Mongolian Historical Roots The Xiongnu, assumed to be the ancestors of the Huns, were the first nomads of the steppes to leave their mark in Mongolia and founded an empire in 209 BC. The various nomadic peoples were then federated by the Xiongnu through which they amassed a formidable army. Ironically although they regularly fought...Read More

Area: 1 566 500 km² Population: 3 081 000 inhabitants (estimated 2016) Density: 1.97 inhabitants/km² Average altitude: 1580 m Max altitude: 4374 m Min altitude: 518 m Mongolia is a landlocked country sandwiched between China and Russia and is roughly thrice the size France. Its terrain consists of undulating plateaus and mountain ranges. To the...Read More

The Origins of Tsaatan People In Europe and in Asia, indigenous people have cohabited with reindeers for thousands of years. In Mongolia, representations of flying reindeers have been carved in over 500 rocks, known as “reindeers rocks”, some of which some over 3000 years old. In northern Mongolia, one of these people is called Tsaatan...Read More

Demography of Kazakh People Representing 5% of the total population of the country (roughly 100,000) Kazakhs are the largest Muslim community in Mongolia.  They have their own distinct Turkic language and culture. Most of them lead more or less a nomadic pastoral life in the Bayan-Ölgii (rich cradle) province in western Mongolia. Khazak Craft And...Read More

The Nomad Essentials Two elements that are essential to the nomads are the “ger” (a Mongolian yurt) and livestock.The first is a transportable home that allows the family to move in sync with the seasons; the second caters for all other needs (food, fuel and transport).The wealth of a nomadic family is measured by the...Read More

Long ago, people of the steppe and the taiga believed in the realm of spirits. The shamans of the time did not see a boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead. They believed that terrible things would occur, if people became ignorant of their umbilical connection to nature. The...Read More

Introduction of Buddhism in Mongolia Buddhism was introduced in Mongolia in the 16th century when Altan Khan(a distant descendant of Genghis Khan), met with the Tibetan leader Sonam Gyatso. Altan Khan converted to Buddhism and attributed the title of dalai lama to Sonam Gyatso. Buddhism was quickly and widely adopted in Mongolia, and men joined...Read More

Ger / “Гэр” The yurt, “Ger” in Mongolian is perfectly adapted to nomadic life. It can be disassembled in less than an hour, moved, and remounted in the same day. While the use of the yurt has almost disappeared in other central Asian countries, Mongolians still continue to use it. What The Mongolian Yurt Is...Read More