vegetation map

Mongolia has an extreme continental climate with long, cold winters and short summers. The average temperature in summer is +20c (+65F) and in winter –20c (-13F). The wind is 1.5-4.5m/s and average rainfall is 200-220 mm. There are 257 cloudless sunny days a year and is known to the world as a country of “Blue Sky”. Precipitation is highest in the north (average of 20 to 35 centimeters per year) and lowest in the south, which receives 10 to 20 centimeters annually. The extreme south is the Gobi, some regions of which receive no precipitation at all in most years.

The capital city, Ulaanbaatar has the lowest average temperature of any national capital in the world.