increased dry air. The coldest month is January, the warmest is June.

Why is there such a climate in Mongolia?

Sudden temperature changes, dry air and a large number of sunny days make this place special. We can conclude what are the reasons for the sharp continental climate of Mongolia:

• distance from the seas;
• obstacles to the flow of moist air currents from the oceans are the mountain ranges that surround the country;
• the formation of high pressure in combination with low temperature in winter.

Such sharp temperature fluctuations and low rainfall make this country special. Familiarization with the reasons for the sharp continental climate of Mongolia will help to better understand the relationship between the topography, geographical location and climate of this country.

Seasons

The best time to visit Mongolia is from May to September. Despite the fact that there are many sunny days here, the temperature range is very large across the seasons. The monthly climate of Mongolia has very characteristic features.

Vegetable world

Mongolia, whose climate is sharply continental, has a rich and unusual flora. On its territory there are various natural zones: highlands, taiga belt, forest-steppe and steppe, desert and semi-desert zones.

In Mongolia you can see mountains covered with deciduous, cedar and pine forests. In the valleys they are replaced by deciduous trees (birch, aspen, ash) and shrubs (honeysuckle, bird cherry, wild rosemary and others). In general, forests occupy about 15% of Mongolia's vegetation.

The vegetation cover of the steppes of Mongolia is also very diverse. It includes plants such as feather grass, wheatgrass and others. Saxaul predominates in semi-deserts. This type of vegetation makes up about 30% of the total flora of Mongolia.

Among the medicinal plants, the most common are juniper, celandine, and sea buckthorn.

Animal world

Mongolia is home to several very rare species of mammals, such as the snow leopard, Przewalski's horse, Mongolian kulan, wild camel and many others (about 130 species in total). There are also many (over 450) different species of birds - eagles, owls, hawks. In the desert there are wild cats, gazelle, and saiga, and in the forests there are deer, sable, and roe deer.

Some of them, unfortunately, need protection, as they are in danger of extinction. The Mongolian government is concerned about preserving the existing rich fund of flora and fauna. For this purpose, numerous reserves and national parks were organized here.

This country is unique. Therefore, it attracts many tourists who want to learn more about Mongolia. There are several features that characterize it:

• Mongolia, whose climate is quite harsh, is the country with the coldest capital in the world.
• It has the lowest population density of any country in the world.
• If you translate the name of the capital Ulaanbaatar from, you get the phrase “red hero”.
• Another name for Mongolia is “Land of the Blue Sky”.

Not all tourists heading to these regions know what the climate is like in Mongolia. But even a detailed acquaintance with its features does not frighten lovers of exotic and wild nature.

Aristov. "Notes on the ethnic composition of the Turkic tribes (1896):

The physical type of Uzbeks is distinguished by great diversity not only by clan, but also by locality, depending, of course, on the crossbreeding that the Uzbeks had with the local populations of Eastern Iranian, Afghan, Western Iranian and mountain Iranian (Galcha) blood.

Oshanin L.V. Anthropological composition of the population of SrAsia:

In some cases, the Uzbek tribes actually retained “anthropological traces” of their Mongoloid Dashti-Kipchak origin to a greater extent than the surrounding Uzbek population, which did not know tribal and clan divisions. These are, for example, the Kungrad and Yuz tribes in the Surkhan-Darya region, the Lokai tribe in the Kulyab region of Tajikistan, the Barlas tribe in the Gissar region of Tajikistan, the Kara-Kitai tribe in the Angren basin and others.

However, in a number of cases, Uzbeks of certain tribes and clans are no more Mongoloid than other Uzbeks, and sometimes even less Mongoloid.

Some Uzbek tribes that came from Deshti-Kipchak, for example, the tribes Katagan, Kauchin, Kenegez, Sarai, Mangyt and others that we studied in the Kashka-Darya region, turned out to be less Mongoloid than the Uzbeks of the Tashkent region, who were completely unaware of tribal and clan divisions.

A. Khoroshkhin: Memories of Khiva (Running notes, 1876)

Khivans speak a completely original dialect of the Turkic language, somewhat similar to Azerbaijani. It is not easy to determine their type, because they are, not excluding the khan himself and his brothers, a mixture of Uzbeks with Persians, or, more precisely, with Persian women. As a result of this, a completely unique appearance was formed, especially in the upper strata of society (merchants, servicemen, Khojas), which is sometimes found among the working masses. Distinctive features of this type: sharp Uzbek cheekbones, a flat nose and a thin beard, next to large, well-defined Persian eyes. The same can be said about women.

Arminius Vambery. Travel to Central Asia:

POPULATION OF THE KHANATE OF KHIVA

This division is old, the only thing that attracts attention is the fact that even individual tribes are widely scattered throughout the named territory, and the researcher is amazed, often it seems simply incredible to him that the Uzbeks from Khiva, Kokand and Yarkand, whose language, customs and faces are completely different, realize that they belong not only to one nation, but also to one tribe, to one clan. At first glance, the Khiva Uzbek reveals an admixture of Iranian features, for he has a beard, which among the inhabitants of Turkestan can always be considered as a foreign element, while the color and features of the face very often indicate a purely Tatar origin.

BUKHARA KHANATE

The Uzbeks consist of the same 32 tribes that we listed in the section on Khiva, but are noticeably different from their fellow tribesmen in Khorezm in both face and character. The Bukhara Uzbeks lived in closer contact with the Tajiks than the Khiva and Sarts, and at the same time lost many features of the national type and the modest simplicity characteristic of the Uzbeks. The Uzbeks are the dominant people in the Khanate, since the emir himself is also an Uzbek from the Mangyt tribe, and therefore they constitute the country's armed forces, although senior officers very rarely leave their ranks.

Bukhara emirs (Nasrullah, Muzaffar, Said Alimkhan) from the Mangyt dynasty:

E. L. Markov. Russia in Central Asia (Bukhara). St. Petersburg, end of the 19th century.

Uzbeks - although they are just as colorful and just as bright; perhaps even more sharply bright, even more coarsely variegated than the Tajiks - yet they are noticeably different from them even in the bustle of the bazaars. These are undoubtedly Turanians, brothers of the Kirghiz and Kalmyk, high-cheeked, wide-nosed, with very fair squints in their eyes, with a characteristic scantiness of hair on their lips and beard. Although many of them have already lost the primitive purity of the Mongolian-Turkic type, constantly mixing with Persian blood through Persian captives, whom they take as wives and concubines, most of them have still retained the innate “Kalmykness” of their faces so much that an Uzbek can easily be chosen from the crowd Tajiks, like a goat from a herd of sheep.

The Uzbeks still cling to the old nomadic tastes, felt tents, kumis, camels, and are reluctant to exchange their native steppes for the cramped cities. But, of course, by the force of time, many of them had already been drawn to the cities for various reasons, mixed with the Tajiks, turned into learned mullahs, and into clever traders, into judges and rulers. The emir and his first minister - jackpot - are always Uzbeks.

Over the centuries, the Uzbeks naturally mixed heavily with the Tajiks, the indigenous inhabitants of Transoxana, in blood, manners, and customs. They borrowed from them not only their Mohammedan religion, but also the tastes of sedentism, various trades and crafts. The sedentary Uzbek city dweller gradually became completely isolated from his nomadic relatives of the steppes and mountains, lost his former spirit of belligerence, and, on the contrary, developed in himself a peaceful spirit of trading; Only in language he still remained an Uzbek, but in his lifestyle, and partly in his appearance himself, he became a Tajik. Such Uzbeks who settled in cities, in a certain way civilized, are now called Sarts.

Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Ephron:

The purest type is among the Khiva Uzbeks, who, according to Vambery, are of average height, taller than the Kirghiz, but not as tall and strongly built as the Karakalpaks. The head is oval in shape, eyes with a longitudinal slit, cheekbones are not very prominent, skin color is lighter than that of Tajiks, hair is more luxuriant than that of Turkmens, and is often dark. The Bukhara Uzbeks show deeper traces of Aryan mixture (predominant dark hair and skin color), and the Kokand Uzbeks are already difficult to distinguish from the Sarts.

It says that the descendants of the Sheibani Uzbeks mixed with the local population, for some reason often with Iranian aborigines, but in those days not only Tajiks (Iranians) were the indigenous inhabitants of Transoxana (modern Uzbekistan). In the 16th century, there was still a dense Turkic-speaking population (mixed from previous waves), speaking the Karluk-Chagatai language. The Uzbeks often mixed with them, from whom they eventually borrowed the language (Chagatai/Karluk), and the Russian authors (Imperial officers) had very clear Aryan-imperial goals that justified their arrival in Central Asia, that the local Turks were wild invaders , and the oppressed autochthonous Tajiks have a high Aryan civilization. They attributed the entire pre-Uzbek population to Iranians.