At the Mongolia’s southern border we find the Gobi desert, while its northern border is made by wide forests and mountains with glaciers. The remaining part of territory, about 65%, is made by steppe grasslands. Climate is characterized by hot summers and hard winters: with 260 sunny days a year, Mongolia has been called “the land of blue skies”.

Favourable geographic and climatic conditions allowed to develop the breeding of horses, yaks, sheeps, goats, camels and cows which give skin, leather, wool and cashmere, one of the strongest sectors of the Mongolian economy.

Moreover, Mongolia is a country rich of mineral deposits as oil, coal, copper, molybdenum, uranium, tungsten, tin, nickel, phosphates, zinc, gold, silver and fluorite: these elements are a very big part of the industrial production and of the foreign direct investments.

With a total area of 1,6 millions square kilometres, Mongolia is the fifth largest Country in Asia. Today the population has reached 2,7 millions giving an overall population density of almost 2 person per square kilometre and making Mongolia the last densely populated country in the world.

Since 1990, Mongolia has been undergoing a demographic transition defined by a reduc¬tion in fertility and death rates. The population growth rate decreased from 2.7% in 1990 to an average of 1.17% in 2003-2008. However, life expectancy has steadily improved because of social changes and improvement in the health sector.

Mongolia has become more urbanized. About 58% of the population lives in the cities, the main being Ulaanbaatar, the capital city.

The population is predominantly young. With 69,5% between 15 and 64 years of age, and only 4% aged 65 years or over, Mongolia is the youngest country in the world for average age. The adult literacy rate is reported today at 97.3%.