Religious beliefs in Mongolia

Based on the CIA World Factbook, about 50% of the Mongolian population practices Tibetan Buddhism, 40% have no religion, 6% belong to Christianity and Shamanism, and 4% practices Islam. But the US Department of State reports that almost 90% of Mongolians practices Tibetan Buddhism. In the 20th century, the communist government of Joseph Stalin prohibited the practice of any religion. Only during the early 1990s after the fall of communism did the public can freely practice any religion they want.

It was during the 20th century when Buddhism became intensely part of the Mongolian culture. During the beginning of the 20th century, there were roughly 580 monasteries and temple complexes. Over the centuries, the monasteries gained wealth and secular dependents until the religious repression during World War II when almost all monasteries were destroyed and every monk was either dear or abandoned their beliefs to survive.

Muslims in the country are generally located in Bayan-Olgii and Khovd. The cities of Ulan Bator, Darkhan, and Töv and Selenge aimags also have significant number of Muslims. Islam is believed to start in Mongolia during the mid-13th century. After the split of the Mongol Empire three of the four khanates became Muslim. The regions of Altai and Jungaria were first inhabited by Muslim Kazakhs in the late 19th century. The Christian population has been drastically growing in the past years especially after the fall of communism in early 1990s. Several Christian denominations in Mongolia are Roman Catholicism, Russian Orthodox, Lutheranism, Presbyterianism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and several evangelical Protestant groups.