Context
“In Mongolia everything travels by mouth”, is a traditional saying. Naturally, this can take time in one of the biggest countries on earth which is at the same time the most scarcely populated: nowadays only 3 Million people live on 1, 5 Million square kilometers. But already the legendary conqueror Genghis Khan managed to speed up the information travel: in 1225, when the Great Mongolian Empire had not yet reached its peak but already ruled everything between the Caspian Sea and Beijing, he created an efficient pony express system to deliver news from every corner of the unfolding empire to the Mongolian capital and send orders back.
Ever since, the media in Mongolia – as everywhere else – developed according to historical and political conditions and reflects changes in society as well as the legal framework of the time. The characteristics of history, society, politics, economy and law that have been influencing media development in Mongolia are outlined on the following pages.