Mongolia trivia: 48 questions and answers

Russia and China. Russia and China are Mongolia's only neighbours. Kazakhstan comes within 40 km at the western tip, but the two countries do not touch.

Tögrög. The Mongolian tögrög, written with the sign ₮. The tenge is Kazakhstan's currency.

True. True. With about 3.6 million people on 1.56 million km², Mongolia has only about two people per square kilometre.

The Orkhon. The Orkhon, 1,124 km long, flows entirely within Mongolia and joins the Selenge, which carries its water on to Lake Baikal in Russia. The Kherlen is longer in total, but part of it flows through China.

False. False. Mongolia is landlocked, and as of 2026 it is the second largest landlocked country in the world, after Kazakhstan.

1206. In 1206 an assembly of Mongol nobles on the Onon River proclaimed Temüjin Genghis Khan, ruler of all the Mongols.

Karakorum. Karakorum, in the Orkhon Valley, got walls and a palace under Ögedei in 1235. Its ruins lie next to the town of Kharkhorin.

Kublai Khan. Kublai Khan proclaimed the Yuan dynasty in 1271 and made Dadu, today's Beijing, his capital. Ögedei was a son, not a grandson.

The Qing empire of China. The Qing empire of China was collapsing. Mongolian nobles declared independence on 1 December 1911, and on 29 December the Bogd Khan was enthroned as their monarch.

The People's Revolution of 1921. Naadam is held from 11 to 13 July, around the anniversary of the People's Revolution of 1921.

True. True. Young people protested in the central square of the capital, the communist leadership resigned in March 1990, and multi-party elections followed that summer.

False. False. Genghis Khan died in 1227, and the place of his grave is still unknown.

Steamed meat dumplings. Buuz are steamed meat dumplings, filled with minced mutton or beef, the traditional dish of Tsagaan Sar, the Lunar New Year.

Mare (horse). Airag is fermented milk of the mare (horse), slightly sour and fizzy, with only about 0.7 to 2.5 percent alcohol.

Khuushuur. Khuushuur, flat pastries filled with minced meat and fried, are sold by the thousand at Naadam in July.

Salt. Süütei tsai is brick tea boiled with milk and a pinch of salt, sometimes with butter. It is always offered to a guest first.

True. True. Mutton, water, vegetables and stones heated in the fire are sealed in a milk can or pot, and the hot stones are passed round before the meal.

Ul boov. Ul boov are patterned biscuits stacked in layers for the Lunar New Year; the pile stands for Mount Sumeru.

False. False. Aaruul are dried curds, pressed and dried in the sun until they are hard and sour. They keep for months.

About half. About half: some 1.8 million of Mongolia's 3.6 million people live in the capital.

Red Hero. The capital was renamed Ulaanbaatar, 'Red Hero', in 1924. 'White Moon' is the meaning of Tsagaan Sar, the Lunar New Year.

A copper mine. Erdenet was founded in 1974 for a copper mine, a huge one that earns a large share of Mongolia's income.

True. True. Kharkhorin is in the Orkhon Valley, and Erdene Zuu Monastery was partly built from the stones of Karakorum.

Genghis Khan. The 40 m stainless steel statue of Genghis Khan on horseback stands at Tsonjin Boldog, about 54 km east of Ulaanbaatar.

Fossil dinosaur eggs. The 1923 discovery of fossil dinosaur eggs made the Flaming Cliffs, in the Gobi, famous around the world.

The sand hums and roars when it moves. The sand hums and roars when it moves: when the wind shifts it or it slides down the slopes, the dunes make a loud sound.

True. True. It also holds about 0.4 percent of all the fresh water in the world.

Gandan Monastery. Gandan Monastery in Ulaanbaatar reopened in 1944 and was the country's only active monastery until 1989. Today it is the largest active monastery in Mongolia.

True. True. It belongs to the Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape, a World Heritage Site since 2004.

Contiguous land empire. It was the largest contiguous land empire: at its height the Mongol Empire stretched without a break from the Sea of Japan to Eastern Europe.

Przewalski's horse. Przewalski's horse, the takhi, disappeared from the wild in 1969. Horses bred in zoos were released in Mongolia from 1992.

Two. The morin khuur has two strings, traditionally made of horse hair, and a scroll carved like a horse's head.

True. True. It is written in vertical columns that run from left to right. Everyday Mongolian today uses the Cyrillic alphabet.

Children. The jockeys are children, usually between 5 and 13 years old, and the races run across open country.

False. False. At the end of 2025 Mongolia counted about 58 million farm animals, around 16 for every person.

The Cemetery Complexes of the Xiongnu Nobility. The Cemetery Complexes of the Xiongnu Nobility were inscribed in 2026. The Orkhon Valley was listed in 2004, Uvs Nuur in 2003 and Dauria in 2017.

Thank you. Bayarlalaa (баярлалаа) means 'thank you'. Goodbye is bayartai.

The round felt tent of Mongolian herders. A ger (гэр) is the round felt tent of Mongolian herders, and many families still live in one. In English it is also called a yurt.

Desert, dry land. Govi (говь) means desert, dry land, and Mongolians use it for all the dry regions of the plateau.

Cyrillic. Mongolian is written in the Cyrillic alphabet, and as of 2026 the traditional Mongolian script is also used in official documents.

Sain baina uu. Sain baina uu (сайн байна уу) is the everyday greeting; it literally asks 'are you well?'.

Nokhoi khor! (Hold the dog!). Nokhoi khor! (Hold the dog!) is called out instead of knocking, so the family can hold back their guard dogs.

True. True. It means 'Are you at peace?' and is said while the younger person supports the elder's arms from below in the zolgokh greeting.

11 to 13 July. Naadam is held from 11 to 13 July, with wrestling, horse racing and archery. Book hotels and tours well ahead.

True. True. Step over it. Inside, do not walk between or lean on the two central posts.

They can carry plague. They can carry plague: wild marmots may be infected, so visitors should not handle them or eat marmot meat.

False. False. Cards are common in Ulaanbaatar, but in the countryside you need cash in tögrög.

In a four-wheel-drive vehicle with a local driver. Most visitors travel in a four-wheel-drive vehicle with a local driver, or on a tour, because many country roads are dirt tracks with few signs.