Transportation and Communications - Survey

Inland Waterways: 397 kilometers of principal routes, primarily on Hovsgol Nuur and Selenge Moron, navigable only 5 months of year.

Roads: In 1986 total highways 6,700 kilometers; 900 kilometers paved. Main roads linked Ulaanbaatar with Chinese and Soviet frontiers at Erenhot and Kyakhta, respectively. Bus services in Ulaanbaatar and other large towns; road haulage services throughout country on basis of motor-transport depots, mostly in aymag (provincial) centers.

Railroads: Diesel-drive rolling stock; 1,750 kilometers of 1.524-meter broad-gauge track in 1986. In 1984 accounted for more than 70 percent of total freight turnover.

Civil Aviation: Airfields totaled eighty, thirty usable, ten with permanent-surface runways; largest at Ulaanbaatar. National carrier: Mongolian Airlines (MIAT). Domestic service to provincial-level and many county centers. International service from Ulaanbaatar to Irkutsk, Soviet Union, and Beijing. Total route length, 38,300 kilometers. Aeroflot connected Ulaanbaatar to major world capitals.

Telecommunications: New radio relay lines planned; 13 AM, 1 FM radio station, 1 television station with 18 provincial-level relays; 88,100 television sets; 207,000 radio receivers; at least one satellite ground station.