Division of the Physiographic and Natural Regions in Mongolia

Abstract

Mongolia has a complex landscape and unique terrain that has been formed through internal and external processes. Due to the different landscapes and physical conditions of the country, the geographical distribution of physical patterns is differing. This chapter begins with a brief history of physiographic regionalization and an updated map of Mongolia’s physical-geographical regions. In addition, this chapter provides a detailed description of natural zonalities (altitudinal belts and latitudinal zones) and the principles of their development. Most of Mongolia’s natural zone sources are based on biological approaches, mainly referred to as vegetation cover, and also have different names and different data on areas in each zone. This chapter provides information on Mongolia’s natural zones and zoning in terms of physical geography. The updated author’s map presented in this chapter has been used as the main source of information on Mongolia’s natural zones since the 2000s. A detailed description of the six natural zones (altitudinal zones and latitudinal zones) and the principles of their development is also presented in this chapter. Mongolia has six main natural zones and belts (with sub-divisions), such as alpine and mountain taiga, mixed and deciduous forests, forest steppe, steppe, Gobi (desert steppe), and desert zones.