Earth and air shape Mongolia
Livestock in Mongolia outnumber humans 15 to 1, and one-third of the country's 3 million people still rely on animal husbandry for their living. But climate change and record-breaking cold winters in the past two decades have wiped out whole herds and forced hundreds of thousands of bereft nomads to flock to Ulaanbaatar, the capital city, in hopes of finding a new start. Now, 70 percent of the city's residents live in ger (yurt) districts – settlements of displaced nomads living without electricity or sanitation – while Ulaanbaatar struggles to provide public utilities to a mushrooming population.
But Mongolia also has a new hope: Home to some of the world's largest untapped reserves of copper, gold, rare earth elements, and coal, Mongolia was the world's fastest-growing economy in 2011. As a consequence, Ulaanbaatar is becoming more cosmopolitan, while the wealth and potential of huge mines, such as Oyu Tolgoi in the Gobi Desert, help expand cities, build schools, renovate monasteries, and provide jobs to a new generation of graduates. But even as the push and pull of a booming new industry shapes the future of Mongolia, most here still look to herders as the country's stewards of cultural history and heritage.
But Mongolia also has a new hope: Home to some of the world's largest untapped reserves of copper, gold, rare earth elements, and coal, Mongolia was the world's fastest-growing economy in 2011. As a consequence, Ulaanbaatar is becoming more cosmopolitan, while the wealth and potential of huge mines, such as Oyu Tolgoi in the Gobi Desert, help expand cities, build schools, renovate monasteries, and provide jobs to a new generation of graduates. But even as the push and pull of a booming new industry shapes the future of Mongolia, most here still look to herders as the country's stewards of cultural history and heritage.
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