Provides easily accessible information for developers, planners, consultants, scholars, students and others with an interest in contemporary Mongolia. Prefaced by a general overview of the land and society. Chapters, all written by international experts, cover a wide range of topics.

Ole Bruun is Associate Professor at Copenhagen University's Department of Anthropology. Until recently, he was a research fellow at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies in Copenhagen. Ole Odgaard is a Head of Section at DANIDA (Danish International Development Assistance). From 1992 to 1995, Dr. Odgaard was stationed in Beijing, where he was in charge of provision of Danish development aid to Mongolia.

Introduction: Climbing out of the Black Hole; The Mongols, Their Land and History; A Society and Economy in Transition; Sustainable Livestock Use of Pastoral Resources; The Herding Household: Economy and Organization; Nomadic Cultural Values and Their Influence on Modernization; Living Standards and Poverty; Women and Poverty during the Transition; Constitutional Reform and Human Rights; Decentralization and Local Governance; Science and Technology Policy; Foreign Relations and Foreign Policy; Afterword: Consolidating Independence