1 MONGOLIA MARKS CENTENNIAL WITH A NEW COURSE FOR CHANGE WWW.EASTASIAFORUM.ORG PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      2 E-MART OPENS FIFTH STORE IN ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA, TARGETING K-FOOD CRAZE WWW.BIZ.CHOSUN.COM PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      3 JAPAN AND MONGOLIA FORGE HISTORIC DEFENSE PACT UNDER THIRD NEIGHBOR STRATEGY WWW.ARMYRECOGNITION.COM  PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      4 CENTRAL BANK LOWERS ECONOMIC GROWTH FORECAST TO 5.2% WWW.UBPOST.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      5 L. OYUN-ERDENE: EVERY CITIZEN WILL RECEIVE 350,000 MNT IN DIVIDENDS WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      6 THE BILL TO ELIMINATE THE QUOTA FOR FOREIGN WORKERS IN MONGOLIA HAS BEEN SUBMITTED WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      7 THE SECOND NATIONAL ONCOLOGY CENTER TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN ULAANBAATAR WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      8 GREEN BOND ISSUED FOR WASTE RECYCLING WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      9 BAGANUUR 50 MW BATTERY STORAGE POWER STATION SUPPLIES ENERGY TO CENTRAL SYSTEM WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      10 THE PENSION AMOUNT INCREASED BY SIX PERCENT WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      КОКС ХИМИЙН ҮЙЛДВЭРИЙН БҮТЭЭН БАЙГУУЛАЛТЫГ ИРЭХ ОНЫ ХОЁРДУГААР УЛИРАЛД ЭХЛҮҮЛНЭ WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     "ЭРДЭНЭС ТАВАНТОЛГОЙ” ХК-ИЙН ХУВЬЦАА ЭЗЭМШИГЧ ИРГЭН БҮРД 135 МЯНГАН ТӨГРӨГ ӨНӨӨДӨР ОЛГОНО WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     ХУРИМТЛАЛЫН САНГИЙН ОРЛОГО 2040 ОНД 38 ИХ НАЯДАД ХҮРЭХ ТӨСӨӨЛӨЛ ГАРСАН WWW.NEWS.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ЭРДЭНЭС ОЮУ ТОЛГОЙ” ХХК-ИАС ХЭРЛЭН ТООНО ТӨСЛИЙГ ӨМНӨГОВЬ АЙМАГТ ТАНИЛЦУУЛЛАА WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     Л.ОЮУН-ЭРДЭНЭ: ХУРИМТЛАЛЫН САНГААС НЭГ ИРГЭНД 135 МЯНГАН ТӨГРӨГИЙН ХАДГАЛАМЖ ҮҮСЛЭЭ WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ENTRÉE RESOURCES” 2 ЖИЛ ГАРУЙ ҮРГЭЛЖИЛСЭН АРБИТРЫН МАРГААНД ЯЛАЛТ БАЙГУУЛАВ WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ORANO MINING”-ИЙН ГЭРЭЭ БОЛОН ГАШУУНСУХАЙТ-ГАНЦМОД БООМТЫН ТӨСЛИЙН АСУУДЛААР ЗАСГИЙН ГАЗАР ХУРАЛДАЖ БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     АЖИЛЧДЫН САРЫН ГОЛЧ ЦАЛИН III УЛИРЛЫН БАЙДЛААР ₮2 САЯ ОРЧИМ БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19     PROGRESSIVE EQUITY RESEARCH: 2025 ОН “PETRO MATAD” КОМПАНИД ЭЭЛТЭЙ БАЙХААР БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19     2026 ОНЫГ ДУУСТАЛ ГАДААД АЖИЛТНЫ ТОО, ХУВЬ ХЭМЖЭЭГ ХЯЗГААРЛАХГҮЙ БАЙХ ХУУЛИЙН ТӨСӨЛ ӨРГӨН МЭДҮҮЛЭВ WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19    

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MBCC “Doing Business with Mongolia seminar and Christmas Receptiom” Dec 10. 2024 London UK MBCCI London UK Goodman LLC

NEWS

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Mongolia invests in ‘first of its kind’ recycling plant www.construction-europe.com

It has been revealed that a new US$14.7 million construction and demolition waste (CDW) recycling plant is being built in Mongolia, to improve the waste management and recycling practices of the country’s capital city.
Ulaanbaatar city is located in the north of the country and has a population of around 1.6 million people. It produces around 1.4 million t of solid waste every year, with between 20 and 30% of this coming from construction and demolition.
Due to open in 2024, the new plant will comprise a construction and demolition waste sorting area and a crushing and screening area, as well as garages and an office building.
The city’s first deputy mayor responsible for the economy and infrastructure, J Sandagsuren, said, “The CDW Recycling Plant will be the first of its kind in Mongolia. The plant will recycle the construction solid waste and turn them into gravel and macadam.”
Construction of the CDW recycling plant will be accompanied by a new landfill facility, which is to replace the city’s existing Ulaanchuluut landfill. “The Ulaanchuluut landfill is full. So, it will be closed in 2024,” said J Sandagsuren.
“As for the new waste landfill, it is expected to facilitate waste collection, transportation, recycling, and disposal services, and improve operational efficiency and environment and hygiene standards.”
According to the country’s state-owned news outlet, this “new waste infrastructure will bring about significant benefits in environmental protection and public health and will contribute to offering local citizens a better quality of life for the years to come”.
The recycling facility, which is being built as part of Ulaanbaatar’s Priority Investment Programme, is being co-financed by a $9.7 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and $5 million worth of grants from the EU Asia Investment facility.
BY: Leila Steed
 
 
 
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Mongolia: FMESU demand just and fair salaries for teachers and education support personnel www.ei-ie.org

Thousands of education workers answered the call of the Federation of Mongolian Education and Science Unions (FMESU) and peacefully demonstrated on April 6th in Mongolia's capital Ulaanbaatar to demand increased salaries for teachers and education support personnel.
More than 5,000 FMESU members from preschool to secondary school, from scientific institutions to vocational education facilities, and universities gathered at the Sukhbaatar Square to demand fair and better implementation of the collective agreement on the salary increase agreed in 2022.
Education International (EI) member organisation in Mongolia FMESU submitted a threefold demand to the Parliament, to the Ministry of Education and Science, to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and to the Ministry of Finance:
Implement Article 2.1 of the collective agreement and increase the basic salary of employees in the education and science sector by at least 50 percent from April 1st, 2023.
Change the classifications and ranks of positions, increase the rates and number of allowances and additional wages by considering the specificities of positions and working conditions of the employees of the education and scientific sectors.
Implement Clause 2.3.14 of the Government's 2020-2024 Action Programme and provide State-owned universities with fixed expenses.
FMESU requested that the government respond to the demands by April 10th, 2023, and announced that they were ready to go on strike until the demands are met.
According to the governmental resolution 488 regarding the update of the salary range and minimum range of specific civil officers, education support personnel salary is only increased by 15,000 Mongolian Tugrik (5 USD), the public authorities said.
The Government insisted that, according to its Resolution 491 on the additional salary of the public administration employees and the increase in the length of service of the public service employees, the education workers’ pay is linked to the number of years in service. However, this salary increase is not applicable to teachers with more than 25 years of teaching.
FMESU criticised the fact that this decision had been made solely by the Government without consultation with the Confederation of Mongolian Trade Unions (CMTU), which represents one of the parties to the tripartite agreement of the social council.
The union also deplored that the rising cost of commodities, inflation, big class sizes, increasing workload, and shortage of education personnel, mean that the current salaries that teachers and education support personnel receive are deeply insufficient. It also recalled that the basic minimum salary for ESP in Mongolia is of 565,000 Mongolian Tugrik equivalent (161 USD)/month as of January 2023.
EI campaign “Go Public! Fund Education”
FMESU is joining the Education International (EI) recently launched “Go Public! Fund Education” campaign, an urgent call for governments to invest in public education, a fundamental human right and public good, and to invest more in teachers, the single most important factor in achieving quality education.
EI brings its full supports FMESU and education workers of Mongolia in demanding better salaries and working conditions.
We urge the government of Mongolia to respect the collective agreement signed with FMESU, stressed EI General Secretary David Edwards.
Deploring that teachers are overworked and overburdened and many of our colleagues are leaving the professions as a result, he, adding: “Teachers stood behind governments and their students during the pandemic and ensured that teaching and learning continued. It is high time governments acknowledge and guarantee that the teachers and education support personnel have decent working conditions, decent and fair wages, as well as adequate professional support and development.”
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Mongolia warns of strong winds, dust storms www.xinhuanet.com

Mongolia's National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring on Monday issued a warning of strong winds and dust storms.
"Starting from tomorrow afternoon, strong winds and dust storms are expected to hit the western part of Mongolia," and continue to affect large parts of the country in the coming days, the weather monitoring agency said.
The agency asked the public, especially nomadic herders and drivers, to take extra precautions against possible disasters.
Mongolia has a harsh continental climate as strong winds, snow and dust storms are common during the spring.
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1000+ Athletes to Compete in East Asian Youth Games www.montsame.mn

“Ulaanbaatar 2023” East Asian Youth Games will be organized from August 16 to August 23. Currently, out of the nine countries in East Asia, Mongolia, South Korea, Japan, Macao, and Taiwan have stated their commitment to participate in the Youth Games. Over one thousand athletes and 430 guests are expected to visit Mongolia.
At the Capital City Governor’s Council Meeting, Z. Tumurtumuu, the Deputy Governor in charge of social issues, green development, and air and environmental pollution, presented the preparatory works for the upcoming Games. The organizing committee has signed cooperation agreements with eight out of the nine facilities to host the tournaments.
For the safety of all athletes, each competition will be staffed by a medical team to provide first aid. Community doctors will be also on hand to provide medical care to spectators, and an emergency medical team will be stationed outside each facility to be ready for any medical emergency.
In compliance with the Anti-Doping Rule, 200-250 athletes’ samples will be collected, with 106 observers monitoring the process. The selection process is underway from 2650 domestic volunteers and 157 foreign volunteers who have submitted their candidature. The organizing committee emphasized that the East Asian Youth Games is a widely recognized continental multi-sport event, and since the participants are all under 18 years of age, ensuring their safety is of utmost importance and requires special attention.
The Governor of the Capital City and Mayor of Ulaanbaatar D. Sumiyabazar stressed the importance of paying exigent attention to organizing the Games successfully as the Games would present the entire country and serve as a strong impetus to attract tourists to our country, promoting Mongolia abroad.
The Opening Ceremony of the East Asian Youth Games will be held at the National Sports Stadium, while the Closing Ceremony will take place at Sukhbaatar Square, Ulaanbaatar,
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Melbourne overtakes Sydney as Australia's biggest city www.bbc.com

Melbourne has overtaken Sydney as Australia's most populous city for the first time since the 19th Century gold rush, following a boundary change.
Sydney has proudly held the title for more than 100 years.
But with populations rapidly growing on Melbourne's fringe, the city limits have been expanded to include the area of Melton.
The latest government figures, from June 2021, put Melbourne's population at 4,875,400 - 18,700 more than Sydney.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) defines a city's "significant urban area", by including all connecting suburbs with more than 10,000 people.
"With the amalgamation of Melton into Melbourne in the latest... classification, Melbourne has more people than Sydney - and has had since 2018, " the ABS's Andrew Howe told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper - which described the redrawn boundary as "a technicality".
Proud Sydneysiders will point to the ABS's conclusion that when looking at the greater Sydney and Melbourne regions, Sydney remained bigger in June 2021.
Greater regions of a city take into account its "functional area", the ABS says, and include populations who frequent or work within the city, but may live in small towns and rural areas surrounding it.
Census reveals how Australia is changing
However the federal government predicts Greater Melbourne will overtake Greater Sydney in 2031-32.
Melbourne's rapid growth is largely thanks to international migration, Australian National University demographer Liz Allen told the BBC.
Dr Allen noted that unlike Sydney, which has a "historical hangover" of a time when "it didn't want to be seen as anything other than white", Melbourne has a reputation for celebrating diversity.
It is also an attractive migration destination as it has employment and education opportunities comparableto Sydney, but has historically been more affordable than the harbour-side city.
It's not the first time Melbourne has held the title of Australia's biggest city.
As a result of the gold rush in the late 19th Century, which saw migrants flock to the state of the Victoria, Melbourne grew rapidly and outnumbered Sydney until 1905.
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“Yellow sand from China? Mongolia is the source” Chinese Jeokban Hajang www.korea.postsen.com

The Chinese media expressed their displeasure at the expression of ‘China’s yellow dust’ being used worldwide.
According to the Global Times, a state-run media outlet in China on the 16th, the Central Meteorological Observatory of China said, “The two strongest yellow dust storms this year occurred in Mongolia, more than 600 km away from Beijing, the capital.”
He expressed his displeasure, saying, “Some Korean media reported that the yellow dust from Mongolia was ‘the yellow dust from China’, and even used inflammatory terms such as disaster or hell.” It is argued that the source of the yellow dust is Mongolia, not China, and that China, like Korea and Japan, is a ‘victim’.
The Global Times also expressed discomfort, saying, “Some media outlets in Korea and Japan reported that ‘yellow dust from China’ spread to their countries and affected people’s lives.” In particular, he insisted that this is not the first time that South Korea has shifted responsibility for weather problems.
However, the media actually mentioned only two cases of yellow dust that occurred in Mongolia this year. In addition to the Gobi Desert located on the border between Mongolia and China, the main sources of yellow dust that affected Korea and Japan this spring are analyzed to be the southern part of Xinjiang in China and the central western part of Inner Mongolia.
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Interview: Mongolia vows to break its corruption habit www.asiatimes.com

Justice Minister Khishgeegiin Nyambaatar outlines plan to uproot endemic corruption in resource-rich but still impoverished nation.
Mongolia has vowed to resolve its deep-rooted corruption problems, a response to the thousands of angry protestors who tried to storm the parliament last December while calling for an investigation into a US$1.8 billion coal theft case.
The Mongolian Independent Authority Against Corruption (IAAC), an independent government body, announced on April 12 that it had unveiled a national strategy to combat corruption in the public sector and set 10 related goals to achieve by 2030.
The mineral-rich nation will seek help if needed from China, which accounts for more than 80% of its total exports, for information about officials or company executives who may have absconded.
“This coal theft case is a very big case, involving more than 200 people,” Khishgeegiin Nyambaatar, Mongolia’s Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs, told Asia Times in an exclusive interview. Those suspected range “from members of the parliament and officials of the customs and tax authority to transportation and mining company executives,” he said.
“Our prosecution officers contacted their Chinese counterparts, who have expressed their willingness to cooperate in this case,” he said. “It will take some time to sort everything out but I want to emphasize that anyone who is involved in this case will be held accountable at the end of the day.”
He added that the Chinese side remains open to providing information on specific cases but not on broader cases.
“As a friendly neighbor, China believes the Mongolian government will properly probe and handle the case,” Mao Ning, a spokesperson of China’s foreign ministry, said back on December 6. “If Mongolia makes a request, the relevant authorities in China will provide necessary assistance in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.”
Dirty coal lies
Last November, the anti-corruption authority announced that more than 30 officials and executives of Erdenes-Tavantolgoi JSC, Mongolia’s largest state-owned coal miner, were under investigation for embezzlement.
Dorjhand Togmid, a parliamentarian in Mongolia, said at that time that a total of about 6.4 million tons of coal, worth US$1.8 billion, had not been registered by Mongolian customs since 2013 but had been recorded by Chinese customs. Whistleblowers said corrupt customs officials registered coal-loaded trucks as passenger vehicles.
Media reports said the Mongolian government had received a list of its corrupt officials from Beijing. In early December, thousands of protesters rallied in front of the Government Palace in Ulaanbaatar’s Sukhbaatar Square, calling on the government to disclose the list.
On December 8, Nyambaatar ordered the arrests of eight people, including Erdenes Tavantolgoi’s former Chief Executive Battulga Ganhuyag and his wife, sister and son-in-law.
On December 13, the IAAC disclosed the names of 17 suspects, including former Mongolian President Battulga Khaltmaa, two of his ex-staff, seven MPs, four Southgobi province lawmakers and former Erdenes Tavantolgoi directors.
“When Mongolia transitioned to a market economy in the 1990s, our GDP was about US$3 billion, and now it’s more than $12 billion, up by 300%,” Nyambaatar said. “But our poverty rate has not significantly improved while our education and health sectors have been deteriorating.”
“The general public is not very happy with what has evolved over the past 33 years,” he added. “A majority of Mongolians would agree that a lot of local businesses were close to the politicians, who opened doors and provided extra opportunities for themselves.”
He said the government will face a lot of resistance from the business sector as it bids to disrupt a system from which many companies have profited.
Last month, Nyambaatar froze the bank accounts of 18 people who had fled overseas during the anti-graft investigations. He said the government plans to repatriate more than 100 criminal suspects from 23 countries.
Poverty and corruption
According to the Household Socio-Economic Survey (HSES), Mongolia’s poverty rate was 27.8% in 2020, meaning that about 900,000 out of its 3.3 million people were living in poverty. The figure has hovered between 30-40% in the past decade, the data shows.
Last year, Mongolia scored 33 point out of 100 on the Corruption Perceptions Index compiled by Transparency International, a global corruption watchdog. The country scored 36 points a decade ago. The lower the score, the higher the corruption in a country’s public sector under TI’s rating.
By comparison, the United States scored 69 on the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index while China scored 45. The US’s poverty rate was 12.8% last year while China’s was about 13% in 2020.
Along with Mongolia, the Philippines and Ukraine also scored 33 on the Corruption Perceptions Index. Last year, the three tied to rank 116th out of 180 countries in terms of clean governance.
“There is a strong urgency for us to change the situation as Mongolia’s Corruption Perceptions Index has not improved,” Nyambaatar said.
“There is public anger because some people in authority used public funds to send their kids to universities abroad,” he said. “A lot of properties in prime locations were acquired by those who had information that was not available to the public.”
As for who was on the receiving end of the mining licenses and subsidies, “a majority of them were people who had higher authority, or their alliances [did].”
He said the country’s widening wealth gap and shrinking middle class are giving impetus to the latest anti-corruption drive.
The IAAC’s newly-launched anti-corruption strategy includes five areas: whistleblowing, removal of corrupt public officials, extradition and repatriation of those under indictment, asset recovery and transparency.
“The strategy is an ambitious undertaking and is aimed at preventing the risk of corruption in public institutions, officials, private sector, civil society, political parties and groups,” said IAAC director general Dashdavaa Zandraa. “We will also work with the government for a more transparent, open and responsible society.”
Poor transparency, scarce information
Mongolia launched its Anti-Corruption Law in 2006 but it was poorly enforced due to a lack of transparency and access to information, an inadequate civil service system and weak government control of key institutions, according to the US State Department’s Office of Investment Affairs.
The Mongolian government has recently submitted three proposed laws for adoption in the parliamentary spring session, namely the protection of whistleblowers, campaign finance reform and the transparency of state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
“With the campaign financing reform, we are trying to improve the political party’s finance systems,” Nyambaatar said, adding that parliament will start reforming its election system in May while increasing the number of its members.
“As long as there is a strong involvement of the government in the SOEs, there will be corruption and bribery,” he said. “Because of this, we are proposing a new SOE law to prohibit government’s involvement and an open and transparent recruitment process for those who are going to be leading those companies.”
Last year, the government submitted to parliament a mining transparency law, which aims to identify all beneficiaries in the supply chain through the use of information and communication technology.
By JEFF PAO
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Things tourists should never do in Mongolia www.news.mn

Mongolia is a country of nomads, yaks, and breathtaking landscapes. As a visitor to this enchanting country, it’s important to respect the local culture and avoid behaviors that may be considered offensive. From pointing with your index finger to wearing your coat while eating, there are certain things you should never do in Mongolia. You should refrain from doing these five things in Mongolia.
Don’t equate Mongolian norms with Chinese ones
Mongolia and China may have shared cultural and historical connections, but they are two distinct countries with their unique traditions, customs, and social norms. Equating Mongolian traditions with Chinese ones is not only inaccurate, but it can also be disrespectful to Mongolian people. Try to understand and appreciate the unique aspects of each culture and avoid making assumptions or generalizations.
Don’t point your index finger at someone
In Mongolia, pointing your index finger at someone is considered disrespectful. Instead, it is best to use your whole palm when indicating a direction, or object, or when pointing at someone. This gesture not only shows respect but also conveys a sense of openness and inclusiveness .So, be sure to keep this social norm in mind and use your whole palm for indicating something.
Don’t forget to leave your warm clothes behind when eating
Always remove your coat and other warm clothes before sitting down to eat food. To Mongolians, leaving your coat on signifies that you think they aren’t providing adequate warmth in their home. By removing your coat and other warm items, you not only show respect for your host and their home, but you also demonstrate an understanding of Mongolian culture and customs.
Don’t speak for long in your own language
Language can be a powerful tool for cultural exchange and connection, but it can also create barriers and exclusions. To avoid any misunderstandings and offense, it is important to be mindful of the languages spoken around you. Long conversations in your own language in front of locals who don’t understand it can be seen as impolite and exclusionary.
Don’t disrespect fire
In Mongolian culture, fire is more than just a source of warmth and light; it is considered sacred and holds a deep symbolic meaning. So, it’s essential to treat fire with respect and avoid putting water on or stepping on it, or even worse, putting garbage in it. Such actions can offend Mongolians, who hold fire in high regard.
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Apartments in UB: Price ratio higher than in New York or San Francisco www.news.mn

The cost-of-living crunch is hitting people all over the world, but there’s no doubt the Mongolians have it hard. Over the past two years, inflation in the country has been in the double digits. It moved as high as around 16 percent in 2022.
The average salary, meanwhile, is approximately USD 450 per month, with a low-level manager on average expected to make toward USD 480. Apartment rentals cost around USD 200 to USD 500 per month.
Among Mongolians there is a tremendous variance in income, with the minimum wage only USD 142 per month. Apartments in Ulaanbaatar are extremely expensive. The price ratio is now 10.8 times the average annual disposable income. And, where 90 square metres is considered as the size of a normal apartment in much of the world, the Mongolian government mortgage programme only provides attractive mortgages for apartments of up to 80 sqm. If you use the 90 sqm figure, then the ratio becomes 11.99 times the average disposable income. This is higher than in New York or San Francisco.
With a Mongolian working population of only 1,158,245 and an average income tax rate of 10 percent and low salaries not set to pick up any time soon amid global economic headwinds, government tax revenues are minimal, making it difficult to provide social services for everyone. Overall, 27.8 percent of Mongolians live below the poverty line, while in the countryside the percentage is closer to 38 percent. Roughly half of the population is receiving some form of government assistance, such as food stamps or other payments. (by Antonio Graceffo)
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Ancient DNA reveals the multiethnic structure of Mongolia's first nomadic empire www.phys.org

Long obscured in the shadows of history, the world's first nomadic empire—the Xiongnu—is at last coming into view thanks to painstaking archaeological excavations and new ancient DNA evidence. Arising on the Mongolian steppe 1,500 years before the Mongols, the Xiongnu empire grew to be one of Iron Age Asia's most powerful political forces—ultimately stretching its reach and influence from Egypt to Rome to Imperial China.
Economically grounded in animal husbandry and dairying, the Xiongnu were famously nomadic, building their empire on the backs of horses. Their proficiency at mounted warfare made them swift and formidable foes, and their legendary conflicts with Imperial China ultimately led to the construction of the Great Wall.
However, unlike their neighbors, the Xiongnu never developed a writing system, and consequently historical records about the Xiongnu have been almost entirely written and passed down by their rivals and enemies. Such accounts, largely recorded by Han Dynasty chroniclers, provide little useful information on the origins of the Xiongnu, their political rise, or their social organization.
Although recent archaeogenetics studies have now traced the origins of the Xiongnu as a political entity to a sudden migration and mixing of disparate nomadic groups in northern Mongolia ca. 200 BCE, such findings have raised more questions than answers.
To better understand the inner workings of the seemingly enigmatic Xiongnu empire, an international team of researchers at the Max Planck Institutes for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA) and Geoanthropology (MPI-GEO), Seoul National University, the University of Michigan, and Harvard University conducted an in-depth genetic investigation of two imperial elite Xiongnu cemeteries along the western frontier of the empire: an aristocratic elite cemetery at Takhiltyn Khotgor and a local elite cemetery at Shombuuzyn Belchir. The research is published in the journal Science Advances.
"We knew that the Xiongnu had a high degree of genetic diversity, but due to a lack of community-scale genomic data it remained unclear whether this diversity emerged from a heterogeneous patchwork of locally homogenous communities or whether local communities were themselves genetically diverse," explains Juhyeon Lee, first author of the study and Ph.D. student at Seoul National University. "We wanted to know how such genetic diversity was structured at different social and political scales, as well as in relation to power, wealth, and gender."
The rise of a multiethnic empire
Researchers found that individuals within the two cemeteries exhibited extremely high genetic diversity, to a degree comparable with that found across the Xiongnu Empire as a whole. In fact, high genetic diversity and heterogeneity was present at all levels—across the empire, within individual communities, and even within individual families—confirming the characterization of the Xiongnu Empire as a multiethnic empire. However, much of this diversity was stratified by status.
The lowest status individuals (interred as satellite burials of the elites, likely reflecting a servant status) exhibited the highest genetic diversity and heterogeneity, suggesting that these individuals originated from far-flung parts of the Xiongnu Empire or beyond. In contrast, local and aristocratic elites buried in wood-plank coffins within square tombs and stone ring graves exhibited lower overall genetic diversity and harbored higher proportions of eastern Eurasian ancestries, suggesting that elite status and power was concentrated among specific genetic subsets of the broader Xiongnu population. Nevertheless, even elite families appear to have used marriage to cement ties to newly incorporated groups, especially at Shombuuzyn Belchir.
"We now have a better idea of how the Xiongnu expanded their empire by incorporating disparate groups and leveraging marriage and kinship into empire building," says senior author Dr. Choongwon Jeong, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Seoul National University.
Powerful women in Xiongnu society
A second major finding was that high status Xiongnu burials and elite grave goods were disproportionately associated with women, corroborating textual and archaeological evidence that Xiongnu women played especially prominent political roles in the expansion and integration of new territories along the empire's frontier.
At the aristocratic elite cemetery of Takhiltyn Khotgor, researchers found that the elite monumental tombs had been built for women, with each prominent woman flanked by a host of commoner males buried in simple graves. The women were interred in elaborate coffins with the golden sun and moon emblems of Xiongnu imperial power and one tomb even contained a team of six horses and a partial chariot.
At the nearby local elite cemetery of Shombuuzyn Belchir, women likewise occupied the wealthiest and most elaborate graves, with grave goods consisting of wooden coffins, golden emblems and gilded objects, glass and faience beads, Chinese mirrors, a bronze cauldron, silk clothing, wooden carts, and more than a dozen livestock, as well as three objects conventionally associated with male horse-mounted warriors: a Chinese lacquer cup, a gilded iron belt clasp, and horse tack. Such objects and their symbolism convey the great political power of the women.
"Women held great power as agents of the Xiongnu imperial state along the frontier, often holding exclusive noble ranks, maintaining Xiongnu traditions, and engaging in both steppe power politics and the so-called Silk Road networks of exchange," says Dr. Bryan Miller, project archaeologist and Assistant Professor of Central Asian Art & Archaeology at the University of Michigan.
Children in Xiongnu society
Genetic analysis also provided rare insights into the social roles of children in Xiongnu society. "Children received differential mortuary treatment depending upon age and sex, giving clues to the ages at which gender and status were ascribed in Xiongnu society," says senior author Dr. Christina Warinner, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University and Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
Researchers found, for example, that although adolescent Xiongnu boys as young as 11–12 years old were buried with a bow and arrows, in a manner resembling that of adult males, younger boys were not. This suggests that the gendered social roles of hunter and warrior were not ascribed to boys until late childhood or early adolescence.
The legacy of the Xiongnu today
Although the Xiongnu empire ultimately disintegrated in the late 1st century CE, the findings of the study point to the enduring social and cultural legacy of the Xiongnu.
"Our results confirm the long-standing nomadic tradition of elite princesses playing critical roles in the political and economic life of the empires, especially in periphery regions—a tradition that began with the Xiongnu and continued more than a thousand years later under the Mongol Empire," says Dr. Jamsranjav Bayarsaikhan, project archaeologist and Mongolian Archaeology Project: Surveying the Steppes (MAPSS) project coordinator at the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology. "While history has at times dismissed nomadic empires as fragile and short, their strong traditions have never been broken."
by Max Planck Society
 
 
 
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