Kayoko Zahn

Mongolia

Geography of Mongolia Location/Geography:

East and Central Asia Bordered by China and Russia Landlocked

Capital: Ulan Bator (the world’s coldest capital city)

Area: Slightly smaller than Alaska Land used for grazing: 80.7%

Source of maps: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mg.html

Geography of Mongolia (cont.) Climate:

desert; continental large daily and seasonal temperature

ranges

Economic activity as regards to its geography: Traditionally based on herding and agriculture Mineral deposits (copper, gold, coal, molybdenum, etc.)

Agricultural products: Wheat, barley, vegetables, forage crops; sheep, goats, cattle, camels,

horses

Source: http://www.mongoliatourism.gov.mn/page/259/

People of Mongolia Mongols and Mongolia:

The map on the right shows the boundary of 13th century Mongol Empire and location of today's Mongols in modern Mongolia, Russia, Central Asian States and China.

Population: 3,179,997 (US population 313,847,465) in July 2012 (Livestock population: 30,500,000)

Ethnic Groups: Mongol (mostly Khalkha) 94.9%, Turkic (mostly

Kazakh) 5%, other (including Chinese and Russian) 0.1% Language:

Khalkha Mongol 90% (official), Turkic, Russian Soviet economic aid stopped in:

1991 Population living on less than $2 a day:

75%

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongols

Religions Religions:

Buddhist Lamaist (Tibetan Buddhism) 50%, Shamanist and Christian 6%, Muslim 4%, none 40%

Tibetan Buddhism: “A form of Mahayana Buddhism with an admixture of

indigenous animism that is practiced in Tibet, Mongolia, Bhutan, and neighboring areas.” (from thefreedictionary.com)

“A Buddhist doctrine that includes elements from India that are not Buddhist and elements of preexisting shamanism” (from dictionary.com)

Vegetarianism is rare in Tibetan Buddhism.

Mongolian Culture Influenced by the Mongol nomadic way of life Other influences from Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism, and

from China Since the 20th century, Russian and, via Russia, European

culture have had a strong effect on Mongolia

"Mongolia's return to religion" from the BBC News websitehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3113839.stm

“At the beginning of the 20th Century, more than half the male population of this landlocked country lived as monks in places like Ganden. But then came communism...”

Holiday and Celebrations in Mongolia National Holiday:

Independence Day/Revolution Day, 11 July (1921) Celebrations:

Tsagaan Sar (the white month): a celebration of New Year held in the first month of spring, addition of age and safe ending of winter for animals.

Naadam: the traditional Mongolian summer festival

The 2012 National Naadam FestivalSource: http://www.mongoliatourism.gov.mn/newsView/180

NaadamSource: http://www.e-mongol.com/mongolia_culture.htm

Foods

Food expenditure for one week: 41,985.85 togrogs or $40.02Family recipe : Mutton dumplingsSource of the photo: http://www.eatnineghost.com/what-the-world-eats/

What the World Eats, Part I - Photo Essays - TIMEhttp://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519,00.html

Mongolia : The Batsuuri family of Ulaanbaatar

Foods An old Mongolian saying advises: “Keep breakfast for yourself, share lunch with

your friend and give dinner to your enemy”. Mongolian traditional meals (such as buuz, khuushuur and bansh) are made with

minced meat seasoned with garlic or onion (it can be anything from mutton to beef to camel to horse to gazelle) covered with flour and steamed in boiling water, fried in oil and boiled in water. The use of spice is limited.

Khorkhog (left) served with a plate of meat and vegetables (right)

KhuushuurBuuz

Source of photos: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_cuisine

Mongolian Beef is not a traditional Mongolian food!

Annual Meat Consumption

USA

Mongolia

Copied from “What the world’s eat” on page 76

Original source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2001-3)

Mongolian American

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_American

Mongolian American communities today are composed largely of migrants who arrived in the 1990s and 2000s, as communism in Mongolia came to an end and restrictions on emigration lifted.

Since the population size of the Mongolian immigrants is not very large the influence in food culture to the US seems to be limited.

Summary Culture

Traditional nomadic way of life Influences from Tibet and from China Influences from Russian and, via Russia, European culture

Religion Tibetan Buddhism Shamanism

Food customs and practices Traditional Mongolian diet depends on meat and dairy products. This was due to the country’s dry, mountainous landscape and

nomadic culture. In spite of the influences of Buddhism, vegetarianism is not common.

References “Mongolia - CIA - The World Factbook”, The CIA website, Web. 7 Sept. 2012. https://

www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mg.html “Discover Mongolia - Official tourism website of Mongolia”, The website of Ministry of

Nature, Environment and Tourism, Mongolia, Web. 7 Sept. 2012. http://www.mongoliatourism.gov.mn/

“Mongolian Culture : Arts, language, Food, Tsagaan Sar & Nadaam ”, The The Best of Mongolia website, Web. 7 Sept. 2012. http://www.e-mongol.com/mongolia_culture.htm

"An Introduction to Mongolia: The Legacy of Chinggis Khan.", The asianart.com website, Web, 7 Sept. 2012. http://www.asianart.com/mongolia/intro.html

"Mongolia's return to religion.", the BBC news website, Web. 7 Sept. 2012. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3113839.stm

D'Aluisio, Faith, and Menzel, Peter, What the World Eats. Berkeley: Tricycle Press, 2008. Print.

"Mongolian cuisine.", the Wikipedia website, , Web. 7 Sept. 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_cuisine

"Mongolian Food.", the Exploremongolia.blogspot.com website, Web. 7 Sept. 2012. http://exploremongolia.blogspot.com/2011/05/mongolian-food.html