What do Sumo wrestling, opera and ice cream have in common? Mongolia!
Read on to learn more about this fascinating country.
Whether you plan to visit the country or just need a niche topic to be a pub quiz hero, Mongolia delivers on surprise.
You might be Mongolian
Genghis Kahn didn’t just spread the idea of trousers across Eurasia, he also dropped them. Worldwide, 1 in 200 men today are direct descendants of the Mongol leader.
Two humps are better than one
Mongolian nomads domesticated Bactrian camels around 4500 BCE. And for good reason! They’re perfectly adapted to the conditions of the Mongolian steppes. They’re strong- they can carry loads up to 270kg. Those double humps store fat, which allows the camels to withstand long periods without food or water. The milk is nutritious for baby camels and humans of all ages. The lush coat that protects them from frigid winters sheds naturally in spring, making Bactrian camel hair a luxury fibre since the days of the Silk Road. While you won’t find many Bactrian camels in the capital, Ulaanbataar, these iconic, versatile animals remain the livestock choice of nomadic herders. There are 2 Bactrian camels for every 3.5 humans in Mongolia.
Move over Italy, Mongolians did it first
The story goes like this: 12th-Century nomadic horsemen filled saddlebags with cream and rode across the frozen desert. Result? Frozen dessert! Even if this tale is apocryphal, ice cream existed in Mongolia centuries before Florentines ‘invented’ it in the 16th Century.
Hollywood hasn’t changed me
They may be at home on Isla Nubar via Hollywood, but Velociraptor mongoliensis hail from the Mongolia’s Gobi Desert. With over 80 genera discovered (and counting!) the country is reaping rewards from the fossil-rich region by investing in academic programmes promoting palaeontological research.
Beat them at their own game
Sumo wrestling and opera don’t normally go hand in hand, but Mongolians are increasingly dominating both fields. 5 Mongolian wrestlers have attained the hallowed title of yokozuna. Amartuvshin Enkhbat has been the 2024’s baritone to beat (and blew my socks off in Berlin, as Giorgio Germont in La Traviata)
