Disclaimer
This report was compiled by an ADRC visiting researcher (VR) from ADRC
member countries.
The views expressed in the report do not necessarily reflect the views of the ADRC.
The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on the maps in the report
also do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the ADRC.

COUNTRY REPORTContents:
1. General information about Mongolia
2. Overview of disasters and accidents in Mongolia
3. Disaster Management System

1. GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT MONGOLIA
The territory of Mongolia is located in the central part of Asia between 41°35"52°08" of latitude and 87°44" -119°55" of longitude, neighboring with Russia along 3543
km in the north and with China along 4709.6 km in the south. Mongolia comprises 1564.1
thousand square kilometers of land and the 17th largest country in the world. It is 2392
km from west to eastern frontier and 1259 km from north to southern frontier. The average
altitude is 1 580 m and the highest point is the Huiten mountain peak with 4374 meter
above sea level and located in the west while the lowest is the Khokh Nuur Depression
with 532 meter above sea level and located in the east. The average altitude is 1580 m
above sea level and Ulaanbaatar is at 1350 meter.
Mongolia's population is 3,409,939, of which 45 percent live in Ulaanbaatar, thelargest city.
The country contains very little arable land, as much of its area is coveredby steppes, with mountains to the north and west and the Gobi Desert to the south.
Approximately 30% of the population are nomadic or semi-nomadic.
The predominant religion in Mongolia is Tibetan Buddhism, and the majority of thestate's citizens are of Mongol ethnicity, although Kazakhs, Tuvans, and other minorities
also live in the country, especially in the west.
1-1. Geographical Data
Mongolia is a landlocked country in Central Asia, strategically locatedbetween China and Russia.
The terrain is one of mountains and rolling plateaus, with a high degree of relief.
Overall, the land slopes from the high Altay Mountains of the west and the north to plainsand depressions in the east and the south. The western Mongolia on the Chinese borderis the highest point (4,374 metres). The lowest is 518 metres, an otherwise
undistinguished spot in the eastern Mongolian plain. The country has an average
elevation of 1,580 metres. The landscape includes one of Asia's largest freshwater lakes(Lake Khuvsgul), many salt lakes, marshes, sand dunes, rolling grasslands, alpine forests,
and permanent mountain glaciers. Northern and western Mongolia are seismically active
zones, with frequent earthquakes and many hot springs and extinct volcanoes. The
nation's closest point to any ocean is approximately 960 kilometres (600 mi) from thecountry's easternmost tip bordering northern China to Chongjin in North Korea along thecoastline of the Sea of Japan.
Topography
Mongolia has three major mountain ranges. The highest is the Altai Mountains,which stretch across the western and the southwestern regions of the country on anorthwest-to-southeast axis. The Khangai Mountains, mountains also trending northwest
to southeast, occupy much of central and north-central Mongolia. These are older, lower,
and more eroded mountains, with many forests and alpine pastures. The Khentii
Mountains near the Russian border to the northeast of Ulaanbaatar, are lower still. Muchof eastern Mongolia is occupied by a plain, and the lowest area is a southwest-tonortheast trending depression that reaches from the Gobi Desert region in the south tothe eastern frontier. The rivers drain in three directions: north to the Arctic Ocean, east tothe Pacific, or into the deserts and the depressions of Inner Asia. Rivers are mostextensively developed in the north, and the country's major river system is that of
the Selenge, which drains into Lake Baikal. Some minor tributaries of Siberia's Yenisei
River also rise in the mountains of northwestern Mongolia. Rivers in northeastern
Mongolia drain into the Pacific through the Argun and Amur (Heilong Jiang) rivers, while
the few streams of southern and western Mongolia do not reach the sea but run into lakes
or deserts.
1-2. Climate information
Mongolia is high, cold, and dry. It has an extreme continental climate with long,cold winters and short summers, during which most precipitation falls. The country
averages 257 cloudless days a year, and it is usually at the centre of a region of highatmospheric pressure. Precipitation is highest in the north, which averages 200 to 350
millimetres (7.9 to 13.8 in) per year, and lowest in the south, which receives 100 to 200
millimeters (3.9 to 7.9 in). The extreme south is the Gobi Desert, some regions of which
receive no precipitation at all in most years. The name Gobi is a Mongol word meaning
desert, depression, salt marsh, or steppe, but which usually refers to a category of arid
rangeland with insufficient vegetation to support marmots but with enough to support
camels. Mongols distinguish Gobi from desert proper, although the distinction is notalways apparent to outsiders unfamiliar with the Mongolian landscape. Gobi rangelands
are fragile and are easily destroyed by overgrazing, which results in expansion of the truedesert, a stony waste where not even Bactrian camels can survive.
Average temperatures over most of the country are below freezing from November
through March and are about freezing in April and October. January and February
averages of −20 °C (−4 °F) are common, with winter nights of −40 °C (−40 °F) occurring
most years. Summer extremes reach as high as 38 °C (100.4 °F) in the southern Gobi
region and 33 °C (91.4 °F) in Ulaanbaatar. Most of Mongolia is covered by discontinuous
permafrost (grading to continuous at high altitudes), which makes construction, roadbuilding, and mining difficult. All rivers and freshwater lakes freeze over in the winter, andsmaller streams commonly freeze to the bottom. Ulaanbaatar lies at 1,351 meters(4,432 ft) above sea level in the valley of the Tuul River. Located in the relatively wellwatered north, it receives an annual average of 310 millimetres (12.2 in) of precipitation,
almost all of which falls in July and in August. Ulaanbaatar has an average annual
temperature of −2.9 °C (26.8 °F) and a frost-free period extending on the average from
mid-June to late August.
1-3. Demographic data
Mongolia is a parliamentary republic. The president is directly elected. The people
also elect the deputies in the national assembly, the State Great Khural, which chooses
the prime minister, who nominates the Cabinet in consultation with the president. The
Khural confirms the ministers.
Mongolia is divided into 21 provinces (aimags), which are in turn divided into
329 districts (sums). The territory of Mongolia is divided into western, khangai, central
and eastern regions, and each region includes the following aimags:

Western region: Bayan-Ulgii, Govi-Altai, Zavkhan, Uvs and Khovd aimag;
Khangai region: Arkhangai, Bayankhongor, Bulgan, Orkhon, Uvurkhangai andKhuvsgul aimag;
Central region: Govisumber, Darkhan-Uul, Dornogovi, Dundgovi, Umnugovi,
Selenge and Tuv aimag;
Eastern region: Dornod, Sukhbaatar and Khentii aimag;
The capital Ulaanbaatar is administrated separately as a capital city (municipality)with provincial status.
Table 1. Number of population 2017-2021
Region

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

Western

400 703408 979

412 036415 091

418 607

Khangai

593 645604 353605 216604 200

606 430

Central504 319513 438

516 611515 880

518 344

Eastern

216 259

220 334

223 193

225 081

227 386

Ulaanbaatar

1 462 973

1 491 375

1 539 810

1 597 290

1 636 172

Total

3 177 899

3 238 479

3 296 866

3 357 542

3 409 939

Ethnic group: Khalkha - 83.0 %, Kazakh – 3.78 %, other ethnic group (including
Durvud, Buriad, Bayad and Dariganga etc.) – 22.12 %, others (including Russia, China
and foreign citizenship) – 8.9 % (2020).
Agriculture, hunting and forestry were the main sectors of employment in Mongolia
from 1940 to 1998. Since 1999, employment has increased in mining and quarrying,
manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles,
education, human health, and social work activities sectors. An analysis of classificationof all economic activities sector revealed that employment in the agriculture, forestry, andhunting sectors was 86.7 percent in 1940 and reached 23.8 percent in 2020.
2. OVERVIEW OF DISASTERS AND ACCIDENTS IN MONGOLIA
The frequency of disasters and their impact has increased over recent years
including Mongolia, as a result of global climate change, with disturbances to ecologicalbalance and urbanization. Disaster can lead to widespread loss of life, directly andindirectly affect large segments of the population and cause significant environmental
damage and large-scale economic and social harm. Classification of natural and humaninduced hazards in Mongolia is shown on Table 1.
Table 2. Natural and human induced hazards in Mongolia
Classification
Natural hazards
and disasters

Type
Climatic
Phenomena

Hazardous

Disasters
Snow storm
Severe snowfall
Dzud /harsh winter condition/
Dust storm
Flood
Steppe and forest fireDesertification
Thunderstorm
Earthquake
Landslides
Spread of detrimental rodents
Human infectious disaster
Livestock and animal infectious diseases
Industrial accidents
Traffic accidents
Leakage of chemical and radiological substances
Explosion
Building fire
Public disorder
Terrorist attack

Geological threats
Biological threats

Humanhazards

inducedTechnological accidents

SocialAs a result of global climatic changes, global warning, and the impact of harmful
human activities there has been an increase in the number and frequency of natural andhuman induced hazards in Mongolia.

201

175

198

225

193

208

203

248

2304

155.03237

1 915 459.03

12694

80.9

4006

31 317.5

4990

26.2

4373

35 800.63758

1 417.04373

81 900.0

5426

536.1

4928

69 724.44467

1 059.3

Numbers of natural andhuman induced hazard

4047

43 073.6

2021

202.9

2020

79 951.8

2019

13.2

2018

25 164.3

2017

235.6

2016

21 961.4

2015

13.1

2014

94 482.6

2013

Livestock deaths/thousand heads/

2012

Economic damages/mln. tog/

Years

Number ofdeathsTable 3. Recapitulation of natural and human induced hazard occurrences /2012 - 2021/

Mongolian economy is heavily reliant on the livestock sector where approximately
49% of the total labour force is employed. As the livestock sector is highly sensitive toextreme weather, and the natural resource represented by pastureland, rural
householders are much more vulnerable to negative impact of climate hazards such as
dzuds and severe snow and dust storms.
Mongolian most populated provinces that situated near the bigger river blanks andalso the nomads that move frequently around the 4 seasons, especially in fall andsummer season on the mount gap, dry pebbles, valley, nearby river are causing andincreasing in the flood risk.
According to a study, natural hazards constitute 27% of total natural and humaninduced hazard occurrences, but constitute 95% of total economic damage.
Many human induced hazards have occurred in recent years due to carelessactivity, such as building fires, explosion, leakage of toxic chemical and radiologicalsubstances, traffic accident and so on.
2-2. Overview of some major hazardous events and accidents in Mongolia Snow and dust storms
Snow and dust storms occur frequently in Mongolia due to natural conditions,geography and climate features. Snow and dust storms severely affect the Mongolian
ecosystem, economy, society and population health, resulting in natural disaster. Rapidand massive land degradation such as desertification in the past few decades has
contributed to increased occurrences of severe storms in Mongolia. This increase isattributed to climate change and harmful human activities.
From March 13 to 15, 2021, strong winds, snow and dust storms hit the wholeterritory of Mongolia, and a total of 706 people went missing in 51 soums of 12 aimags.
A total of 10 people died in the snowstorm, including one child and nine adults. In addition,
140,347 livestock were lost and a large amount of property was destroyed.

Picture 1. Snow and dust storms disaster in Mongolia

 DzudThe productivity of nomadic animal husbandry and the helder’ livelihood arecompletely dependent on environmental and climate conditions. Dzuds have regularly
occurred every 2 years, millions of animals have died, and as a result of these deaths,
the helders’livelihood and country’s economy is hard hit.
According to statistics of the last 60 years, 65% occurred in Mongolia, as a result,annually over 200 thousand heads of livestock have been lost.

Picture 2. Dzud disaster in Mongolia

 Forest and steppe fires
Forest and steppe fire is considered one of the natural disasters, which frequently
occurs every year and negatively impacts Mongolia’s environment and socio-economic
status.
55.3 percent of the territory of Mongolia is considered at risk to steppe and forest fires.
In particular, 98.52 percent of forest area has a high risk of forest fire occurring.
A trend in increasing wind strength has subsequently impacted on ground dryness
and moisture loss. The possibility of steppe and forest fires occurring increases
considerably in the dry season of spring (from the end of March to June) and autumn(from September to November).

Picture 3. Forest and steppe fires in Mongolia

 Livestock and animal infectious diseases
There are 15 types of serious animal infectious diseases registered worldwide. In
recent years, a number of serious livestock and animal infectious diseases, such as footand-mouth disease, rabies, avian influenza, and anthrax occurred in Mongolia.
Foot-and-mouth disease caused by virus of the Picornaviridae family, althoughthought to be eradicated in Mongolia, in 1973, it reappeared along the Chinese border in
2000. In the last decade, foot-and-mouth disease mostly occurred in the eastern part ofMongolia.
Rabies remains an endemic problem especially among dogs, wolves and livestockcases reported in Mongolia. The peak prevalence of animal rabies occurred in the 1970s.
the number of rabies cases in animals decreased during the 1980s. This may have been
due to a decrease in the number of wild reservoir animals and the improvement ofappropriate veterinary measures. In recent years, animal rabies has prevailed in the
Khangai and western provinces.
Anthrax is endemic throughout Mongolia, except in the semi-desert and desert
areas of the south. The prevalence of anthrax in Mongolia had drastically since the 1950s,
due to the use of anthrax antiserum and vaccines, but the privatization of the animalhusbandry sector and changes in the structure of the veterinary and medical delivery
systems in Mongolia over the last decade has resulted in challenges for disease control.
Animal and human anthrax has become an increasing problem since the mid-1990s.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) was first recognized in late 2005 andsubsequently identified in 2008 and 2009 among the wild birds.

Picture 4. Livestock and animal infectious diseases in Mongolia Building fire
Building fires are the most frequently occurring hazard in Mongolia. Approximately
70% of building fires occurred in the cold season, with the number of cases increasing inautumn or in the end of August, and reducing in spring or the end of April. There are manycauses of building fires, including usage of old-fashioned heating stoves, lack ofawareness of fire safety and fire legislation, and other careless activity.

Picture 5. Building fire in Mongolia

3. DISASTER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
The Law on Disaster Protection was created in June 2003 and amended in 2018.
In the Mongolian Constitution Article 6-(4) stipulates that the State regulates the economyof the country with a view to ensure economic security of the nation, the development of
all modes of production, and social development of the population.

Table 4. Structure of Emergency Management Service’s organization

3-1. Structure of Disaster management
The state administrative organization in charge of disaster protection is theorganization responsible for the implementation of the state disaster protection policy andthe legislation on disaster protection and the organization of nation-wide disasterprotection activities and provision with professional management.
The disaster protection resources shall be emergency management institution,
disaster protection state services, entities and enterprises and specialized units andvolunteers (from the Law on Disaster Protection).
Table 5. Structure of disaster management

3-2. Administrative system
Mongolia is divided into 22 major administrative units comprising of 21 aimags
and the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. All are governed by 'Khurals', or elected bodies. Aimag
populations range between 12,500 and 122,000 people. They also vary in size with thelargest covering as much as 165.4 square kilometres of territory. An aimag consists of up
to 27 'soums', including the aimag centre. Soums in turn are comprised of 'baghs'. In
Mongolia there are 331 soums and 1550 baghs. Also the capital city,Ulaanbaatar, is
subdivided into 121 districts called 'khoroos'.
In the country, the aimag centre is the administrative seat of local government,
and the home of the aimag's legal bodies, theatres, hospitals, businesses, schools andindustry. Most of the aimag population work in light industry, services and small businessenterprises. Bagh populations tend to work in agricultural and animal husbandry. Baghs
residents mainly lead a nomadic life. They migrate with their herds depending on thechange in season and weather conditions. Typically their seasonal camps are locatedwithin the borders of their soum and baghs, though droughts, dzuds, and other natural
disasters, can push them to different areas.
In Aimags, the capital city, Soums and Duuregs there shall be Khurals(Assemblies) of representatives of the citizens of respective territories;
In Baghs and Khoroos - general meetings of citizens.
Khurals of Aimags, the capital city, Soums and Duuregs enjoy considering anddeciding all problems, which do not depend on higher stage of Khurals or otherorganizations, in its territory. The main form of local self-government is the Khural. In
between the sessions of the Khural and general meetings the presidiums shall assume
administrative functions. The memberships of the Khurals as well as those of aimags, thecapital city, soums and duuregs, baghs and Khoroos are different. For example: In aimags
and the capital city Khurals' Presidium of Representatives of Citizens is composed of 5-9
members, whereas, in soums and duuregs 5-7 and in baghs and horoos 3-5 members,
including the chairman and secretary respectively. Regular meeting of the Khurals of
Aimags, the capital city, Soums and Duuregs shall be convened once every year and of
the Khurals of Baghs and Khoroos shall be convened less than twice every year.
The following table shows the services provided by some government agencies tothe public.
Table 6. the services provided by some government agencies to the public.
№

Name of State Services

Leading State Administrative
Organization

1

Disaster prevention, rescue andrecovery services

National emergency management agency

2

Natural and chemical danger
assessment and information service

Ministry of Nature and Tourism

3

Health protection service

Ministry of Health4

Food and agriculture service

Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light
industry5

Fuel and power service

Ministry of Fuel and Power

6

Radiation protection service

Nuclear Energy Agency

7Road and transportation service

Ministry of Road, Transportation,
Construction and Urban Development

8

Construction and urban development
service

Ministry of Road, Transportation,
Construction and Urban Development

9

Professional inspection service

State General Professional Inspection
Agency10

Information and communication service

Information, Communications Technology
and Post Authority

11

Order service

General Police Agency

12

Public awareness service

Chief of Government Press Office

13

Mining service

Mining Agency

14

Population and social protection
servicePopulation and Social Protection Agency

The following is a detailed description of the Emergency Management Agency,
which is responsible for disaster relief, rescue, and recovery.
NEMA's duty is to implement laws, regulations and state policies on disasterprotection, to organize and manage disaster protection activities both at national and local
level and to provide professional management.

NEMA's function:
1. Strengthen the legal environment of disaster protection, improve policy coordination,and develop partnership and cooperation on disaster risk reduction at national,
regional and international level.
2. Develop and strengthen a disaster risk management system and introduce scienceand innovation in disaster protection activities.
3. Strengthen the management leadership of the organization and human resource
development, and capacity building.
4. Ensure disaster prevention measures as a universal activity, increase community
disaster awareness and ensure public participation in disaster risk reduction.
5. Strengthen professional management on disaster protection, enhance thepreparedness of equipment and techniques, strengthen capacity of search and rescue,
response and recovery operations in disaster sites.
6. Ensure the fire safety, strengthen firefighting system and improve the preparednessof techniques through fire prevention and state control.
7. Deliver state reserve activities with management and coordination; strengthen
disaster response through efficient humanitarian assistance coordination andrecovery.
8. Increase disaster budget, financing, logistics and investment and introduce newtechnologies in disaster protection.
9. Conduct monitoring and evaluation, and internal audit and increase the outcome andproductivity in disaster protection.
The National Emergency Management Agency has emergency departments in
Ulaanbaatar and 21 aimags. NEMA also has a National rescue brigade, Disaster research
institute, Repeat training center and The Savior is Physical sports and technicalcommittee.
Totally more than 7000 emergency personnel (rescuers and firefighters) nationwide
working in a local emergency management divisions or departments.
3-3. Legal system and Framework
The Law on Disaster Protection was first approved by the Parliament of Mongolia
on 20 June, 2003.
Following the Law on Disaster Protection, Mongolian Government established the
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on 7 January, 2004.
The role of the National Emergency Management Agency of Mongolia is defined
primarily by three basic laws: 1) The Law on Disaster Protection, 2) Law on Fire Safety,3) The Law on State Reserve. It is through these three major laws and other emergency
directives that NEMA will be called on to provide oversight, coordination and direct
assistance in the event of a major catastrophe.
Law on Disaster Protection:
Law on Disaster Protection regulates the process to organize the disasterprotection activities in a timely and effective manner, as well as to regulate relations

related to the Emergency Management Organization of Mongolia, and management
system, organization and operation of disaster protection activities.
Law on Disaster Protection regulates coordination of the involvement ofEmergency Management Organization of Mongolia, National Council on Disaster Risk
Reduction, State Emergency Commission, State Services of Disaster Protection, State
and Local Authorities, enterprises, private entities and civil society in the framework ofdisaster prevention, preparedness, disaster risk reduction, search and rescue, response
and recovery activities, as well as to implement state control on disaster protection.
Law on Fire Safety
Law on Fire Safety regulates the process of obligation and duty as well as
mandates of local authorities, private enterprises and entities and individuals on providing
the fire safety. Law on Fire Safety organizes nationwide firefighting and fire prevention
activities.
Law on State Reserve
Law on State Reserve regulates the process for stocking state reserve items,
storage, transportation and renewal of the emergency stockpiles.
Law in State Reserve reinforces the law implementation through the state reservebranches for stockpiling, storing and restocking state reserve items in accordance withapproved location, list, quantity and disposing of them by a decision of the Government.
3-4. Foreign relations
National emergency management agency works with a relationship with thefollowing international institutions and organizations:Bilateral and multilateral cooperation: The Ministry of the Russian Federation for Affairs for Civil Defense, Emergencies
and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters
 Federal Agency for State Reserve, Russian Federation
 Ministry of Emergency Management, People’s Republic of China
 China Earthquake Administration
 State Forestry Administration, People’s Republic of China
 United States Army Pacific Alaska National Guard, United States
 United States Indo-Pacific Command United States Forestry Service
 Ministry of Interior and Safety, Republic of Korea
 National Fire Agency, Republic of Korea
 State Committee of Emergency and Disaster Management of Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea
 General Directorate for Civil Defense and Crises Management, French Republic Directorate for Disaster Management, Republic of Hungary
 Ministry of Emergency Situation, Republic of Kyrgyzstan
 Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan
International organizations: UN Agencies
 International Civil Defense Organization (ICDO)

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Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC)
Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC)International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
International Fire Chiefs’ Association of Asia (IFCAA)World Bank (WB)
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
http://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/Mongolian Red Cross (MRC)
Mercy Corps
World Vision (WV)
Save the Children
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)
Turkish International Cooperation Agency (TICA)
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) ect.

3-5. ADRC counterpart
Address:
National Emergency Management Agency of Mongolia,
6th khoroo, Sukhbaatar District, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia