Mongolia's Settlement System and Its Supporting Framework: Features, Dynamics, Effects

Abstract

The peculiarities of the hierarchy of administrative-territorial division and the system of settlements of Mongolia are revealed. Somons (330 in total) – the second level of this division - were accepted as the initial territorial units of the study. The dynamics for 1980-2021 of the population of the country as a whole is considered, the trends of changes in the number and proportion of urban (including Ulaanbaatar) and rural (including nomadic) populations are clarified. It is established that the main demographic indicators of Mongolia are significantly more favorable than similar indicators of neighboring Siberian regions of Russia. A significant differentiation of population dynamics by somons and urban settlements over the past two decades has been revealed. It is determined that in conditions of constant natural population growth, an important contribution to the formation of its territorial structure was made by the migration factor, primarily migration from rural areas to the capital and individual aimag centers. The basic framework of settlement is highlighted, which is formed by the capital and the centers of the aimags (as nodal elements) and the railways connecting them and the main national paved roads (as linear elements). A high effect of the importance of linear elements of the frame (highways) has been established for the concentration of the population of Mongolia. At the same time, the size of the effect of saving actual distances in the framework of the country compared to the theoretical ones is insignificant, which indicates a relatively uniform placement of centers compared, for example, with a more heterogeneous Siberia. The main problems of the settlement system of Mongolia and its supporting framework are formulated, possible directions of their solution in the future are outlined.