Facts about Mongolia are one of the most interesting part for tourists. Mongolia is known as a warlike country with warriors on horseback. Famous for its vast plateaus and long nomadic traditions, the stories and lives of the Mongols that few know about will be revealed shortly after. Following are some interesting facts about Mongolia that you should know before going on our Mongolia tour package.
1. The World’s Sparsest Population
Mongolia has a geographic area of 1,564,116 square kilometers (603,909 square miles). This makes Mongolia the 19th largest country in the world.
In 2015, the population density of Mongolia was 1.914 people per square kilometer. In 2021, the population increase moved the population density of Mongolia up to 2.045 people per square kilometer. This population density is the lowest in the world, making Mongolia the least densely populated independent country in the world.
2. Goodbye to Wifi and Internet
When coming to the capital Ulaanbaatar, visitors can buy sim cards here to connect to the internet at a cheap price, and also quite easy to find. However, the phone and internet signal in Ulaanbaatar is also not so stable. If you are traveling on the road and worse, if you move far away from the city center area, the loss of phone signal will inevitably happen.
This will really be a big challenge for travelers who are addicted to surfing the net and using social networks. The lack of connection to the internet will also make it difficult for those who travel to Mongolia to be self-sufficient in finding their way. Therefore, you should download offline map software like maps before you hit the road to be able to orient your travel route during the trip smoothly.
For fun, download a few more books and favorite music so you can enjoy some completely private time at night or when traveling in the car from one location to another. Or you can also take advantage of this temporary absence of the internet to spend time creating more relationships by chatting with new friends on the same trip.
In addition, moving continuously throughout the day is also very draining on the phone’s battery if you plan to kill time by playing games, reading books, or listening to music on your mobile. So don’t forget to bring a backup charger with you so that you can actively provide power to charge your phone. It would be a pity if you missed capturing the impressive moments of nature on the prairie just because your phone battery ran out.
3. The Capital Ulaanbaatar – the Coldest Place in The World
When talking about the coldest capital cities in the world, we usually think of the capital cities of Canada, Russia, Iceland, or the Scandinavian countries. However, it is Mongolia’s capital – Ulaanbaatar that is the coldest capital city in the world. The city experiences an annual average temperature of -1.3°C. The city has short, warm summers while winters are bitterly cold and dry. Temperatures in January are as low as −36 to −40 °C.
4. Food in Mongolia
Mongolia is heavily influenced by the continental climate and also a little influenced by Russian and Chinese cultures. Meat and dairy form the staple diet of these nomads, with the use of vegetables restricted. Horse meat, yak, beef, lamb and even camels are consumed as the main food.
Milk is everyone’s basic food in Mongolia, called “white food”. The Mongolian language has 350 different words for these dairy dishes. Milk feed is often used in the summer, the season of rain and livestock breeding, symbolizing the rebirth of all things. At that time the meal consisted of everything made with milk: yogurt, fresh cheese, cream, and butter. The rest of the year they eat “hard” food (either frozen or dried, especially dried cheeses that become hard as ice), which can be stored for a long time and are easily transported.
5. Severe Weather
Mongolia is famous for its harsh weather. With a high-temperature difference, from 20 degrees to 30 degrees in 1 day. During the day you can feel the heat and dryness in the desert, but at night the temperature can drop to only 1-3 degrees.
6. Nomad City
Mongolia is now separated into two regions, a modern city rising on the east coast of the country, Ulaanbaatar, and a vast nomadic region in the southwest. Those vast grasslands have been inhabited by nomads from time immemorial, where they graze and are sedentary. An estimated 30% of the Mongolian population is nomadic. They survived on the vast savannas by grazing cattle and moving to places with favorable natural conditions.
7. White Color Fetish
Tsagaan Sar translated from Mongolian into English means white month. The origin of this name can be derived from the white color of winter or from the white color of food.
The beginning of the Tsagaan Sar ceremony signals that the cold winter here is about to end, and spring is coming, and this is also the occasion for families to gather together. Perhaps, for this reason, the people of Mongolia especially love the color white.
8. Kneel to Drink Wine
The drinking etiquette here is very sophisticated, especially during the New Year holidays. On the 1st, when going to someone else’s house, the first thing to do is to bow before the Buddha hall, then pay respects to the elders in the house.
Young people in the family must be responsible for this work, and seniors who receive alcohol must also kneel to express their gratitude. Men will kneel on both knees, bow their heads low, and respectfully extend their arms forward. Unmarried daughters also perform the same ceremony. Married women only need to kneel on one knee and raise their right hand to offer wine. The newly married bride needs to sing while drinking wine.
