In fact, many of Mongolia's main exports, or things they sell to other countries, come from animals. If you go to the store and buy a nice wool sweater or socks, they might be from Mongolia! Mongolian people are very proud of their history, and many people feel most comfortable living in a ger and living a nomadic lifestyle, even today. Almost everyone I have met in Mongolia, even in the city, knows how to ride a horse as well.
Mongolia's landscape is mostly a large, flat grassland, called a steppe. This is the perfect kind of land for raising animals that people use for meat, wool, and milk. For hundreds of years, people in Mongolia have raised five animals that are very important to society: cows, sheep, goats, horses, and camels. These animals are all able to survive the cold Mongolian winters, and there is plenty of food for them to eat here, thanks to all that grass! Nomadic traditions are connected to the environment because they allow people to earn a living and to survive, using the natural resources available to them in a sustainable way. By moving around instead of building their houses in certain places and staying there, Mongolians are able to preserve the environment so that they can keep using it for many years.
