Density...

The large reletively unspoiled country of Mongolia is well known for its natural beauty.

The nature in Mongolia, although currently under thread, has been preserved mainly thanks to a low population density and only a basic infrastructure.

Part of Taiwan
Officially Taiwan considers Mongolia to be part of their territory. Taiwan still considers itself by constitution the Republic Of China, claiming the complete territory of the present People's Republic of China, but also the current Republic of Mongolia.

Money
1200 Mongolian tugrug is about USD 1 (for current rate see Yahoo finance).

Growing population
In between 1989 and 2000 the number of households increased by 26.5%.

Domestic
In Mongolia gerbils are wild animals!
contributed by: feralkitty96, see more gerbils

Snooker animals
The horse and camel are very important animals in Mongolia. Even the bridges for playing snooker are called after them

No Offence
When you walk on the street and by accident bump into a person, don't be surprised if the other reaches for your hand. Just simply shake the hand or even just touch it to apologize and express that was indeed by accident. The same applies if your legs hit someone else's under the table.

Example
Joining Mongolians for a drink of vodka is often a big pleasure. But unfortunately alcoholism is a big problem in Mongolia. Government sets an example by prohibiting the use of alcohol in the parliament building, except for an occasional glass of champagne at a celebration.

Hospitality
When distances are far and communication difficult, hospitality is essential for survival. People in Mongolian countryside will always have a bowl of warm salty milk tea ready for you and are wiling to share any food they have. You can sometimes really feel embarrassed by the warmhearted generosity of the Mongolians, in that case - and many other cases as well - it is nice to have some small presents at hand!

Entertainment
In a regular nightclub you have a rather good chance that at some point the music changes and a Russian  dancing group, a few jugglers or a striptease act appears on the stage.

Excuse

The chairman of an American soft-drink company attributed sluggish sales of his new product line to the outbreak of a rare yak disease in Mongolia. ("Yaks are our chief delivery mode in Central Asia," he explained).

Eeer, maybe come and visit.

Dinos
Joint expeditions of the American Museum of Natural History and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences to the Gobi Desert of Mongolia have been able to collect bones of more than 150 dinosaurs and 300 lizards and the skulls of 240 mammals in Mongolia.

Belt and belly
If you have trouble distinguishing a Mongolian man from a Chinese just by his face, try to discretely look down a little bit. If the person wears his belt on the belly you can be almost certain he is Chinese, but if the belt is below the belly, most probably you are dealing with a Mongolian!

Camels in the snow
People might associate camels with the deserts of Africa, but the two humped Bactrian camel is actually indigenous to Mongolia. The one humped Arabian camel is the one you will find in Northern Africa, Western Asia and your package of cigarettes, but in many places in Mongolia the camel is essential as a means of transportation. Quite striking are the pictures of camels carrying a ger in land covered by snow with a cone of ice dripping from their nose.

Walking phones
Statistics tell us that in 2000 2,1 of the rural households had a telephone; and 29,3% of the urban households. What they don't tell us are the very convenient walking phone booths: In the streets of Ulaanbaatar you will find a big number of so called MobiPhones. Their size is about two times a regular phone, but everywhere you see them at the small kiosks or people just sitting or walking around with them giving you the opportunity to phone for 100 tugrug.

Diet
Mongolia's diet is very much based on meat and dairy products. The local alcoholic drink is airag, fermented mare's milk.

Natural Freezer
In the winter you will find find venders on the street selling ice cream just from paper boxes. No need for a freezer at -30°C.

Big
Mongolia is the largest landlocked country in the world.

Fishy
Sea food is not a favorite dish in Mongolia. Since it is a landlocked country the only source of fish are the lakes and rivers. Near lake Khovsgul - containing 2% of the world's fresh water - the shamanic people only fish in certain periods, while the Buddhist people completely refrain from eating fish.

Cracking wood
Electricity poles in Mongolia have a concrete base to which the wooden pole is attached. Without the concrete the wooden pole wood simply snap by the pressure of the freezing ground.

More?
If you know anymore funny or interesting facts about Mongolia, please let us know.