Mongolian History - Research Paper Example

The central part of Mongolia has the Khangai Mountains, with peaks rising to heights of 3,700 to 4,025 meters (12,000 to 13,200 feet). These mountains have gentle slopes covered with fine pastureland. The Khentii Mountain range is in northeastern Mongolia and extends into Siberia. These mountains have an elevation of 2,130 meters (7,000 feet), with the highest peak at 2,800 meters (9,200 feet) (Lattimore). Mongolia lies on a continental divide. The rivers in the north of the country flow north towards the Arctic Ocean, and those in the northeast flow eastwards towards the Pacific Ocean.

The rivers in the western and southern two-thirds of the country drain into interior drainage basins. The region between the Altai and Khengai mountains is the Great Lakes region of Mongolia, with over 300 lakes. Another basin is between the Khengai and the Khentaii mountains. The Tuul and the Orkhon Rivers basin in this area is a fertile region and was the cradle of Mongolia’s settled way of life, different from the nomadic life in the other parts of the country. The capital Ulaanbaatar is on the Tuul River (Lattimore).

The southern plains of Mongolia transition into the Gobi desert that also stretches into China. The mountain range called Gurvan Saikhan in the southern Gobi has been the site where dinosaur fossils have been found. The Gobi desert spanning Mongolia and China measures over 1,600 km (1,000 miles) from southwest to northeast and 800 km (500 miles) from north to south, covering an area of 1,300,000 sq. km (500,000 sq. miles), making it one of the largest desert regions in the world. Most of the Gobi desert is made up of bare rock and not sand.

Mongolia has a continental climate with long, cold and dry winters and brief, mild and relatively wet summers. Winters start from early November and lasts about 110 days till March. Snowfall often occurs from October but is usually not very heavy. January is the coldest month in the country, with a mean temperature of – 20 0 C (-95 0 F). All lakes and water bodies freeze in the winter. The spring season starts in March and lasts some 60 days. The pasturelands see new green grass cover, and the days are dry and windy.