Settlement in contemporary Mongolia is characterized by sharp regional contrasts: in the better-watered northern basins of the Orkhon and Selenge rivers, densities of population may reach 10 persons per square mile (4 per square km), but some desert areas are uninhabited. The population is concentrated in the north-central region of the country, which contains the richest pasturelands, the main crop area, the most industrial establishments, and the best transportation infrastructure.
The distinctive feature of the countryside is the ger (yurt), the traditional Mongolian dwelling still used widely by herders, which provides warmth in winter and coolness in summer. It is a circular wooden lattice-walled structure with felt insulation and a broad conical roof resting on poles, the whole covered with white canvas. It is light, strong, and easy to assemble, transport, and reerect. During the socialist period the nomadic population was encouraged to adopt a settled way of life, and clusters of gers along with more permanent buildings surrounded the centres of livestock cooperatives and state farms. After 1990 rural unemployment and hardships among herders drew an increasing number of families to Ulaanbaatar and other towns, each of which is surrounded by ger encampments.
The first Buddhist monastic establishments were nomadic, but gradually permanent monasteries grew in importance. During the period of Qing rule, the Manchu built fortified administrative centres and garrison towns, like Khovd (Hovd) and Uliastai. After 1920 many small settlements developed to meet the administrative needs of the socialist regime. It is in the towns, however, that Mongolia presents its modern aspect. Towns grew rapidly in the second half of the 20th century, increasing their proportion of the total population from about one-fourth in 1950 to more than half by the early 1980s.
The capital, Ulaanbaatar (Ulan Bator), by far the largest and most important urban centre, has grown dramatically into a sprawling city of more than one million people—some two-fifths of the population of the entire country. It lies on the banks of the Tuul River in the north-central portion of Mongolia. Formerly known among Europeans as Urga (from the Russified version of Örgöö, the nomadic residence of the Javzandambas, it became settled on the present site in 1778. The old town—which numbered some 60,000 people in 1921—consisted mainly of monasteries, a few timber buildings, and clusters of gers. By the late 20th century, however, the “city of felt” had been transformed into a modern metropolis with broad avenues, high-rise office towers in the central business district, apartment complexes, and massive governmental, cultural, and educational buildings. In spite of this development, a large majority of the city’s population lived in the outlying ger districts, many without water supply or sanitation facilities and some without electricity.
Two other important towns—Darkhan, between Ulaanbaatar and Mongolia’s northern border, and Erdenet, west of Darkhan—are examples of planned urbanization. Darkhan’s foundation stone was laid in 1961, and within 20 years the population exceeded 50,000, and it has continued to grow. The new city became the hub of a major industrial complex during the socialist period, second only to Ulaanbaatar itself. Erdenet grew up in the 1970s on the basis of a copper mine developed as a joint venture with the Soviet Union.
After a period of stagnation, the population of Mongolia increased rapidly in the second half of the 20th century, as birth rates climbed and death rates dropped. Improved health, sanitation, and medical facilities played a major role in reducing mortality, especially infant mortality. Also important was the government policy of encouraging families to have more children. Mongolia’s rate of natural increase reached a peak in the 1960s and declined slowly thereafter. By the late 20th century Mongolia’s main demographic trend was toward a youthful, fast-growing population, a dynamic that continued into the early 21st century.
At the beginning of the 20th century the people of Mongolia were primarily engaged in the subsistence herding of livestock. Poor herders looked after animals belonging to the large herds owned by members of the nobility, government officials, and Buddhist monastery estates—whose wealth was measured in terms of the livestock they owned. The 1921 revolution ended the socioeconomic privileges of the nobility and Buddhist clergy. In an effort to create a Mongolian “proletariat” during the 1930s and ’40s, the Soviets helped facilitate the construction of slaughterhouses and small factories for processing raw materials such as foodstuffs, hides, and wool for local consumption.
Although agriculture and livestock remained important to the Mongolian economy, state-directed economic planning from the 1960s onward increasingly emphasized developing Mongolia’s considerable and varied mineral resources. New industrial towns such as Sharyn Gol (coal mining), Darkhan (building materials and metallurgy), and Erdenet (copper mining) were founded in the steppes, linked by the Trans-Mongolian Railway to Ulaanbaatar (Ulan Bator) as well as to Siberia and China. Trade grew dramatically during the last two decades of the socialist period, though virtually all of it was with the Soviet Union and its eastern European allies.
In the early 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and of one-party rule in Mongolia, the country experienced great economic difficulties as it moved from a command economy to a market economy. Much of Mongolia’s annual budget had previously been supported by the Soviet Union, and Mongolia’s international debt to the Soviet Union and to its successor, Russia, was relatively large (it was finally settled in 2010). Aid from international organizations and individual donor countries helped stabilize the economy and start its recovery. The development of new commodities (notably cashmere) and the establishment of mining ventures with foreign companies subsequently contributed to Mongolia’s economic growth, as did an emerging tourist sector. Mongolia sought to increase its trade with China and other countries of East Asia as well as with those of North America. Mongolia’s gross national product and per capita income increased considerably, especially since 2000. However, a large proportion of the country’s people continued to live in poverty.
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