Mining: Is This Mongolia's Path Out of Poverty?

June 26, 2012 from Al Jazeera English

More than a million Mongolians have migrated to the capital city of Ulan Bator in recent years in search of a better life. While about half of the people in Ulan Bator can't find jobs, foreign investors are spurring a mining boom. Al Jazeera's Steve Chao reports from Bayansogt County, Mongolia.

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Ulan Bator

Ulan Bator pron., or Ulaanbaatar, is the capital and the largest city of Mongolia. An independent municipality, the city is not part of any province, and its population as of 2008 is over one million. Located in north central Mongolia, the city lies at an elevation of about 1,... Explore this topic

Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest city, is home to about 45% of the population. Mongolia's political system is a parliamentary republic. The area ... Explore this topic

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth from an orebody, lode, vein, seam, or reef, which forms the mineralized package of economic interest to the miner. Ores recovered by mining include metals, coal and oil shale, gemstones,... Explore this topic

Foreign direct investment

Foreign direct investment is a direct investment into production or business in a country by a company in another country, either by buying a company in the target country or by expanding operations of an existing business in that country. Foreign direct investment is in contr... Explore this topic

Urbanization

Urbanization is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of rural migration and even suburban concentration into cities, particularly the very large ones. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008. By 20... Explore this topic

Investment

Investment is the military tactic of surrounding an enemy fort with armed forces to prevent entry or escape. A circumvallation is a line of fortifications, built by the attackers around the besieged fortification facing towards the enemy fort. The resulting fortifications are ... Explore this topic

Foreign ownership

Foreign ownership refers to the complete or majority ownership/control of a business or resource in a country by individuals who are not citizens of that country, or by companies whose headquarters are not in that country. Explore this topic

Migrant worker

The term migrant worker has different official meanings and connotations in different parts of the world. The United Nations' definition is broad, including any people working outside of their home country. The term can also be used to describe someone who migrates within a co... Explore this topic

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera, also known as Aljazeera and JSC, is a broadcaster owned by the privately held Al Jazeera Media Network and headquartered in Doha, Qatar. Initially launched as an Arabic news and current affairs satellite TV channel, Al Jazeera has since expanded into a network with... Explore this topic

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Ulan Bator

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