The Day Filled With Mongolia Facts

So as it turns out, you can find the answer to pretty much any question on the Internet. I haven't cited my sources because, well, most of them come from Wikipedia, and that's plain embarrassing. Also, I am not responsible for the accuracy of this information, as it did come from the Internet, after all.

Facts:

• (Outer) Mongolia is the 6th largest country in Asia and the 18th largest in the world, roughly the size of Alaska. (Inner Mongolia is under Chinese rule.)
• Population of the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, is over 1 million people
• Population of the country is just under 3 million
• The coldest month is January, with an average temperature of -35C (or -30F). Ulaanbaatar is the coldest and windiest nation capital in the world.
• Over 260 sunny days a year, with clear, cloudless skies (Mongolia is called Land of the Blue Sky)
• Life expectancy at birth: 63
• Literacy rate: 80%
• 94% of the population is ethnic Mongols
• Most prominent (94%) religion is Tibetan Buddhism
• There are more horses than people, and the Mongolian Takhi horse is the last wild horse in the world.
• The Gobi desert (which was once a sea) in Mongolia is where fossilized dinosaur remains were found in the 1920s, including dinosaur eggs (Roy Chapman Andrews' expeditions inspired the story of Indiana Jones)
• Mongolia has the oldest national park in the world: The Bogd Khan National Park, orig. 1778.
• Genghis Khan, who created an empire that covered most of Asia, could not read or write, but he commissioned the first Mongolian writing system. His grandson started the Yuan dynasty in China.
• No one knows where Genghis Khan's body is buried, adding even more intrigue to his legendary life.

Statue of Genghis Khan atop the largest horse statue in the world.

I can't wait to report on life in Mongolia from first-hand experience!! 15 days until I get on the plane!

Let me leave you with this gem, a supposed Mongolian proverb translated to English:

What is a joke for a cat will be death for a mouse.