Language(s)
People in Mongolia speaks Mongolian. Mongolian is a language spoken by about five million people in Mongolia, China, Afghanistan, and Russia. There are other languages other from Mongolian that are also considered part of Mongolian language, but not spoken a lot in Mongolia. The languages include Buryat and Kalmyk. Buryat and Kalmyk is mostly spoke in Russia. Another language that is considered as part of Mongolia is Monghul(Mongul), which is spoken in Afghanistan. The traditional Mongolian script is taught as syllables, not individual letters. The first set of numbers (tegen(0), nigen(1), etc.) are Mongolian.
Celebrations and Festivals
The traditional holiday of Mongolia is called Naadam. It is celebrated each year on the 11th of July. "Eriin Gurvan Naadam" are the three traditional game of Mongolia. They are wrestling, horse racing, and archery. Horse racing is one of the competitions that all Mongolians love. Wrestling and archery is also the other two events that are being played often in Mongolia. All of the three traditional sports being played at the Naadam festival are events in Mongolia that has a long history.
Religion
Some Buddhism began to enter into Mongolia from Tibet in the sixteenth century. Since then, most Mongolians began to believe in Buddhism. Mongolian Buddhism is different from Buddhism in Tibet. The Mongolian style of Buddhism is connected with their own cultures and lifestyle. In about 2002, there are about 180 religious temples, about 110 Buddhist temples, and about 70 Christian churches in Mongolia.
Customs
Mongolia is one of the countries which is nomad. The five domestic animals of Mongolia are sheep, horse, cow, camel, and goat. The Mongolians especially respect their horses. Mongolians think of horse as their friends. Mongolian people moves into another place in about two to four times a year. Now in Mongolia, there are 13.8 million sheep, 10.2 million goats, 3.1 million cattle, 2.6 million horses and 322.3 thousand of camels. The sheep provide Mongolians mead, wool, and leather. The goat provides milk. The cow is eaten or milked.
Clothing/Costume
The most colorful and original items of Mongolian's clothing is the traditional head wear that they wear. The head wear is different in its shape and purpose. There were different hats for young and old, men and women, seasons, holidays, ceremonies and fashionable head wears in Mongolia. There are over 400 different styles of Mongolia head wear. For example, the head wear that has a cone on top of the hat had 32 stitching that symbolize the 32 Mongolian tribes. Mongolians are wear "Del". A Del is a tunic made out of one piece of material. The deal has long sleeves, high collar, and buttons on the shoulder. Each ethnic group in Mongolia has their own Del, distinguished the the color and the trimmings. The details are hard to notice by foreigners, but are significant and obvious to Mongolians. Another part of the Mongolian costume is the boots. The boots have a lot of explanations for unconventional style. The boots that people wear in Mongolian shows their religion and beliefs. The boots that they wear in Mongolia are thick and is almost impossible to walk in.
Music
Odes to nature, horses and the open steppe are the most popular themes of Mongolian music. Some of the original songs/music is written in about 800 years ago and there are specific songs/music for Mongolia weddings, festival and religious ceremonies. String instruments and wind instruments are the traditional Mongolian instruments. Mongolians have made their own instruments over time from using metal, stone, bamboo, leather and wood. The most traditional and popular instrument is the "Morin Khuur" which is also called the horse headed fiddle. It is a instrument that has a square body and curved head with the carving of a horse head. Every family in Mongolia is to have a Morin Khuur even though the Morin Khuur is expensive and hand-made.
Food
There are variety of taste in Mongolian, but mostly tastes includes milk. Dairy products in Mongolia is called "tsagaan idee". Dairy in Mongolia is the symbol of unselfishness, purity, and kindness. One of the traditional food is called "Aaruul". Many people in Mongolia believe that Aaruul makes Mongol's strong teeth. Aaruul is a type of curdled milk, dehydrated and dried under the sun. There is another traditional bervarage called the "Airag". Airag is a traditional beverage that people make during summer time. Airag contains about 7% to 8% of alcohol. You might get a little dizzy after drinking a lot of Airag. Some traditional Mongolia food could be Boodog, Khorog, Mini-Khorog, etc. For example, Khorog is prepared by cutting the meat of sheep and coat placing it in a container with hot stones and heat it from the outside.
Sports
Mongolia has a lot of games and activities that are considered their sports. The most famous would be horse-riding. Horse-riding is the national sport of Mongolia and everyone in Mongolia loves horse-riding. The main sports of the Mongolia annual event are wrestling, archery, and horse-racing. The three most traditional and famous sports are chosen as the most tradition sports and was being competed with local and regional competitors which are across the country. The competitors have around two months to practice for the sports that are competed for the event. There are also games that children play in Mongolia which counts as entertainments for them.