GEOGRAPHY
Mongolia has a 3485km (2165-mile)
border with the Russian Federation in the north and a 4670km (2902-mile)
border with China in the south. From north to south it can be
divided into four areas: mountain-forest steppe, mountain steppe
and, in the extreme south, semi-desert and desert (the latter
being about 3 per cent of the entire territory). The majority
of the country has a high elevation, with the principal mountains
concentrated in the west. The highest point is the peak of Tavan
Bogd, in the Altai Mountains, at 4374m (14,350ft). The lowest
point, Khukh Nuur lake, in the east, lies at 560m (1820ft). There
are several hundred lakes in the country and numerous rivers,
of which the Orkhon is the longest at 1124km (698 miles).
Official Name: Mongolia
Area: 1,566,500 sq. km. (604,103 sq. mi.); slightly larger
than Alaska (land boundaries 8,114 km.).
Terrain: Almost 90% of land area is pasture or desert wasteland,
of varying usefulness; 1% arable; 9% forested.
Climate: Continental, with little precipitation and sharp
seasonal fluctuations.
