Map of Mongolia | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background:


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Location: Northern Asia, between China and Russia

Geographic coordinates: 46 00 N, 105 00 E

Map reference: Asia

Area
Total: 1,564,116 km²
Land: 1,553,556 km²
Water: 10,560 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Alaska; more than twice the size of Texas

Land boundaries
Total: 8,082 km
Border countries: (2) China 4,630 km; Russia 3,452 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

Climate: desert; continental (large daily and seasonal temperature ranges)

Terrain: vast semidesert and desert plains, grassy steppe, mountains in west and southwest; Gobi Desert in south-central

Elevation
Highest point: Nayramadlin Orgil (Khuiten Peak) 4,374 m
Lowest point: Hoh Nuur 560 m
Mean elevation: 1,528 m

Natural resources: oil, coal, copper, molybdenum, tungsten, phosphates, tin, nickel, zinc, fluorspar, gold, silver, iron

Land use
Agricultural land: 73% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land arable land: 0.4% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land permanent pasture: 72.6% (2018 est.)
Forest: 7% (2018 est.)
Other: 20% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land: 602 km² (2020)

Major rivers
By length in km:

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal
Municipal: 50 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
Industrial: 170 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
Agricultural: 250 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources: 34.8 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Natural hazards: dust storms; grassland and forest fires; drought; "zud," which is harsh winter conditions

Geography
Note: landlocked; strategic location between China and Russia


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Population
Distribution: sparsely distributed population throughout the country; the capital of Ulaanbaatar and the northern city of Darhan support the highest population densities: 3,255,468 (2023 est.)
Note: Mongolia is one of the least densely populated countries in the world (2 people per km²); twice as many ethnic Mongols (some 6 million) live in Inner Mongolia (Nei Mongol) in neighboring China
Growth rate: 0.83% (2023 est.)
Below poverty line: 28.4% (2018 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Mongolian(s)
Adjective: Mongolian

Ethnic groups: Khalkh 83.8%, Kazak 3.8%, Durvud 2.6%, Bayad 2%, Buriad 1.4%, Zakhchin 1.2%, Dariganga 1.1%, other 4.1% (2020 est.)

Languages: Mongolian 90% (official) (Khalkha dialect is predominant), Turkic, Russian (1999)
Major-language samples:

Religions: Buddhist 51.7%, Muslim 3.2%, Shamanist 2.5%, Christian 1.3%, other 0.7%, none 40.6% (2020 est.)

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 26.16% (male 434,400/female 417,335)
15-64 years: 68.24% (male 1,076,692/female 1,144,759)
65 years and over: 5.6% (2023 est.) (male 73,245/female 109,037)

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 58.4
Youth dependency ratio: 51.4
Elderly dependency ratio: 7
Potential support ratio: 14.3 (2021 est.)

Median age
Total: 31.2 years (2023 est.)
Male: 29.9 years
Female: 32.2 years

Population growth rate: 0.83% (2023 est.)

Birth rate: 15.4 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Death rate: 6.3 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Population distribution: sparsely distributed population throughout the country; the capital of Ulaanbaatar and the northern city of Darhan support the highest population densities

Urbanization
Urban population: 69.1% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization: 1.4% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: 1.673 million ULAANBAATAR (capital) (2023)

Environment
Current issues: limited natural freshwater resources in some areas; the burning of soft coal in power plants and the lack of enforcement of environmental laws leads to air pollution in Ulaanbaatar; deforestation and overgrazing increase soil erosion from wind and rain; water pollution; desertification and mining activities have a deleterious effect on the environment
International agreements party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
International agreements signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants
Particulate matter emissions: 41.3 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
Carbon dioxide emissions: 25.37 megatons (2016 est.)
Methane emissions: 13.72 megatons (2020 est.)

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth: 20.5 years (2008 est.)
Note: data represents median age at first birth among women 20-24

Maternal mortality ratio: 39 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 19.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
Male: 22.8 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 16.6 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 71.7 years (2023 est.)
Male: 67.5 years
Female: 76 years

Total fertility rate: 1.89 children born/woman (2023 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 48.1% (2018)

Drinking water source
Improved urban: 98.4% of population
Improved rural: 64.2% of population
Improved total: 87.6% of population
Unimproved urban: 1.6% of population
Unimproved rural: 35.8% of population
Unimproved total: 12.4% of population (2020 est.)

Current health expenditure: 4.9% of GDP (2020)

Physicians density: 3.85 physicians/1,000 population (2018)

Hospital bed density: 8 beds/1,000 population (2017)

Sanitation facility access
Improved urban:
Unimproved urban:

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 20.6% (2016)

Alcohol consumption
Per capita total: 5.46 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita beer: 2.18 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita wine: 1.46 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita spirits: 1.82 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

Tobacco use
Total: 29.4% (2020 est.)
Male: 51.7% (2020 est.)
Female: 7.1% (2020 est.)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 1.8% (2018)

Education expenditures: 4.7% of GDP (2020 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 99.2%
Male: 99.1%
Female: 99.2% (2020)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 15 years
Male: 14 years
Female: 16 years (2019)

Youth unemployment
Rate ages 15 24 total: 21% (2021 est.)
Rate ages 15 24 male: 20.1%
Rate ages 15 24 female: 22.4%


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Country name
Conventional long form: none
Conventional short form: Mongolia
Local long form: none
Local short form: Mongol Uls
Former: Outer Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic
Etymology: the name means "Land of the Mongols" in Latin; the Mongolian name Mongol Uls translates as "Mongol State"

Government type: semi-presidential republic

Capital
Name: Ulaanbaatar
Geographic coordinates: 47 55 N, 106 55 E
Time difference: UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Saturday in March; ends last Saturday in September
Time zone note: Mongolia has two time zones - Ulaanbaatar Time (8 hours in advance of UTC) and Hovd Time (7 hours in advance of UTC)
Etymology: the name means "red hero" in Mongolian and honors national hero Damdin SUKHBAATAR, leader of the partisan army that with Soviet Red Army help, liberated Mongolia from Chinese occupation in the early 1920s

Administrative divisions: 21 provinces (aymguud, singular - aymag) and 1 municipality* (singular - hot); Arhangay, Bayanhongor, Bayan-Olgiy, Bulgan, Darhan-Uul, Dornod, Dornogovi, Dundgovi, Dzavhan (Zavkhan), Govi-Altay, Govisumber, Hentiy, Hovd, Hovsgol, Omnogovi, Orhon, Ovorhangay, Selenge, Suhbaatar, Tov, Ulaanbaatar*, Uvs

Dependent areas

Independence: 29 December 1911 (independence declared from China; in actuality, autonomy attained); 11 July 1921 (from China)

National holiday: Naadam (games) holiday (commemorates independence from China in the 1921 Revolution), 11-15 July; Constitution Day (marks the date that the Mongolian People's Republic was created under a new constitution), 26 November (1924)

Constitution
History: several previous; latest adopted 13 January 1992, effective 12 February 1992
Amendments: proposed by the State Great Hural, by the president of the republic, by the government, or by petition submitted to the State Great Hural by the Constitutional Court; conducting referenda on proposed amendments requires at least two-thirds majority vote of the State Great Hural; passage of amendments by the State Great Hural requires at least three-quarters majority vote; passage by referendum requires majority participation of qualified voters and a majority of votes; amended 1999, 2000, 2019, 2023; note - an amendment passed in a referendum held in May 2023 increased the seats in the State Great Hural from 76 to 126

Legal system: civil law system influenced by Soviet and Romano-Germanic legal systems; constitution ambiguous on judicial review of legislative acts

International law organization participation: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Citizenship
Citizenship by birth: no
Citizenship by descent only: both parents must be citizens of Mongolia; one parent if born within Mongolia
Dual citizenship recognized: no
Residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Ukhnaagiin KHURELSUKH (since 25 June 2021)
Head of government: Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai OYUN-ERDENE (since 27 January 2021); Deputy Prime Minister Sainbuyen AMARSAIKHAN (since 8 September 2022)
Cabinet: directly appointed by the prime minister following a constitutional amendment ratified in November 2019; prior to the amendment, the cabinet was nominated by the prime minister in consultation with the president and confirmed by the State Great Hural (parliament)
Elections/appointments: presidential candidates nominated by political parties represented in the State Great Hural and directly elected by simple majority popular vote for one 6-year term; election last held on 9 June 2021 (next election in 2,027); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition is usually elected prime minister by the State Great Hural
Election results: Ukhnaagiin KHURELSUKH elected president in first round; percent of vote - Ukhnaagiin KHURELSUKH (MPP) 72%, Dangaasuren ENKHBAT (RPEC) 21.6%, Sodnomzundui ERDENE (DP) 6.4%

Legislative branch
Description: unicameral State Great Hural or Ulsyn Ikh Khural (126 seats; 78 members directly elected in a selected constituency by simple majority vote and 48 members directly elected by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms); note - a constitutional referendum passed in May 2023 increased the number of seats to 126 from 76
Elections: last held on 24 June 2020 (next to be held 30 June 2024)
Election results: percent of vote by party - MPP 44.9%, DP 24.5%, Our Coalition 8.1%, independent 8.7%, Right Person Electorate Coalition 5.2%, other 8.5%; seats by party - MPP 62, DP 11, Our Coalition 1, Right Person Electorate Coalition 1; independent 1; composition - 63 men, 13 women; percent of women 17.1%

Judicial branch
Highest courts: Supreme Court (consists of the Chief Justice and 24 judges organized into civil, criminal, and administrative chambers); Constitutional Court or Tsets (consists of the chairman and 8 members)
Judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court chief justice and judges appointed by the president upon recommendation by the General Council of Courts - a 14-member body of judges and judicial officials - to the State Great Hural; appointment is for life; chairman of the Constitutional Court elected from among its members; members appointed from nominations by the State Great Hural - 3 each by the president, the State Great Hural, and the Supreme Court; appointment is 6 years; chairmanship limited to a single renewable 3-year term
Subordinate courts: aimag (provincial) and capital city appellate courts; soum, inter-soum, and district courts; Administrative Cases Courts

Political parties and leaders:

International organization participation: ADB, ARF, CD, CICA, CP, EBRD, EITI (compliant country), FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (NGOs), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUSCO, NAM, OPCW, OSCE, SCO (observer), UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNMISS, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador BATBAYAR Ulziidelger (since 1 December 2021)
In the us chancery: 2,833 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20,007
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 333-7,117
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 298-9,227
In the us email address and website:
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Richard L. BUANGAN (since November 2022)
From the us embassy: Denver Street #3, 11th Micro-District, Ulaanbaatar 14,190
From the us mailing address: 4,410 Ulaanbaatar Place, Washington DC 20,521-4,410
From the us telephone: [976] 7,007-6,001
From the us FAX: [976] 7,007-6,174
From the us email address and website:

Flag description: three, equal vertical bands of red (hoist side), blue, and red; centered on the hoist-side red band in yellow is the national emblem ("soyombo" - a columnar arrangement of abstract and geometric representation for fire, sun, moon, earth, water, and the yin-yang symbol); blue represents the sky, red symbolizes progress and prosperity

National symbols: soyombo emblem; national colors: red, blue, yellow

National anthem
Name: "Mongol ulsyn toriin duulal" (National Anthem of Mongolia)
Lyrics/music: Tsendiin DAMDINSUREN/Bilegiin DAMDINSUREN and Luvsanjamts MURJORJ
Note: music adopted 1950, lyrics adopted 2006; lyrics altered on numerous occasions

National heritage
Total World Heritage Sites: 6 (4 cultural, 2 natural)
Selected World Heritage Site locales:


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Economy overview: lower middle-income East Asian economy; large human capital improvements over last 3 decades; agricultural and natural resource rich; export and consumption-led growth; high inflation due to supply bottlenecks and increased food and energy prices; currency depreciation

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Note: data are in 2017 dollars

Real gdp growth rate:

Real gdp per capita:
Note: data are in 2017 dollars

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use
Household consumption: 49.2% (2017 est.)
Government consumption: 12.3% (2017 est.)
Investment in fixed capital: 23.8% (2017 est.)
Investment in inventories: 12.4% (2017 est.)
Exports of goods and services: 59.5% (2017 est.)
Imports of goods and services: -57.1% (2017 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 12.1% (2017 est.)
Industry: 38.2% (2017 est.)
Services: 49.7% (2017 est.)

Agriculture products: milk, wheat, goat milk, potatoes, mutton, sheep milk, beef, goat meat, horse meat, carrots/turnips

Industries: construction and construction materials; mining (coal, copper, molybdenum, fluorspar, tin, tungsten, gold); oil; food and beverages; processing of animal products, cashmere and natural fiber manufacturing

Industrial production growth rate: -2.22% (2021 est.)

Labor force: 1.331 million (2021 est.)

Unemployment rate:

Youth unemployment
Rate ages 15 24 total: 21% (2021 est.)
Rate ages 15 24 male: 20.1%
Rate ages 15 24 female: 22.4%

Population below poverty line: 28.4% (2018 est.)

Gini index
Coefficient distribution of family income: 32.7 (2018 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10%: 13.7%
Highest 10%: 5.7% (2017)

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $3.699 billion (2020 est.)
Expenditures: $4.979 billion (2020 est.)
Surplus  or deficit: -6.4% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Taxes and other revenues: 14.15% (of GDP) (2020 est.)

Public debt:

Revenue
From forest resources: 0.14% of GDP (2018 est.)
From coal: 8.62% of GDP (2018 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices:

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance:

Exports:
Partners: China 73%, Switzerland 19%, Singapore 2%, South Korea 2%, Russia 1% (2021)
Commodities: copper, coal, gold, iron, animal hair, crude petroleum, zinc (2021)

Imports:
Partners: China 31%, Russia 29%, Japan 10%, South Korea 5% (2019)
Commodities: refined petroleum, cars, delivery trucks, construction vehicles, aircraft (2019)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

Debt external:

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates:


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Electricity
Access electrification-total population: 100% (2021)
Installed generating capacity: 1.479 million kW (2020 est.)
Consumption: 7,336,520,000 kWh (2019 est.)
Exports: 24 million kWh (2019 est.)
Imports: 1.723 billion kWh (2019 est.)
Transmission/distribution losses: 892 million kWh (2019 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels: 89.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources solar: 1.3% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources wind: 8.1% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 1.3% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources geothermal: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources biomass and waste: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)

Coal
Production: 43.904 million metric tons (2020 est.)
Consumption: 8.818 million metric tons (2020 est.)
Exports: 28.551 million metric tons (2020 est.)
Imports: 1,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
Proven reserves: 2.52 billion metric tons (2019 est.)

Petroleum
Total petroleum production: 16,700 bbl/day (2021 est.)
Refined petroleum consumption: 35,800 bbl/day (2019 est.)
Crude oil and lease condensate exports: 14,700 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Crude oil and lease condensate imports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)

Crude oil

Refined petroleum
Products production: 0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products exports: 0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products imports: 24,190 bbl/day (2015 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
Consumption: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
Exports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
Imports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
Proven reserves: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)

Carbon dioxide emissions: 22.74 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From coal and metallurgical coke: 17.445 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From petroleum and other liquids: 5.295 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From consumed natural gas: 0 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

Energy consumption per capita: 83.045 million Btu/person (2019 est.)


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Telephones
Fixed lines total subscriptions: 475,290 (2022 est.)
Fixed lines subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 12 (2021 est.)
Mobile cellular total subscriptions: 4,687,304 (2021 est.)
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 140 (2021 est.)

Telephone system

Broadcast media: following a law passed in 2005, Mongolia's state-run radio and TV provider converted to a public service provider; also available are 68 radio and 160 TV stations, including multi-channel satellite and cable TV providers; transmissions of multiple international broadcasters are available (2019)

Internet
Country code: .mn
Users total: 2.772 million (2021 est.)
Users percent of population: 84% (2021 est.)

Broadband fixed subscriptions
Total: 307,166 (2020 est.)
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 9 (2020 est.)


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Military expenditures:

Military and security forces: Mongolian Armed Forces (MAF): Mongolian Ground Force (aka General Purpose Troops), Mongolian Air/Air Defense Force, Cyber Security Forces, Special Forces, Civil Engineering Forces, Civil Defense Forces (2023)
Note: the National Police Agency and the General Authority for Border Protection, which operate under the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs, are primarily responsible for internal security; they are assisted by the General Intelligence Agency under the prime minister; the MAF assists the internal security forces in providing domestic emergency assistance and disaster relief

Military service age and obligation: 18-27 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service (can enter military schools at age 17); 12-month conscript service obligation for men in the army, air forces, or police (can be extended 3 months under special circumstances); conscription service can be exchanged for a 24‐month stint in the civil service or a cash payment determined by the Mongolian Government; after conscription, soldiers can contract into military service for 2 or 4 years; volunteer military service for men and women is 24 months, which can be extended for another two years up to the age of 31 (2023)

Space program
Overview: has a space program dating back to the country’s ties to the Soviet Union; modern day program focused on acquiring and manufacturing satellites; operates satellites and jointly builds them with foreign partners; developing capabilities to independently manufacture satellites with communications and remote sensing (RS) payloads; has a national strategy to acquire digital communications satellites and make use of RS satellite imagery data for economic development, environmental monitoring, natural disaster response, security, and weather forecasting; the strategy also includes promoting Mongolia’s domestic space industry and international cooperation in space technologies; has relations or cooperation agreements with a variety of foreign space agencies and industries, including those of China, France, India, Japan, Russia, and the US (2023)
Overview note: further details about the key activities, programs, and milestones of the country’s space program, as well as government spending estimates on the space sector, appear in space programs

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system
Number of registered air carriers: 4 (2020)
Inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 12
Annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 670,360 (2018)
Annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 7.82 million (2018) mt-km

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix: JU

Airports: 44 (2021)
With paved runways: 15
With paved runways note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)
With unpaved runways: 29
With unpaved runways note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control

Heliports: 1 (2021)

Pipelines

Railways
Total: 1,815 km (2017)
Broad gauge: 1,815 km (2017) 1.520-m gauge
Note: national operator Ulaanbaatar Railway is jointly owned by the Mongolian Government and by the Russian State Railway

Roadways
Total: 113,200 km (2017)
Paved: 10,600 km (2017)
Unpaved: 102,600 km (2017)

Waterways: 580 km (2010) (the only waterway in operation is Lake Hovsgol) (135 km); Selenge River (270 km) and Orhon River (175 km) are navigable but carry little traffic; lakes and rivers ice-free from May to September)

Merchant marine
Total: 314 (2022)
By type: bulk carrier 3, container ship 6, general cargo 151, oil tanker 57, other 97

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: none identified

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Stateless persons: 17 (2022)

Illicit drugs: NA