MONGOLIA- THE LAND OF BLUE SKIES Mongolia is in northern Asia
between the Russian Republic and the People’s Republic of China;
about a two and a half hour plane ride from Seoul, Korea, or
Beijing, China. The land area is over 1.5 million square km,
slightly smaller than Alaska, over twice the size of Texas and
three times the size of France. Population is approximately 2.9
million as of 2010. Mongolia has the world’s lowest population
density at only 1.4 people per square km. Currency is the
togrog; the exchange rate is around 1300 to the dollar. The
country is divided into 21 aimags (counties or provinces) served
by soum centers (county seats). It is one of the highest
elevation countries in the world, averaging around 1580m. The
major ethnic group is the Kalkha Mongols at almost 95%; Other
ethnic minorities include Turkic peoples (mostly Kazakh), 5%:
and other .1%. Literacy is almost 98%. 42% of the population are
herders or working in agriculture. 50% are Buddhists (Tibetan);
Tengerist/Shamanist or Christi