Mongolia Habitat Guide

Mongolia is one of the largest land-locked countries in the world. Its boundaries touch Russia and China, and its topography ranges from mountains in the north to open desert and steppes in the south. Mongolia can be divided into six zones - desert, mountain, mountain taiga, mountain forest steppe, arid steppe and taiga.

The mountain belt of the Mongol Altai, Khangai and Khentii mountains in the northern part  of the country are almost totally alpine, with very little vegetation. Covered by snow throughout the year, the area has many glaciers. Further south is the mountain forest steppe belt; the mountain ranges and the southerly slopes  are covered by rough grass and scrub while the northern slopes are heavily forested - a strange combination indeed. Mongolia has high surface and ground water resources with plenty of water bodies (lakes and rivers), glaciers, mineral springs and springs. The northern region has most of Mongolia’s rivers and lakes - over 3000 of each. The longest river is the Orkhon at 1124 km.

Almost 20% of the country is steppe - vast flat grass-covered plains that include the Depression of Great Lakes and the Gobi Desert, a treeless, barren cold desert with some of the harshest climatic conditions on the planet. But the Gobi Desert also has some of the country’s most valuable mineral deposits. Deforestation, overgrazing, unplanned urbanisation and a lack of water resources are some of the main environmental problems facing Mongolia.