Mongolia

Mongolians are overwhelmingly ethnic Mongol, heirs to a nomadic and pastoral heritage, with Kazakh and other minorities. Mongolian is the national language, and a large share of the population still herds livestock or has recently urbanized.

Tibetan Buddhism is the dominant faith, revived after the communist era, alongside shamanist traditions and a Muslim Kazakh minority.

Society

Mongolia has high literacy and a young population, increasingly concentrated in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, even as a herding way of life endures on the steppe.