Mongolia Travel Information and Advice | Pyala Travel

Mongolia Travel Information | Mongolia Country Information

Because of the eternal blue dome hanging over endless steppes, from ancient times Mongols have referred to their motherland as "Blue Mongolia." Even nowadays, old women will splash into the air at the morning dawn a bit of freshly brewed tea with milk as an offering to the Blue Sky and the Mother Nature. About 40 percent of the population continue to live traditional nomadic lifestyle tending more than 34 million livestock. However, at heart, every Mongolian is a nomad. Animal husbandry remains a backbone of the national economy, providing 20 percent of the world's cashmere production.  The nomads' life has changed very little since the old days, and Mongolia remains one of the last refuges of pastoral nomadism, preserving and continuing the traditional cultural heritage of the many nomadic nations that once flourished on the present day territory of Mongolia.

Mongolia is a landlocked country in Northern Asia, strategically located between China and Russia.
The terrain is one of mountains and rolling plateaus, with a high degree of relief.  Overall, the land slopes from the high Altai Mountains of the west and the north to plains and depressions in the east and the south. The Huiten Peak in extreme western Mongolia on the Chinese border is the highest point (4,374 meters). The lowest is 518 meters, an otherwise undistinguished spot in the eastern Mongolian plain. The country has an average elevation of 1,580 meters. The landscape includes one of Asia's largest freshwater lakes (Lake Khuvsgul), many salt lakes, marshes, sand dunes, rolling grasslands, alpine forests, and permanent mountain glaciers. Mongolia measures 2392 km from west to east and 1259 km north to south. Total border line is 8158 km and bordering with China 4677 km and with Russia 3543 km. The country lies between latitude 42° and 52°N and longitude 87° and 119°E. The huge landmass of Mongolia is situated on the Central Asian plateau at the headwater of the river systems of Siberia and the Arctic, China and the Pacific, and the closed systems of Central Asia. Like the rest of the Central Asian plateau it has a highly distinct set of geographical features. Essentially these springs from the fact that is an ancient dry land with an average elevation of 1580m.  

Mongolian total territory is divided into 4 main zones by geography. 
Snow-capped mountain ranges - WESTERN MONGOLIA   
Semi-desert Gobi - SOUTERN MONGOLIA
Forested slopes - NORTHERN MONGOLIA    
Open high-plateau steppe land - EASTERN MONGOLIA