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1 1 (February 12, 2025)

handle is hein.crs/govesmm0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Con r sWan I Research Service infon Hg I K I ive d We 1914 Updated February 12, 2025 Mongolia Overyew Mongolia is a landlocked country that shares borders with two powerful neighbors, Russia and the People's Republic of China (PRC, or China). With a population of about 3.3 million and a land area slightly smaller than Alaska, Mongolia is the most sparsely inhabited country in the world. About half of the country's population lives in the capital, Ulaanbaatar. While Mongolians traditionally have been nomadic pastoralists, the country's economy is now highly dependent on its extensive mineral resources, with extractive industries accounting for over 90% of Mongolian exports. For almost 70 years after it gained independence from the Republic of China in 1921, Mongolia was a satellite state of the Soviet Union, under the one-party rule of the communist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP). Following a peaceful revolution in 1990, Mongolia embarked on a successful democratic transition. Mongolia's foreign relations reflect a desire to balance PRC and Russian influence by engaging with a range of other partners, including the United States, South Korea, Japan, and others. Some Members of Congress have expressed support for expanding U.S. engagement with Mongolia. Figure I. Mongolia at a Glance Sources: CIA World Factbook. Map created by CRS. Po tca Background Mongolia's political system is semi-presidential, with a parliament and prime minister as well as a popularly elected president. The prime minister is the head of government with primary responsibility for executive ministries, while the president plays the lead role in foreign policy and serves as the commander in chief of the armed forces. Although Mongolia has a multiparty system, since the country's 1990 democratization political power has alternated between the two major parties, the Mongolian People's Party (MPP, the successor to the MPRP) and the Democratic Party (DP). The DP and the MPP have established a track record of peaceful transitions of power. For most of its democratic history, Mongolia had a divided government, with the presidency and the parliamentary majority held by different parties. That changed in 2021, when the MPP won the presidency after having secured a supermajority in parliament in 2020. Mongolia's June 2021 presidential election delivered a decisive victory for MPP candidate Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh. Constitutional changes introduced in 2023 expanded the size of parliament from 76 directly-elected seats to 126, 78 directly-elected and 48 proportionally elected from nation-wide party lists. The MPP maintained its majority in 2024 parliamentary elections, winning 68 seats to the DP's 42; three smaller parties also won seats in parliament. Mongolia is the only formerly communist country in Asia classified as free by the U.S. nongovernmental organization Freedom House. According to Freedom House, political rights and civil liberties in Mongolia have been firmly institutionalized. The State Department calls Mongolia's achievements in terms of democratization and market reforms considerable, but describes institutional weakness and widespread corruption as enduring challenges. According to the State Department and other observers, corruption remains widespread at all levels of government, and the politicization of anticorruption efforts hampers their effectiveness. Following large anti-corruption protests in 2022, in 2023 Mongolia's government announced a new anti-corruption strategy intended to increase transparency and bolster cooperation with civil society and international organizations. Economy Mongolia has extensive deposits of minerals including copper, gold, coal, molybdenum, uranium, tin, and tungsten. While Mongolia's economy traditionally was based on herding and agriculture, the mining sector now accounts for over 25% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). China accounted for 91% of Mongolian exports and 41% of Mongolian imports as of 2023. Russia is Mongolia's second-largest source of imports, accounting for 26% of the total as of 2023, and provides over 90% of Mongolia's petroleum imports. In 2022, the government of Mongolia settled a long-running dispute with Anglo- Australian mining company Rio Tinto over the expansion of the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mining project, the largest foreign investment in Mongolia. The World Bank estimates 5.3% GDP growth in 2024, moderated from 7.2% in 2023 by slower coal exports to China and a contraction in the agricultural sector stemming from harsh weather conditions. Average growth in 2025-2026 is projected at 6.3%, driven primarily by the mining sector. As Mongolia has developed economically, Ulaanbaatar has become one of the world's cities with the highest levels of air pollution, fueled by coal-heated dwellings (gers or yurts), coal-fired power plants, and automotive exhaust. The growing number of cashmere goats, coupled with persistent drought, has contributed to overgrazing and the degradation or reduction of Mongolia's grasslands.

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