HOINHOR
chancery: 2833 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007
consulate(s) general: New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Alphonse F. LA PORTA
embassy: inner north side of the Big Ring, just west of the Selbe
Gol, Ulaanbaatar
mailing address: c/o American Embassy Beijing, Micro Region 11, Big
Ring Road, C.P.O. 1021, Ulaanbaatar 13; PSC 461, Box 300, FPO AP
96521-0002

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)

Economy

Economy--overview: The government has embraced free-market
economics, freezing spending, easing price controls, liberalizing
domestic and international trade. Mongolia's severe climate,
scattered population, and wide expanses of unproductive land,
however, have constrained economic development. Economic activity
traditionally has been based on agriculture and the breeding of
livestock. In past years, extensive mineral resources had been
developed with Soviet support; total Soviet assistance at its height
amounted to 30% of GDP, but disappeared almost overnight in 1990-91.
The mining and processing of coal, copper, molybdenum, tin,
tungsten, and gold account for a large part of industrial
production. The Mongolian leadership has been soliciting support
from foreign donors and economic growth picked up in 1997 and 1998
after stalling in 1996 due to a series of natural disasters and
declines in world prices of copper and cashmere. Mongolia joined the
World Trade Organization in 1997.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$5.8 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth rate: 3.5% (1998 est.)

GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$2,250 (1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 31%
industry: 35%
services: 34% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line: 36.3% (1995 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.9%
highest 10%: 24.5% (1995)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6% (1998)

Labor force: 1.115 million (mid-1993 est.)

Labor force--by occupation: primarily herding/agricultural

Unemployment rate: 4.5% (1998)

Budget:
revenues: $260 million (1998)
expenditures: $330 million (1998)

Industries: c