Mongolia

Mongolia in a nutshell

(sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolia)

Mongolia ( Mongolian: Монгол улс, literally Mongol country/nation) is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 24 miles (38 km) from Kazakhstan's eastern tip.

The population of Mongolia is around 2.9 million.

Ulan Bator, the capital and largest city, is home to about 38% of the population.

Mongolia's political system is a parliamentary republic.

At 1,564,116 square kilometres, Mongolia is the nineteenth largest and the most sparsely populated independent country in the world. It is also the world's second-largest landlocked country after Kazakhstan.

The country contains very little arable land, as much of its area is covered by steppes, with mountains to the north and west and the Gobi Desert to the south.

Approximately 30% of the country's people are nomadic or semi-nomadic. However, Mongolia has become more urbanized. About 40 percent of the population lives in Ulaanbaatar, and in 2002 a further 23% lived in Darkhan, Erdenet, the aimag centers and sum-level permanent settlements. Another share of the population lives in the sum centers. In 2002, about 30 percent of all households in Mongolia lived from breeding lifestock. Most herders in Mongolia follow a pattern of nomadic or semi-nomadic pastoralism.

The predominant religion in Mongolia is Tibetan Buddhism, and the majority of the state's citizens are of the Mongol ethnicity, though Kazakhs, Tuvans, and other minorities also live in the country, especially in the west.

Mongolia is divided into 21 aimags (provinces), which are in turn divided into 315 sums (districts). The capital Ulan Bator is administrated separately as a khot (municipality) with provincial status.

The official language of Mongolia is Khalkha Mongolian, which uses the Cyrillic alphabet, and is spoken by 90% of the population. A variety of different dialects are spoken across the country. In the west the Kazakh and Tuvan languages, among others, are also spoken. The Russian language is the most frequently spoken foreign language in Mongolia, followed by English, though English has been gradually replacing Russian as the second language.[citation needed] Korean has gained popularity as tens of thousands of Mongolians work in South Korea.[30] Interest in Chinese, as the language of the other neighbouring power, has been growing. Japanese is also popular among the younger people. A number of older educated Mongolians speak some German, as they studied in the former East Germany, while a few speak other languages from the former Eastern Bloc. Besides that, many younger Mongolians are fluent in the Western European languages as they study or work in foreign countries including Germany, France and Italy.

Mongolia education system

During the state socialist period, education was one of the areas of significant achievement in Mongolia. Illiteracy was virtually eliminated, in part through the use of seasonal boarding schools for children of nomadic families. Funding to these boarding schools was cut in the 1990s, contributing to slightly increased illiteracy.

Primary and secondary education formerly lasted ten years, but was expanded to eleven years. Since the 2008-2009 school year, new first graders are using the twelve year system. As such, full transition to the twelve year system will not happen until the 2019-2020 school year, when the current first graders graduate.

Higher education

Universities in Mongolia

Mongolian national universities are all spin-offs from the National University of Mongolia and the Mongolian University of Science and Technology.

The broad liberalization of the 1990s led to a boom in private institutions of higher education.

National University of Mongolia (sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_University_of_Mongolia)

The National University of Mongolia (short: NUM; Mongolian Монгол Улсын Их Сургууль, Mongol Ulsyn Ikh Surguul) is the oldest University in Mongolia. It hosts twelve schools and faculties in Ulan Bator, and runs branches in the Zavkhan and Orkhon Aimags. Approximately one third of the academically educated Mongolians have graduated from NUM.

During socialism, the University served as a training center for the party elite. Education was paid for and strictly controlled by the state. After democratization it gradually changed into a more modern university. In 1995 it started to offer bachelor's, master's, and PhD programs.

In 2006 there were 12,000 students enrolled, including 2000 graduate students. The University offers over 80 undergraduate and graduate programs, mostly using Mongolian language as the medium of instruction.

Its web site is in theory at http://www.num.edu.mn but is not always accessible.

Mongolian University of Science and Technology (sourced from its web site at http://www.must.edu.mn/emust/)

The Mongolian University of Science and Technology (MUST), one of the Leading State Universities of the country, is situated on its extensive campuses in Ulaanbaatar City, Darkhan, Erdenet, Uburkhangai, and Sukhbaatar provinces.

MUST is made up of 17 professional schools, colleges and 3 research institutes and 36 experimental and technology centers whose faculty offer educational opportunities to students ranging from first-year undergraduates through doctoral-level candidates in engineering, technology, and others. Currently about 20,000 students including international students are enrolling and enjoying life at the university, and and 120 professors and over 1000 staff are engaged in student training, educational and research activities, university administration and management.

Virtual Campuses in HE

Interesting Programmes

See the Health Sciences University of Mongolia - but there is doubt as to how active this is.

Re.ViCa Case-study

None.

References

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