1966-1990 History of Mongolia





Mongolia since 1990



Constitution and Administration : Transition to democracy began in 1990, when demonstrations in capital Ulaanbataar forced the MPRP Politburo to resign and political parties besides the MPRP were legalized. In 1992 a new, democratic constitution was adopted. Contested elections for the Great Hural were held in 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000. 2004. Presidential elections were held in 1993, 1997, 2001, 2005. The MPRP and the National & Social Democrats are the major political forces vying for power.

Foreign Policy . In 2003 Mongolia joined the Coalition of the Willing and dispatched troops to Iraq.

The Economy . Mongolia hitherto was utterly dependent on the Soviet Union; transition meant to adapt to world market prices for imports. Numbers of livestock held in Mongolia 1990-1999 expanded : horses from 2.2 million to 2.9 million, cattle from 2.6 million to 3.7 million, sheep & goats from 19 million to 24 million (IHS p.300), while wheat production contracted from 467,000 metric tons in 1990 to 167,000 metric tons in 1999 (IHS p.200). The Mongolian economy showed signs of growth in 1994-1995, but then was hit by the Asian economic crisis in 1997. In 1997 Mongolia joined the WTO. In 2004, Russia wrote off most of Mongolia's debts.

Social History . Transition to a free market economy resulted in severe hardship. As Mongolia no longer could depend on supplies of subsidized Soviet oil, many multi-story apartment buildings were abandoned, the former tenants moving into yurts.
In 2001 an extremely cold winter killed much of the livestock so vital to Mongolia's economy.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Timetable History of Mongolia, from BBC News
Articles Politics of Mongolia, Mongolian Tugruk, Economy of Mongolia, from Wikipedia
Mongolia, from Global History of Currencies
DOCUMENTS
REFERENCE Alan J.K. Sanders, Historical Dictionary of Mongolia, London : Scarecrow 1996 [G]
IHS : International Historical Statistics : Africa, Asia & Oceania 1750-2000, edited by B.R. Mitchell, Basingstoke : Palgrave MacMillan 4th ed. 2003
Article : Mongolia, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1992-1993 pp.962-966, 1993-1994 pp.961-965, 1994-1995 pp.960-964, 1995-1996 pp.956-960, 1996-1997 pp.909-913, 1997-1998 pp.918-922, 1998-1999 pp.985-989, 2000 pp.1122-1126, 2001 pp.1095-1099, 2002 pp.1141-1145, 2003 pp.1140-1145, 2004 pp.1145-1149, 2005 pp.1153-1157, 2006 pp.1158-1163 [G]
Entry : Mongolia, Cabinet, p.69; Background Notes, pp.914-920, in : Countries of the World and their Leaders Yearbook, 2003 [G]
Entry : Mongolia, pp.730-733 in : IMF, International Financial Statistics Yearbook 2001 [G]
Article : Mongolia, in : Americana Annual 1993 p.370 (on events of 1992) [G]
Article : Mongolia, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1993 pp.401-402, 673, 1994 pp.401, 674, 1995 pp.446, 673, 1996 pp.445-446, 673, 1997 pp.453-454, 671, 2002 pp.466-467, 680 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on June 7th 2002, last revised on May 28th 2007

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