I can tell you individual cases of people I know about, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any study that gives a definitive answer of people who lived in Ulaanbaatar and went to countryside to become nomads. The best data I found in Statistical Office…

Metallurgy was practiced by our ancestors for thousands of years. During the Hunnu (xiongnu) empire, metalworking was well established and commonly practiced. Blacksmiths made astonishing works of art from metal, gold and silver. The composite bows and various types of arrows have been used extensively by the Hunnus. The arrowheads…

There is this controversy going on the amended Article 6.2 of the Constitution of Mongolia. The previous Article 6.2 stated: The land, except that in private ownership of the citizens of Mongolia, as well as the land subsoil, forests, water resources, and fauna shall be the property of the State. …

What did the Mongol Warriors carry during the conquests? Mongolian military had a decimal system. The smallest unit was 10 (aravt). Ten aravts became one hundred (zuun). Ten zuuns became thousand (myangat). Ten myangat became 10,000 (tumen). I think this part of Mongolian military trivia everybody is aware of. But…

Many people who write about socialist countries make these classic assumptions: Assumption#1: All North Koreans are forced to do whatever they are doing. Assumption#2 Anybody from North Korea, given the chance, would escape. Assumption#3: People would escape, but their loved ones would be executed. That’s the reason why they don’t …

Mongolia has plenty of Bronze age weapons that are found on the territory of Mongolia. These two, I think are the most beautiful. This bronze age helmet was found in the burial chambers in Bulgan Province, Mongolia.

One of the most fascinating facts about Soviet cars was that almost all of them were licensed vehicles from the US and Western countries. Despite the anti-communist rhetoric, car companies and equipment manufacturers in the West were more than happy to receive “red” gold. Subsequent models were designed and built…

Why do Mongols eat so much meat? This is the famous Mongolian hospitality talking. I was traveling once with several of my foreign colleagues in remote areas of Mongolia. Because some areas are so remote, there are no hotels available, so we stayed with the locals. The local family boiled…

If socialism was so great, why are there no people praising it? It is a case of survivorship bias. It is a tendency to read about the people on internet how they survived socialism and became successful, without the regard of people who clearly lost when the socialism collapsed. Reading…