Maritime claims: none—landlocked
Climate: desert; continental (large daily and seasonal temperature ranges)
Terrain: vast semidesert and desert plains; mountains in west and southwest; Gobi Desert in southeast
Natural resources: coal, copper, molybdenum, tungsten, phosphates, tin, nickel, zinc, wolfram, fluorspar, gold
Land use: 1% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 79% meadows and pastures; 10% forest and woodland; 10% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: harsh and rugged
Note: landlocked; strategic location between China and Soviet Union
- People
Population: 2,187,275 (July 1990), growth rate 2.7% (1990)
Birth rate: 35 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (1990)