Yearbook 2008
Mongolia. The parliamentary elections at the end of June led to severe unrest in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, when supporters of the bourgeois opposition claimed that there had been cheating. Five people were killed and over 300 injured, including hundreds of police officers, in clashes between protesters and riot police. The ex-communist victorious party MPRP’s headquarters was burned down and the city’s cultural palace was also set on fire.
The opposition’s demand that the voting bill be redone was rejected, and the many deaths led to the parties trying to put the dispute aside. The election results were set, as in four disputed terms, and resulted in a clear 44-seat MPRP (Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party) victory, ahead of the opposition Democratic Party with 26 seats in parliament. As a conciliatory gesture, the MPRP decided to include the Democratic Party in the government.
In May 1997, Natsagiyn Bagabandi of the Mongolian Revolutionary People’s Party won the presidential election by 60.8% of the vote. AD candidate, Punsalmaagiyn Otchirbat got only 29.8% of the vote. The result was interpreted as a punishment aimed at the government’s “shock therapy” implemented to ensure a swift transition to market economy.
- ABBREVIATIONFINDER: Click to see the meanings of 2-letter acronym and abbreviation of MN in general and in geography as Mongolia in particular.
The FAO estimated that in 1998, Mongolia needed 90,000 tonnes of food aid to solve the food crisis that threatened to trigger general famine.
In June 1998, a new law was passed requiring the use of surname in all valid documents. The law was a response to the demand for modernization and greater integration with the rest of the world, but at the same time triggered confusion and anxiety in the population. For centuries, the majority of the population have lived as nomads in small communities where the last name did not matter.
Lack of ability to curb the economic crisis and fierce criticism forced the government to resign at the end of 1998. It was replaced by a new government led by Janlaviin Narantsatsralt. Seven months later, in July 1999, Narantsatsralt and his 10 ministers also resigned. This was due to disagreements over the privatization of a copper mine that Mongolia owned jointly with Russia. Parliament appointed economist Rinchinnyamiin Amarjargal as new prime minister.
In January 2000, a number of NGOs released a report estimating the number of street children in the country at 4,000 – of which 3,000 in the capital. Acc. the National Children’s Council in 1992 – when the country abandoned the Soviet model – there were 300 street children in the country. The closure of factories and other workplaces had increased urban poverty, and in addition rural poverty. Acc. the traditional Mongol nomadic family pattern sends one or more children to the city when it can no longer feed everyone in the countryside. This system has worked for centuries, but is now broken down because family members in the cities no longer have the profits to take care of the children whose illnesses are exacerbated by the severe winters. Ulan Bator is the world’s coldest capital.
Living conditions for the entire population deteriorated seriously in the winter of 2000, the coldest in 55 years. The government declared half of the country to be a disaster area. Over 2 million cattle died, which equates to $ 1.65 billion. US $.
The July 2000 parliamentary elections were won by PPRM, who got 72 seats out of 76.
The winter of 2001 was even more severe than the year before with heavy snowstorms and temperatures below 50 ° C. 6 million pieces of cattle died from the cold. Both China, the International Red Cross and the United Nations called for international assistance to most affected 75,000 families. Especially the thousands of nomads whose survival is entirely dependent on their cattle.
In 2001, the IMF granted a three-year low-interest loan of DKK 40 million. US $ to be used for social programs, the fight against poverty and for economic growth.
Population 2008
According to Countryaah reports, the population of Mongolia in 2008 was 2,719,785, ranking number 141 in the world. The population growth rate was 1.490% yearly, and the population density was 1.7508 people per km2.