Mongolia
Mongolia: Political System
Mongolia is a parliamentary republic.
The head of state is the president and the head of government is the prime
minister.
The unicameral parliament, the Great Hural, consists of 76 members who are
elected every four years. The head of state is also directly elected every four
years.
In the parliamentary elections on June 29, 2008, the Mongolian People's
Revolutionary Party won 50 and the Democratic Party of Mongolia 25 of the total
of 76 seats in parliament. As a result, the ruling People's Party was accused of
election fraud and fraud. As a result, serious clashes broke out in Ulan Bator
on July 2nd, as a result of which around 6 people died and even President
Nambariin Enkhbayar declared a state of emergency.
Despite rapid economic growth, over a third of the people are still below the
poverty line.
According to Digopaul.com,
the official name of the country is:
National anthem
Bügd Nairamdach Mongol (Democratic Mongolian
Republic) has been the national anthem of Mongolia again since 1991. It was
written in 1950 and served as the country's national anthem from then until
1961, including a further stanza in which, among others, Lenin and Stalin were
praised. Bilegiin Damdinsuren (1919 to 1991) and Luvsanjamts Murjorj (1915 to
1996) composed the music. The text comes from Tsendiin Damdinsuren (1908 to
1988), but it was revised again in July 2006 and a third stanza was added in
honor of Genghis Khan.
National flag
The national flag (national flag) of Mongolia was adopted on January 13,
1993. Based on flag descriptions by
Countryaah.com, the two red bars symbolize the country's progress and prosperity, while the
middle, blue stripe stands for the eternal sky. The sky blue is also considered
the centuries-old Mongolian national color. The Sojombo symbol consists of
ancient Mongolian symbols which indicate wisdom, the will to be free, a longing
for peace and justice.
Mongolia: Known People
Visual artist
- Under Geghen Zanabazar(1635 to 1723), Buddhist
scholar and artist
The Buddhist dignitary, who was educated in Lhasa, created numerous
important sculptures in addition to religious works, teachings and prayer
songs.
Politicians and rulers
Mongol Empire
- Genghis Khan(around 1160 to 1227)
The high medieval Mongol ruler succeeded in uniting the former
Turkic-Mongolian tribes and, on this basis, conquered a huge Central Asian
empire that included northern China and that stretched from the Caspian Sea
in the east to the Sea of Japan in the west was enough. Under his
successors, it became the greatest empire in all of human history. From 1206
to 1227, Genghis Khan ruled the Mongols as the first major khan, had a
script developed and for the first time laid down generally applicable laws.
- Ugedai Khan(1186 or 1189 to 1241)
The third son of Genghis Khan ruled the Mongol Empire as the second Great
Khan from 1229. From 1235 he had Karakoram expanded into the imperial
capital. His army even invaded Europe and in 1237 conquered Moscow, advanced
into Poland, defeated the German-Polish army in Silesia in 1241 and, at the
same time, the Hungarian army at Mohi in Hungary. The so-called Mongol
Storm, however, ended abruptly with his death.
- Kublai Khan(1215 to 1294)
The grandson of Genghis Khan was Mongolian Great Khan from 1960. Under his
rule, Buddhism became the state religion of the people who had hitherto been
shamanistic. Kublai Khan conquered the south of China and founded the Yuan
Dynasty, whose first emperor he ruled from 1271 to 1294. As governor in
northern China, he had Buddhist monks administer Tibet from 1253.
20th century
- Damdin Süchbaatar(1893 to 1923), Mongol
revolutionary hero
The commander-in-chief of the Mongolian People's Army was instrumental in
driving the Chinese out of Mongolia's territory and is considered the
country's national hero, not least because of his untimely death.
- Süchbaataryn Jandschmaa(1893 to 1963), President
of Mongolia from 1953 to 1954
The widow of Damdin Süchbaatar is considered to be the first woman in the
world to hold the role of President, even if only temporarily.
- Chorloogiin Tschoibalsan(1895 to 1952),
communist leader.
He served as the country's president from 1929 to 1930 and as head of
government from 1939 to 1952, and during this time he also implemented
Stalin's policy in Mongolia. Thus he was responsible for the mass murder of
so-called enemies of the people.
Athlete
Mongolia: animals
Mammals
The Maral deer found in the Altai Mountains are a
subspecies of the red deer and are among the largest deer in the world. Many
tourists stop in surprise when they come across these animals in the city center
of Ulan Bator , where the deer like to graze in the parks.
Another resident of the Altai Mountains is the endangered snow
leopard, little is known about their habits. It is one of the most
critically endangered big cats as it is hunted for its fur and bones. The bones
are ground into powder and are considered in Chinese medicine as a panacea and
sexual enhancer. The snow leopard is endangered and is under strict
conservation.
The Mongolian saiga, a genus of ungulates that is
immediately recognizable by its trunk-like nose, is also endangered. Another
characteristic are the short, curled horns, which are only found in males.
The last occurrences of the wild camels, wild donkeys, the Argali wild sheep
and the Przewalski wild horse, which is named after its discoverer Colonel
Nikolai Michailowitch Przewalski, are remarkable. It is the only real wild horse
still alive, which is probably one of the ancestors of our horses today. It
differs from today's domestic horses in both external and internal body
structure.
The Przewalski horse has a stocky build with a
thick neck and short legs and one more thoracic vertebra. It was already
exterminated in Mongolia in the 1960s, but was released back into the wild in
the 1990s and has since lived mainly in the Gobi Desert. Some of the animals
have already been born in the wild.
Mongolia is also one of the few countries where the Kashmiri goat is native. She
is the producer of the precious and worldwide very popular cashmere wool, which
is characterized in particular by its softness, lightness and suppleness.
In the north of the country there are lynxes, bears and red
deer, while ibex and gazelles live in
the steppes.
A rarity is the occurring in Trans Altai territory gobi bear,
one gets almost never to face and therefore do not know much about him. But he
is special because he is the only brown bear living in
the desert.
The most common grazing animals will be encountered such as sheep and goats,
of which there are around 25 million in Mongolia.
The huge yak , which plays a versatile and important
role among the Mongols, is only domesticated. He is both pack and mount as
well as milk, meat, wool and skin supplier. The dried manure is also used as
fuel. The marmots , of which a large number live in the
steppe areas, are also considered to be very valuable. Their meat is
considered a delicacy and their fur is used for winter clothing.
Blue
sheep Blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur), despite their name,
are not sheep, but rather goat-like. Together with the dwarf blue sheep they
form the genus (blue sheep = pseudois).
The animals are between 120 to 170 cm long and a shoulder height of 75 to 90
cm - with a 10 to 20 cm long tail. Their weight varies between 40 to 80 kg, with
the males being heavier than the females.
The horns of the males reach a length of over 80 cm, while those of the
females are only 20 cm long. The animals live in the Himalayan region as well as
in a number of mountain ranges of Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia.
Their habitat is predominantly at altitudes between 3,000 and 6,000 m. Their
diet consists of grasses, herbs, mosses and other parts of plants.
After a gestation period of around 160 days, the females usually give birth to
only one young - rarely two.
Life expectancy in freedom is 12 to 15 years. One of the most dangerous
enemies is the snow leopard, which lives in the same habitat as the blue sheep.
The animals are classified as not endangered by the IUCN.
Pfeifhase
Pfeifhase do not look much like the well-known field hares, in earlier times
they were even regarded as rodents. There are around 30 species of the pigeon
hares (Ochotona) genus.
The animal is on average 20 cm long - with a spread of 15 to about 25 cm. Their
weight can reach approx. 200 g. In addition to Asia, the animals are also found
in America.
The animals get their name from the high-pitched whistling tones with which they
warn each other in case of danger.
The food of the animals, which can be found at altitudes up to almost 6,000 m,
consists of grasses, herbs or plant stems. The female gives birth to up to 12
cubs two to three times a year.
Reptiles
Snakes and lizards such as the forest lizard and the desert racer are mainly
found in the Gobi desert. In the past, however, many more lizards must have
lived here, because a great many dinosaur skeletons and dinosaur eggs were
excavated in Mongolia.
Poisonous animals
The tarantula , which occurs in Mongolia , is a
wolf spider, grows 3 - 5 cm in size and is light brown in color with dark
markings on its back. The nocturnal spider lives in caves and tree crevices. It
is interesting that it does not catch its prey in the net, but rather actively
hunts. Lizards and smaller rodents are then on the menu. The poison sting poses
only a minor threat to humans, whereby the symptoms after a bite are almost
always only expressed locally. There may be moderate to mild pain and local
inflammation with redness, itching and swelling. The tarantula is also
widespread in the Mediterranean region, the tropics, subtropics and in
south-east Europe.
One of the poisonous snakes in Mongolia is the Halysotter, a
viper. They are mainly found in deserts, semi-deserts and in
wooded regions. These areas should be avoided at night, as the Halysotter is
able to locate potential victims through a sensory organ that is sensitive to
thermal radiation.
Myths and stories entwine around the "Allghoi Khorkhoi", the red Mongolian
death worm supposedly living in the Gobi desert , whereby the
touch of the worm is said to bring death. Its occurrence is questioned if only
because a worm could not survive in the extreme drought in the desert. Rather,
it is believed that it could be a species of desert death otter
that occurs in Australia and of which there are also species with a red color.
insects
Most insects such as beetles, grasshoppers and mosquitoes can be found in the
forests and in the desert. The mosquitoes can become a nuisance even if there is
no water around.
Birds
One of the most famous birds in Mongolia is the golden eagle, which with a
body length of 75–90 cm can reach a wingspan of up to 2 m. In the order of birds
of prey, it belongs to the eagle family. The adult birds have a uniformly dark
brown fur, with only the crown and the neck being golden yellow. The young birds
have a large white field at the base of the hand wings and a white tail with a
black band at the end. It feeds on smaller mammals such as marmots and mountain
hares, but its main source of food is chamois and fawns.
Other birds such as grouse are also on the menu. It
was almost wiped out decades ago, but it is now recovering very slowly. It is
used by the nomads for hunting until the age of 7 years. He is then released
again.
Two species of vulture also occur here, the monk and
the bearded vulture. The latter can be seen
particularly well in the famous Bearded Vulture Gorge on the eastern foothills
of the Altai Mountains.
Live by the lakes in the valleys areas many water birds such as wild
geese and wild ducks, swans, grebes, pelicans, Cormorants and seagulls. In
the desert, warblers, buzzards, Saxaul
jays and Saxaul sparrows are more likely
to come across.
Underwater world
Fishing is very widespread in Mongolia, the Kherulen River with its
numerous tributaries is particularly rich in species and popular with
anglers. These are for Lenok (Siberian) trout and taimen,
which can reach a considerable size. The most common are carp, sturgeon, eel, whitefish, pike, catfish, beak and perch . There
is also the Arctic grayling here.
Mongolia: plants
Trees
The forest areas take up only a small part of the land area, the main
occurrences are limited to the slopes of the northern mountains.
At the foot of the mountains there are spruces, firs, Swiss stone pines and
larches. There are birch and birch-larch mixed forests in the mountain forest
steppe, and on floodplains you will mainly find aspen, poplar, birch and desert
elm.
Other plants
Typical plants of the steppe areas in Central Mongolia and in the east of the
country are bulbous plants, feather grasses and numerous types of wormwood. In
the spring and summer months, especially from mid-June to mid-August, you get to
see the steppe from its most beautiful side, because then the flowering time of
lilies, orchids and numerous herbs begins.
The huge occurrence of edelweiss, which is under nature protection in Europe
due to its rarity and which covers entire meadows in Mongolia, is almost
unbelievable. The edelweiss belongs to the daisy family and grows on sunny,
calcareous lawn slopes, on stony meadows, on limestone cliffs and in crevices in
mountains up to 2500 m. The plant grows to a height of 3 - 20 cm and has a
characteristic flower consisting of 5 - 6 small yellow flower heads surrounded
by white star-shaped leaves. The edelweiss is common in the Pyrenees, Alps,
Carpathians and Central Asia.
In the desert in the south of Mongolia, except for the Saxaul bushes, there is
very sparse vegetation.
Crops
One of the most important crops, especially for the nomads, is the Saxaul
bush or tree, whose island-like mass populations in the Gobi desert are also
known as Saxaul forests. The 2 to 4 m tall shrub often appears as a low tree,
whose characteristics are very small leaves that give the impression that the
plant is completely leafless. The thick and heavy wood is very popular as
firewood due to its long flammability, and the water-storing and floating bark
serves as a water reservoir for the nomads.
Agriculture is very limited in Mongolia because there is not enough
fertile land available.
Medicinal plants
Mongolia is known for its variety of medicinal plants. The best known are the
hawthorn and the blue monkshood. The hawthorn is a tree-high shrub that can
reach heights of up to 12 m. Characteristic are the eponymous thorns and white
flowers as well as the red fruits of the shrub. The active ingredients of the
dried leaves and flowers are known for their blood pressure regulating effect
and are also used for heart disease and hardening of the arteries.
Despite its extremely high toxicity, the alkaloid aconitine of the blue
monkshood is of great importance in medicine. In its pure form it is used for
nerve pain, rheumatism, gout, pleurisy and inflammation and wound healing
processes. Caraway is one of the plants that are grown. It has an antispasmodic
and digestive effect and is often added to heavy meals and used to treat
indigestion.
Poisonous plants
A very poisonous plant is the blue monkshood, which grows with preference on
damp pastures and in higher mountain areas. The plant, which belongs to the
buttercup family, grows to 50 - 150 cm and is mainly recognizable by the
blue-violet flowers in panicles. The poisonous alkaloid aconitine is found
throughout the plant, but the tubers contain the largest amount. However, just a
few grams are enough to cause the symptoms of poisoning to appear within 10-30
minutes. They start with tingling in the mouth, fingers and toes, followed by
sweats, vomiting, cramps and diarrhea. Blood pressure drops and death eventually
occurs from cardiac arrest or respiratory arrest. The honeysuckle growing on
floodplains is also poisonous and causes diarrhea and vomiting if large
quantities of the red berries are consumed.
|