The Takeover: Welcome to Ancient Land of Mongolia!

[Falcom Director of Fanservice]

That's right, Ubermensches! With Seldane and MP gone, I hearby claim this board. And while we've had a good run with the Ys thing, it's time for a change.

And that change is Mongolia. This forum is now all Mongolia, all the time.

Please feel free to discuss all aspects of Mongolia here. Culture, history, language, geography, politics and the future of Mongolia are all welcome things. It is my hope that with this bold new course, we shall gather a greater knowledge about our friends across the Pacific who once ruled virtually all of Asia, and now thrive as one of the world's yougest democracies.

In particular, the course of Mongolia over the 20th century is fascinating to watch. At the dawn of the 1900s, the nation was not very different than it had been during the time of the Mongol Empire; there was some centralization, but the people were still nomadic and fairly feudal on the whole. It was the rise of the Soviet Union that helped bring this to an end, as Mongola and the USSR forged a fairly close relation. In fact, often Mongolia would follow the lead of the USSR. During Josef Stalin's reign, for instance, the leader of the Mongolian People's Republic was Khorloogiin Choibalsan, a follower of Stalin's who emulated many of his policies. Particularly notable was the destruction of nearly all of Mongolia's 600 Buddhist Temples, and the death of nearly 30,000 people (5% of Mongolia's populaton at the time) in the pursuit of uprooting Lamaism from the nation.

Then, not long after Nikita Khruschev denounced Stalin's policies, Mongolia did the same with Khorloorgiin's policies and focused on Post WWII developement. In line with Mikhail Gorbechov's introduction of Glasnost and Perestroika, Mongolia began to introduce similiar policies and, in 1992, became a Democratic nation.

Presently, Mongolia is struggling with a trade deficiet and trying to improve the quality of life for its people. The average per capita GDP was $1900, which has been steadily rising. Mongolia's primary industries are agriculture and mining, but the technologyand service sectors have been gaining rapid ground of late.

About half of Mongolia's population lives in the nation's capital, or in the various provincial capitals. Outside these population centers, most mongolians live a semi-nomadic lifestyle; staying in villages during the winter and living in gers and yurts during the summer. However, permanent farming communes are becoming more common.

[CrazyJo82]

You know Mongolia does not have its own written language. It's an oral based language with no written text. It is probably because of the USSR that Mongolia adopted Russian alphabets to use with its language. They are also celebrating its 400th anniversary.

[Falcom Director of Fanservice]

Another factor of that would have been the nomadism of Mongolia's population for much of its history. Carrying books or scrolls would have been very difficult, especially when jockeying for room with your yurt and tools.

I don't have any evidence to support this, but I think that Mongolia's landscape also did not give itself to the production of paper or associated things, while parchment and vellum would come second place to using the raw materials for other necessities of life.

[SkyeWelse]

I think I see where Darhan's Tower is located. ; )

-SkyeWelse

[rocket]

um hmm... it appeared something like this might happen if you were left as moderator....

More power to you and congrats on the take over...

LOL. enjoy and remeber the red scare is over because the red is here...

LG when the board is taken over...

Ok, the board take over was a funny creative idea.

[Gamemusicfreak]

Good stuff!

[Red Hairdo]

XDDDDDDDD *absolute lol*

\o" Who is the president? xDDD Don't know much about them...O.o What's the country's population? and such? xD

[Falcom Director of Fanservice]

The Dec 2006 estimated that Mongolia has a little over 2.5 million people. As for the Current President, it is Nambaryn Enkhbayar. However, Mongolia's President has a mosty symbolic role; it's unicameral parliament, the Great Khural, is the main center of power. The real head of the executive arm of the government is the Prime Minister, who is, effectively, appointed by the Khural.

Also, I would like to announce a contest of all the artists in the forum! Ancient Land of Mongolia needs a new banner. You will have two weeks to make entries, and you may make as many as you like. In two weeks time, I will allow the forum to select the four best (this number may change based on the number of entries), and then vote on their favorite from the four. The winner shall be given a small prize, which will be revealed when awarded. All entries are to be posted in this thread. The only qualifications are that it has to be at least somewhat worksafe, and be 720x85 in width and height, respectively.

So let's see some banners!

[Inochi 命]

needs more Genghis Khan

[Stan]

I once lived with a Mongolian. He was still trying to learn English, and wasn't doing too well at the time. We called him Gonzo, short for his surname, Gonzorig (as it was romanized). Funny story, when we went to steakhouse:

Waitress: And what will you have?
Gonzo: Hamburger.
Us: Don't you want a steak?
G: Yes, hamburger.
U: (to waitress) Just get him a <such and such steak>.
W: Okay. And how would you like it cooked?
G: (emphatically) Yes, cooked.

[Del Stimpson]

Here you go!

[chesty]

Is that a horse eating grass over there on the left?



There, to make things look more correct.

[Falcom Director of Fanservice]

And now, some pictures of Mongolia's capital, Ulaanbaatar!



A nice, scenic view with the mountains.



Wintertime



A view from the west, featuring some visiting nomads.

[gnosis301]

Does anyone here come from a country where the legislative body elects the executive? That sounds a little dangerous to me, so would anyone care to explain its benefits?

[Arjak]

WTF!? I haven't seen anything this crazy in a while! Hilarious!

[Del Stimpson]

I like these pictures the best.



Mongolian BBQ chefs

Mongolian BBQ chefs having fun at their job.


The finished product.

I will eat Mongolian BBQ someday, this I vow.

[Stan]

delstimpson said:

I will eat Mongolian BBQ someday, this I vow.

You mean you haven't? You're really missing out. Go! Today! Find one!

[macirex]

those really look like chinese noodles... or fried ramen... anyway i should give iit a try... by the way where did seldane go? or was this some kind of coup d´etat?

[CrazyJo82]

I really doubt the Mongolian Grill has ANYTHING to do with Mongolia... those picture (and the Mongolian Grill restaurant that I went to) seemed more like a cross of Japanese style grill with Chinese food...

BTW, I'm not overly impressed with Mongolian Grill anyway... I could do that at home myself

[Falcom Director of Fanservice]

You could, but can you go for seconds without paying more? That's where I make my money back. =[

Also, it's been said that Mongolia has a Unicameral legislature. The Khural has 76 members, reach representing a municipality, and are elected by a simple majority vote; however, 50% of the electorate must turn out for the election to be considered valid. I am unsure how it is handled if they do not get this quorum, I assume it is done again, perhaps wih different candidates.

The Khural is headed up by a chairperson appointed from their own number by vote. The Chairperson's job is to speak on behalf of the assembly and serve as an assistant to the President, while supervising the parliament and voting procedures. Also, he or she is automactically a part of the national security council.