The water
Bottled water in Ulaanbaatar; in the Gobi you treat or boil everything. Tap water: Not drinkable.
Mongolia
The Gobi bear (mazaalai), the world's only desert-dwelling bear, found only in Mongolia's Gobi, with only a few dozen left.
RegionAsiaCurrencyMNTPowerType A/B/C, 220V (varies)Tap waterNot drinkable
Good
Eco Index
What to expect on the ground
At a glance
Food & farming
Mongolia is self-sufficient in meat and dairy from its enormous livestock herds and grows wheat and potatoes, but it imports most vegetables, fruit and processed foods. Pastoral production is the backbone of rural life and diet.…Read more
Mongolia is self-sufficient in meat and dairy from its enormous livestock herds and grows wheat and potatoes, but it imports most vegetables, fruit and processed foods. Pastoral production is the backbone of rural life and diet. Self-sufficiency in staples is real but narrow.
Local staples
Mutton and beef, dairy (airag, aaruul, urum), wheat noodles and dumplings (buuz, tsuivan), potatoes.
Markets
Daily markets; Ulaanbaatar's Naran Tuul, the Black Market, is the largest.
In season
Wheat and potato harvest around August to September; dairy and airag peak in summer.
Wildlife
Mongolia's steppe and desert hold iconic species including the snow leopard, wild Bactrian camel, saiga antelope and the critically endangered Gobi bear, of which only a few dozen survive. It is the global success story for…Read more
Mongolia's steppe and desert hold iconic species including the snow leopard, wild Bactrian camel, saiga antelope and the critically endangered Gobi bear, of which only a few dozen survive. It is the global success story for Przewalski's horse (takhi), the world's only never-domesticated horse, rewilded at Hustai and elsewhere. Endemism is modest but the megafauna and active rewilding stand out.
Found nowhere else
Przewalski's horse (takhi), Gobi bear (mazaalai), wild Bactrian camel, and Gobi jerboas.
Natural phenomena
Extreme continental — cold and dry with harsh winters; the Gobi bakes in summer.
When to go
Short warm summer.
Getting around
Four-wheel drives with a driver are essential off-road, with the Trans-Mongolian Railway and domestic flights to the provinces; paved roads are few.
Good to know
Cash-heavy; MNT. The countryside runs on ger (yurt) hospitality.
Safety
Solo female travel: Take care. LGBTQ+: Mixed.
Only hereThe Gobi bear (mazaalai), the world's only desert-dwelling bear, found only in Mongolia's Gobi, with only a few dozen left.
Assessed across 10 equally-weighted pillars
The Eco Index, pillar by pillar
60/100
Good
The Eco Index: Mongolia
12 pillars, equally weighted, from published sources. All 12 assessed. Blanks mean unverified, never estimated.
Only here The Gobi bear (mazaalai), the world's only desert-dwelling bear, found only in Mongolia's Gobi, with only a few dozen left.
- Forest cover
- 9.1%
- Land protected
- 19.8%
- Organic farmland
- 0.0002%
- Found nowhere else
- Przewalski's horse (takhi), Gobi bear (mazaalai), wild Bactrian camel, and Gobi jerboas.
- Renewable power
- 9.6%
- CO2 per person
- 12.9 t (2024) t
- Air quality (AQI)
- 22.5
- Cleanest air
- The open countryside and steppe away from Ulaanbaatar, especially in summer.
- Water from
- Bottled water in Ulaanbaatar; in the Gobi you treat or boil everything.
- Tap water
- Not drinkable
- Safe drinking water
- 30%
- Cleanest water
- Lake Khovsgol, among the clearest lakes in the world.
- Springs
- Hot springs at Tsenkher in Arkhangai and at Khujirt.
- In season
- Wheat and potato harvest around August to September; dairy and airag peak in summer.
- Plastic ban
- Ban on thin plastic bags since 2019.
- Watch out for
- Coal mining and raw-coal burning, and unregulated mining; avoid tours involving wildlife products.
- Solo female travel
- Take care
- LGBTQ+ acceptance
- Mixed
- Best months
- June to September.
- Getting around
- Four-wheel drives with a driver are essential off-road, with the Trans-Mongolian Railway and domestic flights to the provinces; paved roads are few.
- Power
- Type A/B/C, 220V (varies)
- Currency
- MNT
| Pillar | Score | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| WaterWhere the water comes from, and whether there is enough of it | 2/5 | Mongolia is largely arid, with the Gobi in the south, yet the north holds major freshwater including Lake Khovsgol, which stores a large share of the country's fresh water. Full assessmentOnly about 30% of the population used safely managed drinking water in 2020 (WHO/UNICEF JMP), and Ulaanbaatar's ger districts often rely on water kiosks rather than piped supply. Security is constrained by aridity, distribution and climate stress on rivers. |
| Food and farmingWhat the island actually grows, and what arrives by boat | 3/5 | Mongolia is self-sufficient in meat and dairy from its enormous livestock herds and grows wheat and potatoes, but it imports most vegetables, fruit and processed foods. Full assessmentPastoral production is the backbone of rural life and diet. Self-sufficiency in staples is real but narrow. |
| Plant based and real foodWhether you can eat unprocessed from local supply | 2/5 | The traditional diet is built on mutton, beef and dairy, with relatively few vegetables, so plant-based eating runs against the cultural grain. Full assessmentUlaanbaatar now has produce markets and vegetarian options, and local potatoes, carrots, cabbage and sea buckthorn feature, but rural choices are limited. Eating unprocessed plants is possible but not the norm. |
| OrganicCertified and chemical free growing, which is not the same thing as plant based | 1/5 | FiBL records only about 241 hectares of certified organic farmland, effectively 0% of agricultural land in 2020, despite vast extensively grazed rangelands. Full assessmentCertification is almost absent even though much herding is low-input by nature. Scored on the recorded near-zero share. |
| ConservationWhat is protected, and whether protection is enforced | 4/5 | About 19.8% of Mongolia was in terrestrial protected areas in 2021 (World Bank), a large and expanding network including some of Asia's biggest reserves such as the Great Gobi. Full assessmentThe government has committed to widening protection further. Enforcement is stretched thin across huge distances and faces mining pressure, but the designated network is genuinely substantial. |
| Wildlife and endemicsWhat lives here and nowhere else on earth | 3/5 | Mongolia's steppe and desert hold iconic species including the snow leopard, wild Bactrian camel, saiga antelope and the critically endangered Gobi bear, of which only a few dozen survive. Full assessmentIt is the global success story for Przewalski's horse (takhi), the world's only never-domesticated horse, rewilded at Hustai and elsewhere. Endemism is modest but the megafauna and active rewilding stand out. |
| Natural materialsWhat you can eat from and carry here instead of plastic, and who still makes it | 5/5 | Herding sustains a living natural-materials culture of cashmere, sheep wool, camel hair, felt and leather, with felt still used to build and insulate gers. Full assessmentMongolia is one of the world's leading cashmere producers and felt-making is an everyday nomadic skill. Natural fibres are woven into daily life rather than kept for heritage display. |
| Pollution and plasticPlastic law and contamination | 2/5 | Ulaanbaatar suffers some of the world's most extreme winter air pollution, driven by raw-coal burning in ger-district stoves, with PM2.5 spiking far above safe levels; the national annual m… Full assessmentan was about 22.5 micrograms per cubic metre in 2023 (IQAir) but masks severe urban winter peaks. Mongolia banned thin plastic bags in 2019. Waste and litter management outside the capital is limited. |
| Recycling and wasteWhat actually happens to the rubbish once you have thrown it away | 2/5 | There is no strong national recycling rate; formal systems are limited and concentrated in Ulaanbaatar, while informal collectors recover scrap metal, plastic and glass. Full assessmentA small recycling industry exists but coverage is thin. Scored from documented reality rather than a published rate. |
| Energy and climateClean power, carbon emissions per person and the pace of decarbonisation | 2/5 | Mongolia's power system is dominated by coal, which supplies close to 90 per cent of electricity, while wind, solar and small hydro together provided under 10 per cent of generation in 2023. Full assessmentCoal is also the backbone of the export economy, sold in large volumes to China, which deepens the country's fossil-fuel dependence. Production-based emissions are high at about 12.9 tonnes per person in 2024, driven by coal power, district heating and severe winter energy demand. A Renewable Energy Law and a target of 30 per cent renewables by 2030 exist, but progress remains slow against coal's dominance. High emissions and near-total coal reliance place it near the bottom of the band. |
| Culture and peopleIndigenous and living communities, and who the money reaches | 5/5 | Mongolia retains a living nomadic pastoral culture, with a large share of the population still herding and moving seasonally, and traditions such as the Naadam festival, throat singing and … Full assessmentazakh eagle hunting in the west. Ger-stay and community-based tourism let travellers stay with herder families, channelling income directly to them. This is among the most intact living nomadic cultures on Earth. |
| Living heritage and ancestral traditionsNational dance and music, and the ancestral and spiritual traditions still practised | 5/5 | Mongolia holds an exceptionally strong and living nomadic heritage carried across the steppe. Full assessmentKhoomei throat singing, the urtiin duu long song and the morin khuur horsehead fiddle are all recognised by UNESCO, as are the Naadam festival of wrestling, archery and horse racing and the Bie Biyelgee traditional dance. Ancestral spiritual life remains vivid, blending Mongolian shamanism and Tengrism with Vajrayana Buddhism, including the masked Tsam ritual dance. In the west, Kazakh communities keep the ancestral practice of eagle hunting alive. Nomadic pastoral culture, felt-making and the ger remain everyday living tradition rather than performance. |
Before you go
Cash-heavy; MNT. The countryside runs on ger (yurt) hospitality.
Where these figures come from
- World Bank, Forest area (% of land area) AG.LND.FRST.ZS, Mongolia 9.1% (2023) — source
- World Bank and UNEP-WCMC, Terrestrial protected areas ER.LND.PTLD.ZS, Mongolia 19.8% (2021) — source
- Statista and Ember, Mongolia electricity, renewables about 9.6% of generation (2023) — source
- WHO/UNICEF JMP via World Bank, Safely managed drinking water SH.H2O.SMDW.ZS, Mongolia 30.1% (2020) — source
- IQAir, World Air Quality Report, Mongolia PM2.5 22.5 micrograms per cubic metre (2023) — source
- FiBL, The World of Organic Agriculture, Mongolia 241 ha and about 0% (2020) — source
- Wikipedia, Agriculture in Mongolia, meat and dairy self-sufficiency with imported vegetables and grain — source
- Our World in Data, CO2 emissions per capita, 2024 source
- Statista, Mongolia electricity production by source, 2023 source
- UNDP, Mongolia's clean energy transition source
- UNESCO, Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity source
Living heritage and ancestral traditions
The culture still danced, played and believed
Mongolia holds an exceptionally strong and living nomadic heritage carried across the steppe. Khoomei throat singing, the urtiin duu long song and the morin khuur horsehead fiddle are all recognised by UNESCO, as are the Naadam festival of wrestling, archery and horse racing and the Bie Biyelgee traditional dance. Ancestral spiritual life remains vivid, blending Mongolian shamanism and Tengrism with Vajrayana Buddhism, including the masked Tsam ritual dance. In the west, Kazakh communities keep the ancestral practice of eagle hunting alive. Nomadic pastoral culture, felt-making and the ger remain everyday living tradition rather than performance.
- Khoomei throat singing, urtiin duu long song and morin khuur fiddle music
- Bie Biyelgee and Tsam masked dances
- Naadam festival
- Mongolian shamanism, Tengrism and Vajrayana Buddhism
- Kazakh eagle hunting
- nomadic felt-making.
Sleep well, tread lightly
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