The huge and beautiful country with so few people it's 99 per cent empty

A huge and beautiful country located in north-central Asia is "99.7 percent empty" due to its low population density relative to its vast land area.

Mongolia is a landlocked country mainly covered by sparsely populated grasslands and semi-desert areas. In the past, Mongolia was the centre of a vast empire led by Genghis Khan, which extended into Europe.

One-third of people live in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, while about 40 percent of the workforce are nomads who herd animals in the vast grasslands.

(Camel riding in the breathtaking Gobi desert. It is the place where the first fossilised dinosaur eggs were found)

Much of Mongolia consists of arid or semi-arid steppe, desert, and mountainous regions, with extreme temperatures ranging from very hot summers to bitterly cold winters.

(A ger, the Mongolian name for a yurt, in the shadows of a skyscraper_may be similar in appearance to those from Genghis’s days but they are more comfortable with electric lights and fires that can be lit on chillier nights,)

These harsh environmental conditions make large parts of the country inhospitable for human settlement.

Despite its size, Mongolia is landlocked, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It spans 1.6 million square kilometres and is home to approximately 3.4 million people.

Traditionally, Mongolia has a nomadic herding culture, with many people living in rural areas and moving with their livestock to find grazing land and water sources.

(A map of Mongolia, which has a population of just 3.1 million.)

This lifestyle is conducive to lower population densities, as people are spread out across the vast landscape.

(A Mongolian boy carries a lamb)

While Mongolia's capital city, Ulaanbaatar, has experienced rapid urbanisation in recent years, with significant population growth and migration from rural areas, the country still faces challenges in providing infrastructure, services, and employment opportunities to support a larger urban population.

Ref: The huge and beautiful country with so few people it's 99 per cent empty (express)

Photo Credit: dailymail