📰 Mongolia · page 4

As of the 2014–2015 academic year, the most popular foreign language in specialized language courses were (ordered by popularity), English, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, and Korean.326 Korean in particular has gained popularity as tens of thousands of Mongolians work in South Korea,[138] forming the largest group of Mongolians abroad.327

Religion

Main article: Religion in Mongolia, Freedom of religion in Mongolia

Religions in Mongolia; (population aged 15 and above)[139][140]328

According to the 2020 National Census, among Mongolians aged 15 and above, 51.7% were Buddhists, while 40.6% were non-religious.[140]329 Mongolian shamanism has been widely practiced throughout the history of what is now Mongolia, with similar beliefs being common among the nomads of central Asia.330 This gradually gave way to Tibetan Buddhism, but shamanism has left a mark on religious culture, and it continues to be practiced.331 The Kazakhs of western Mongolia, some Mongols, and other Turkic peoples in the country traditionally adhere to Islam.332

Throughout much of the 20th century, the communist government repressed religious practices.333 It targeted the clergy of the Mongolian Buddhist Church, which had been tightly intertwined with the previous feudal government structures (e.g. from 1911 on, the head of the church had also been the khan).[141]334 In the late 1930s, the regime under Choibalsan closed almost all of Mongolia's over 700 Buddhist monasteries and killed at least 30,000 people, of whom 18,000 were lamas.[142]335 The number of Buddhist monks dropped from 100,000 in 1924 to 110 in 1990.[141]336

The fall of communism in 1991 restored public religious practice.337 Tibetan Buddhism, which had been the predominant religion prior to the rise of communism, again rose to become the most widely practiced religion in Mongolia.338

The end of religious repression in the 1990s also allowed for other religions to spread in the country.339 According to the Christian missionary group Barnabas Fund, the number of Christians grew from just four in 1989 to around 40,000 as of 2008.340 In May 2013, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held a cultural program to celebrate 20 years in Mongolia, with 10,900 members and 16 church buildings.[143]341 There are some 1,000 Catholics, and in 2003 a missionary from the Philippines corpus was named Mongolia's first Catholic bishop.[144]342 In 2017 Seventh-day Adventists reported 2,700 members in six churches up from zero members in 1991.[145]343

Education

Main article: Education in Mongolia

During the state socialist period, education was one of the areas of significant achievement.344 Before the People's Republic, literacy rates were below one percent.345 By 1952, illiteracy was virtually eliminated,[146] in part through the use of seasonal boarding schools for children of nomadic families.346 Funding to these boarding schools was cut in the 1990s, contributing to slightly increased illiteracy.347 Primary and secondary education 12 years.[147]348 English is taught in all secondary schools across Mongolia, beginning in fourth grade.[148]349

Mongolian national universities are all spin-offs from the National University of Mongolia and the Mongolian University of Science and Technology.350 Almost three in five youths enroll in university.351 There was a six-fold increase in students between 1993 and 2010.[149]352

Culture

Main article: Culture of Mongolia

The Soyombo symbol represents the sun, moon, stars, and heavens per standard cosmological symbology abstracted from that seen in traditional thangka paintings.353

Architecture

Main article: Architecture of Mongolia

The traditional dwelling is known as a ger.354 In the past it was known by the Turkic term yurt, but this has been changing as the Mongolian term becomes better known in English-speaking countries.355 According to Mongolian artist and art critic N.356 Chultem, the ger was the basis for development of traditional Mongolian architecture.357 In the 16th and 17th centuries, lamaseries were built throughout the country.358 Many of them started as ger-temples.359 When they needed to be enlarged to accommodate the growing number of worshippers, the Mongolian architects used structures with 6 and 12 angles with pyramidal roofs to approximate to the round shape of a ger.360 Further enlargement led to a quadratic shape of the temples.361 The roofs were made in the shape of marquées.[150]362 The trellis walls, roof poles and layers of felt were replaced by stone, brick, beams and planks, and became permanent.[151]363

Chultem distinguishes three styles in traditional Mongolian architecture: Mongolian, Tibetan and Chinese as well as combinations of the three.364 Among the first quadratic temples was Batu-Tsagaan (1654) designed by Zanabazar.365 An example of the ger-style architecture is the lamasery Dashi-Choiling in Ulaanbaatar.366 The temple Lavrin (18th century) in the Erdene Zuu lamasery was built in the Tibetan tradition.367 An example of a temple built in the Chinese tradition is the lamasery Choijing Lamiin Sume (1904), which is a museum today.368 The quadratic temple Tsogchin in lamasery Gandan in Ulaanbaatar is a combination of the Mongolian and Chinese tradition.369 The temple of Maitreya (disassembled in 1938) is an example of the Tibeto-Mongolian architecture.[150]370 Dashi-Choiling monastery has commenced a project to restore the temple and the 25 m sculpture of Maitreya.371

Visual arts

Before the 20th century, most works of the fine arts had a religious function, and therefore Mongolian fine arts were heavily influenced by religious texts.[152]372 Thangkas were usually painted or made in appliqué technique.373 Bronze sculptures usually showed Buddhist deities.374 A number of great works are attributed to Zanabazar.375

In the late 19th century, painters like "Marzan" Sharav turned to more realistic painting styles.376 Under the Mongolian People's Republic, socialist realism was the dominant painting style,[153] however traditional thangka-like paintings dealing with secular, nationalist themes were also popular, a genre known as "Mongol zurag".377 Among the first attempts to introduce modernism was the painting Ehiin setgel (Mother's love) created by Tsevegjav in the 1960s.378 The artist was purged as his work was censored.379 All forms of fine arts flourished only after perestroika in the late 1980s.380 Otgonbayar Ershuu is arguably one of the most well-known modern artists in the Western world; he is portrayed in the film "ZURAG" by Tobias Wulff.[154]381

Music

The music of Mongolia is strongly influenced by nature, nomadism, shamanism, and Tibetan Buddhism.382 The traditional music includes a variety of instruments, famously the morin khuur, and also the singing styles like the urtyn duu ("long song"), and throat-singing (khoomei).383 The "tsam" is danced to keep away evil spirits and it was seen as reminiscent of shamanism.384

Media

Main article: Media of Mongolia

Mongolian press began in 1920 with close ties to the Soviet Union under the Mongolian People's Party, with the establishment of the Unen ("Truth") newspaper similar to the Soviet Pravda.[155]385 Until reforms in the 1990s, the government had strict control of the media and oversaw all publishing, in which no independent media were allowed.[155]386 The dissolution of the Soviet Union had a significant impact on Mongolia, where the one-party state grew into a multi-party democracy, and with that, media freedoms came to the forefront.387

According to 2014 Asian Development Bank survey, 80% of Mongolians cited television as their main source of information.[156]388 A 1999 law on press freedom, drafted with help from international NGOs, paved the way for media reforms.[157]389 The media currently consists of around 300 print and broadcasting outlets.[158]390 Market reforms have led to an annually increasing number of people working in the media, along with students at journalism schools.[159]391 In its 2016 World Press Freedom Index report, Reporters Without Borders classified the media environment as 60th out of 180.[160]392

Sports and festivals

See also: Mongolia at the Olympics

The main national festival is Naadam, which has been organized for centuries and takes place over three days in the summer, consisting of three sports—archery, cross-country horse-racing, and wrestling—traditionally recognized as the Three Manly Games of Naadam.393 Naadam is held from 11 to 13 July in the honor of the anniversaries of the National Democratic Revolution and foundation of the Great Mongol State.394

Another popular activity called shagaa is the "flicking" of sheep ankle bones at a target several feet away, using a flicking motion of the finger to send the small bone flying at targets and trying to knock the target bones off the platform.395 At Naadam, this contest is popular among older Mongolians.396

Horse riding is especially central to Mongolian culture.397 The long-distance races that are showcased during Naadam festivals are one aspect of this, as is the popularity of trick riding.398 One example of trick riding is the legend that the Mongolian military hero Damdin Sükhbaatar scattered coins on the ground and then picked them up while riding a horse at full gallop.399

Mongolian wrestling is the most popular sport.400 It is the highlight of the Three Manly Games of Naadam.401 Historians claim that Mongol-style wrestling originated some 7,000 years ago.402 Hundreds of wrestlers from different cities and aimags around the country take part in the national wrestling competition.403 Other sports such as basketball, weightlifting, powerlifting, association football, athletics, gymnastics, table tennis, jujutsu, karate, aikido, kickboxing, and mixed martial arts have become popular.404 Freestyle wrestling has been practiced since 1958.[161]405 Naidangiin Tüvshinbayar won Mongolia's first ever Olympic gold medal in the men's 100-kilogram class of judo.[162]406

Amateur boxing has been practiced in Mongolia since 1948.[163]407 The Mongolian Olympic boxing national team was founded in 1960.408 Professional boxing began in the 1990s.409 Mongolia national basketball team enjoyed some success recently, especially at the East Asian Games.410 Association football is also played in Mongolia.411 The Mongolia national football team began playing national games again during the 1990s; but has not yet qualified for a major international tournament.412 The Mongolia Premier League is the top domestic competition.413

Several Mongolian women have excelled in pistol shooting: Otryadyn Gündegmaa is a silver medalist of the 2008 Olympic Games, Munkhbayar Dorjsuren is a double world champion and Olympic bronze medal winner (now representing Germany), while Tsogbadrakhyn Mönkhzul is, as of May 2007, ranked third in the world in the 25-meter pistol event.[164]414 Mongolian sumo wrestler Dolgorsürengiin Dagvadorj won 25 top division tournament championships, placing him fourth on the all-time list.415 In January 2015, Mönkhbatyn Davaajargal took his 33rd top division championship, giving him the most in the history of sumo.416

Bandy is the only sport in which Mongolia has finished higher than third place at the Asian Winter Games, which happened in 2011 when the national team captured the silver medal.417 It led to being chosen as the best Mongolian sports team of 2011.[165]418 Mongolia won the bronze medal of the B division at the 2017 Bandy World Championship after which the then President of Mongolia, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, held a reception for the team.[166]419

The Ulaanbaatar Marathon is held annually.[167]420 Traditional festivals include the Golden Eagle Festival, which draws about 400 eagle hunters on horseback, including the traveler Мөнхбаярт Батсайхан (Mönkhbayart Batsaikhan), to compete with their birds.[168]421 The Ice Festival and the Thousand Camel Festival are amongst other traditional Mongolian festivals.422

In 2025, a Mongolian team of mixed athletes placed second in the first season of Physical: Asia.[169]423 Mongolia has built a strong presence in esports; the most notable team is The MongolZ, which was founded in 2013.[170]424 The organisation fields rosters in Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, PUBG Mobile and Chess, and previously competed in Valorant.425 The MongolZ's Counter Strike team has enjoyed numerous international successes, winning the Intel Extreme Masters Season X Taipei championship in 2016[171] and, following the team's relaunch in 2023, the 2025 Esports World Cup.[172]426 The team also finished as runners-up at the Blast Austin Major 2025,[173] becoming the first Asian team to reach a Counter-Strike Major Grand Final.[174]427 In February 2025, The MongolZ's Counter Strike team was recognised by the Mongolian government as the National Team of Mongolia.[175]428 The team also became the first Asian team to reach No. 1 in the HLTV World Team Rankings, topping the rankings on 22 and 29 September 2025.[176]429 The organisation's Chess team also won the 2026 FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Chess Championship in the U2400 category.[177]430

In film

See also: List of Mongolian films

The Eagle Huntress is a 2016 internationally co-produced Kazakh-language documentary feature film directed by Otto Bell that follows the story of Aisholpan Nurgaiv, a 13-year-old Kazakh girl from Mongolia, as she attempts to become the first female eagle hunter to compete in the eagle festival at Ulgii.[178]431

In winter 2023, Australian filmmakers Ben Golotta and Morgan Wright traveled with and filmed two horse herders, Batbold, aged 18, and Tsagana, aged 22, herding around 2,000 animals across the Tsaikhir Valley, in a traditional journey to take the horses to safer grazing.432 The practice is diminishing owing to climate change and young Mongolians moving to the cities for work.433 Batbold's father, Bayankhangai, had undertaken ten such grueling trips.434 The resulting documentary film, titled Iron Winter, was screened in the Melbourne International Film Festival[179] and the Adelaide Film Festival.[180]435

See also

Outline of Mongolia

Further reading

Terbish, Baasanjav (2025). "Humans, Dogs and Other Beings: Myths, Stories, and History in the Land of Genghis Khan". Open Book Publishers.

Mongolia , Encyclopædia Britannica

Background notes on Mongolia , US Department of State

Mongolia: Growth, Democracy, and Two Wary Neighbors (Q&A with Alan Wachman, May 2012)

External links

Government436

Government of Mongolia

General information437

Mongolia. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency

Mongolia Travel Guide

at *UCB Libraries GovPubs

Mongolia profile from the BBC News

Mongolia at *Britannica.com

Kropotkin, Peter Alexeivitch.

Wrestling Roots

Mongolia, Facts and Culture on CountryReports.org