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Geography and Climate

Land and Terrain

Mongolia is a landlocked country in northern East Asia on the Eurasian continent. It borders China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from south to east, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to the west, and Russia to the north. Its area is about four times that of Japan, and the climate differs greatly by region.

The terrain is high in the west and low in the east. In the west tower the Altai mountains of over 4,300 m and the Khangai Mountains of 3,500 m, and in the east a plateau of 1,000 to 1,500 m spreads out. In the south is dry desert, in the north lakes dot lush coniferous forest, and the center is mainly steppe (grassland).

There are about 3,500 lakes and about 7,000 rivers. Rivers flowing north empty into Lake Baikal and the Yenisei River, and some rivers flowing east join the Amur River, but the others are inland rivers that flow into lakes (including salt lakes) or vanish into the ground.

The Natural Environment Divided into Four Areas

Climate

From north to south, taiga climate, steppe climate and desert climate appear in that order. Ulaanbaatar, at an elevation of 1,350 m, is also called one of the "coldest capitals in the world" and belongs to a typical continental steppe climate. The annual average temperature is minus 0.32°C and the annual average precipitation is less than a quarter of Tokyo's, but about 70% of the precipitation is concentrated in summer. The average temperature in January is minus 21.4°C and in July 19.1°C, a large annual range, and in some regions the annual range reaches 90°C.

What Mongolia's Climate and Land Create

Mongolia, with its continental climate, is little affected by the ocean and lies at a high average elevation of 1,500 m, so the air is dry and temperature differences are severe. The cold season is long, lasting more than half the year. Temperatures can reach minus 30 to 40°C, and in the northwest even minus 50°C. In summer, on the other hand, it can reach 30°C, and 40°C in the Gobi region. The annual temperature range is 50 to 60°C, and within a single day it can be nearly 20 to 30°C. Precipitation is low throughout the year, about 200 mm on national average. Even in the Khangai region, rich in precipitation, it is about 400 mm, and in the Gobi region only 50 to 80 mm. This intense dryness and severe cold have nurtured the climate and land of the Mongolian steppe.

A Way of Life Resting on a Delicate Balance

Mongolia's climate, which brings intense dryness and cold, is not suited to agriculture. Even for livestock raising, under the harsh natural conditions, once livestock eat the grass down to the roots or the soil is dug up by cultivation, it becomes difficult for grass to grow back because of the dryness and the gravelly soil. For this reason, livestock cannot be kept in one place and must keep moving.

If the balance is upset even slightly by small tricks of nature or people, large effects can follow immediately. Even slightly less rain in summer brings drought, and too much rain in autumn rots the hay so that livestock cannot get through the winter. If there is too much snow in winter, sheep and goats cannot get to their feed, and if there is too little snow, there is no water to give livestock that get their moisture by eating snow instead of water. The fact that Mongolians raise livestock rather than farm is the work of this climate and land.

Tips for Travelers

• Because the temperature difference between day and night is large in summer, be sure to prepare a light jacket.
• Spring (February–April) has unstable weather. For sightseeing, summer to autumn, when the weather settles, is recommended.
• Winter is severely cold, but it has charms unique to winter, such as starry skies, diamond dust and events on the ice.

Wildlife and Birds

The animals you meet in Mongolia are not only livestock. Wild animals also live strongly within distinctive ecosystems, such as the mountains like the Altai range in the northwest, the dry Gobi region in the southeast, and the taiga (coniferous forest belt) in the north.

Wildlife

Birds

Mongolia is one of the popular places for bird watching. Different wild birds live in each environment, and besides raptors such as the cinereous vulture and steppe eagle, water birds such as demoiselle cranes and gulls are often seen. At lakes and marshes in the west, in season huge flocks of migratory birds gather, sometimes filling the water surface.

Observation Tips

• Wild animals can be seen even while traveling by car. Pika and tarbagan burrows, and water birds resting their wings on lakes, are closer to hand than you might expect.
• The animals you can see vary greatly by region and season. The animals you meet differ depending on where you go: the Gobi, steppe, mountains or taiga.
• You will enjoy it more if you bring binoculars or a telephoto lens. Be careful not to get too close to wild animals.

Mongolia, a Treasure House of Fossils

Mongolia is one of the top dinosaur fossil-producing countries in the world.

Why Are There So Many Fossils?

In the Mesozoic era when dinosaurs lived (about 200 million to 66 million years ago), rivers and lakes were widely distributed in the area where Mongolia lies, with deserts scattered here and there. It was more humid than today, with good conditions for large creatures to live. Though it is inland, at that time a sea spread south from the Arctic Ocean in western Siberia, and moist air flowed from there into Mongolia. Also, in the age of the dinosaurs the Himalayas in southern Asia did not yet exist, and the Indian subcontinent was far south in the Indian Ocean.

The Gobi Desert is an extremely dry region spreading from northern China to southern Mongolia. Many dinosaur fossils come from the Mesozoic strata distributed here. The fossil-bearing strata are sandstone and mudstone deposited in the rivers, lakes and deserts of that time, and because there were diverse natural environments, the habitats of dinosaurs were also diverse. From the strata, besides bone fossils, footprints and eggs (shells and nests) have also been found in large quantities. In addition to dinosaurs, fossils of birds (which evolved from carnivorous dinosaurs), pterosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, lizards, fish and primitive mammals are also abundant. Fish that lived in rivers and seas, insects, and plant pollen, leaves and trunks (petrified wood) are also found in large numbers.

Dinosaurs Discovered in Mongolia

The dinosaurs discovered in the Gobi Desert number as many as 70 kinds, and most of them are new species. Famous dinosaurs include Protoceratops, Psittacosaurus, Saurolophus, Tarbosaurus, Velociraptor and Oviraptor.

There are also various kinds of fossils of eggs laid by dinosaurs and the nests where they were laid. The shapes of eggs and nests differ by kind of dinosaur. These eggs are relatively easy to find when you visit the Gobi Desert. There are also fossils of Citipati with fetal bones remaining inside the egg, and fossils of Citipati that died in the nest with its arms spread like a bird's as if protecting its eggs. There is also a case in which about 20 young Protoceratops were fossilized as a group, an interesting discovery showing group behavior of dinosaurs.

Spectacular are the fossil dinosaur footprints. Footprints ranging from a few centimeters to over 1 m have been found, and many footprints remain of three-toed bipedal carnivorous dinosaurs and large four-legged herbivorous dinosaurs.

These precious dinosaur fossils have been excavated and studied by joint expeditions of the Soviet Union (at the time), Poland, the United States, Japan and Mongolia. The research results and specimens are now on display at the Khunnu Mall in Ulaanbaatar.

Famous Fossil Sites

There are many famous sites where dinosaur fossils are found in large quantities, including Bayanzag, Tugriken Shiree, Khermen Tsav and Bayshin Tsav in South Gobi Province, Bugin Tsav on the border with Bayankhongor Province, Khulsan in Gobisumber Province, and Khongil Tsav and Baynshiree in Dornogovi Province. The Gobi Desert is a special place that cannot be seen at all in Japan. Large sand dunes, vast salt lakes and dry grasslands spread out, and within them strata containing many dinosaur fossils are distributed, forming vast cliffs.

Fossils Other Than Dinosaurs

• Many mammal fossils about 34 million years old come from near Zamyn-Uud in the southeastern Gobi Desert. At that time rhinoceroses and tapirs that are now extinct, primitive deer and giant wild boars roamed around.
• In Khovd and Uvs Provinces in western Mongolia, fossils of primitive horses, rhinoceroses, elephants, giraffes, hyenas and tigers are found in strata about 7 million years old. At that time a landscape like the African savanna spread across Mongolia.

How to Visit and Precautions

• To reach the dinosaur fossil sites, you fly on a domestic flight to a nearby provincial capital and go from there by car. It takes time, but you can also go by car from Ulaanbaatar using well-maintained roads.
• Some travel agencies plan various tours, so joining a tour is a good idea.
• Excavating or collecting dinosaur fossils by anyone other than authorized specialists is prohibited by law.
• When visiting a site located in a nature reserve, special government permission may be required.
• Taking fossils out of the country is prohibited. Please be careful.