putes: none

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

Terrain: vast semidesert and desert plains; mountains in west and
southwest; Gobi Desert in southeast

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

Land use:
arable land: 1%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 79%
forest and woodland: 10%
other: 10%

Irrigated land: 770 sq km (1989)

Environment:
current issues: limited natural fresh water resources; policies of the
former communist regime promoting rapid urbanization and industrial
growth have raised concerns about their negative effects on the
environment; the burning of soft coal and the concentration of
factories in Ulaanbaatar have severely polluted the air;
deforestation, overgrazing, the converting of virgin land to
agricultural production have increased soil erosion from wind and
rain; desertification
natural hazards: duststorms can occur in the spring
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Environmental Modification, Nuclear Test Ban; signed, but not ratified
- Desertification, Law of the Sea

Note: landlocked; strategic location between China and Russia

@Mongolia:People

Population: 2,493,615 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 40% (female 495,919; male 511,464)
15-64 years: 56% (female 693,037; male 693,776)
65 years and over: 4% (female 54,991; male 44,428) (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.58% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 32.65 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 6.82 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 41.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 66.54 years
male: 64.28 years
female: 68.92 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.26 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Mongolian(s)
adjective: Mongolian

Ethnic divisions: Mongol 90%, Kazakh 4%, Chinese 2%, Russian 2%, other
2%

Religions: predominantly Tibetan Buddhist, Muslim 4%
note: previously limited religious activity because of Communist
regime

Languages: Khalkha Mongol 90%, Turkic, Russian, Chinese

Literacy: NA%

Labor force: NA
by occupation: primarily herding/agricultural
note: over half the adult population is in the labor force, includi