December 29 is a Republic Day in Mongolia, celebrating their independence from China on that day in 1919.
Here are some of the quickest facts about Mongolia.
1. The present country Mongolia is roughly what the Chinese had called Outer Mongolia.
2. With only three million people in its 604,000 square miles, Mongolia is the world’s most sparsely populated sovereign state.
3. The Mongol Empire founded by Ghenghis Khan in 1206 became the world’s largest continuous land empire of all time.
4. Mongolia averages 257 cloudless days a year…
5. …but the average temperature in its capital Ulaanbaatar is -1.7C (29.7F) which makes it the world’s coldest capital city.
6. In Mongolia there are 13 times as many horses and 35 times as many sheep as people.
7. “A Mongolian without a horse is like a bird without wings.” (Old Mongolian saying)
8. A traditional Mongolian musical instrument is the “morin khuur”, a two-stringed cello made with one string of male horse hair and one female.
9. A glass of tomato juice and vinegar with sheep eyes in it is considered a good hangover cure in Mongolia.
10. Of Mongolia’s 26 Olympic medals, 24 are for wrestling, boxing or judo. The other two are for shooting.
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