Geography of Mongolia

, Sayan Mountains and Khangai Mountains Mongolia has four major mountain ranges. These mountains also house the capital of Ulaanbaatar. The Khövsgöl Mountains occupy the north of the country. It trends from north to south and generally has a lot of steep peaks. Young mountain range with Alpine characteristics, high gradient, with narrow cliffs. Much of eastern Mongolia is occupied by a plain and the lowest area is a southwest-to-northeast trending depression that reaches from the Gobi Desert region in the south to the eastern frontier. == Rivers and lakes ==

Some of Mongolia's waterways drain to the oceans, but many finish at endorheic basins in the deserts and the depressions of Inner Asia. Rivers are most extensively developed in the north, and the country's major river system is that of the Selenge, which drains via Lake Baikal to the Arctic Ocean. The few streams of southern Mongolia do not reach the sea but run into lakes or deserts. In total, the lakes and rivers of Mongolia cover 10,560 square kilometres, or 0.67% of the country. == Climate ==

Overview Mongolia has a high elevation, with a cold and dry climate. Summer extremes reach as high as in the southern Gobi region and in Ulaanbaatar. Such losses of livestock, which are an inevitable and, in a sense, normal consequence of the climate, have made it difficult for planned increases in livestock numbers to be achieved. The Mongolian State Emergency Commission said it was the coldest winter in thirty years and, like the preceding harsh summer drought, In the snowstorms between the 8 and 28 May 2008, 21 people were killed and 100 others went missing in seven provinces in eastern Mongolia. The toll finally reached at least 52 people and 200,000 livestock by the end of June. Most of the victims were herders who froze to death along with their livestock. Climate change == Ecoregions ==

in Northern Mongolia • Altai montane forest and forest steppe • Khangai Mountains conifer forests • Selenge-Orkhon forest steppe • Sayan montane conifer forests • Trans-Baikal conifer forests • Daurian forest steppe • Mongolian-Manchurian grassland • Altai alpine meadow and tundra • Khangai Mountains alpine meadow • Sayan alpine meadows and tundra • Alashan Plateau semi-desert • Eastern Gobi desert steppe • Gobi Desert • Gobi Lakes Valley desert steppe • Great Lakes Basin desert steppe • Junggar Basin semi-desert == Resources and land use ==

Land use: arable land: 9.10% permanent crops: 0% other: 99.61% (2011) Irrigated land: 843 km² (2011) Total renewable water resources: 34.8 km 3 (2011) == See also ==