Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1961
Mongolia is admitted to the UN as an independent country, but the Soviet Union continues to
occupy Mongolia with troops and run the country as a satellite state.
1990
Democracy demonstrations break out in Ulaanbaatar. In June the first free, multiparty elections
are held, with the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) winning 85% of the vote.
1981
On 22 March, J Gurragchaa, a pilot in the Mongolian air force, becomes the first Mongolian in
space. The cosmonaut spends seven days and 20 hours in orbit.
1996
The Democratic Coalition becomes the first noncommunist government to win an election (al-
though a series of scandals causes the fall of four successive governments).
1998
On 2 October the 'Golden Magpie of Democracy' S Zorig, credited with leading the 1990 demo-
cratic revolution, is assassinated in his home by masked assailants. To this day the murder re-
mains unsolved.
2008
In hotly contested parliamentary elections the MPRP narrowly defeats the Democratic Coali-
tion. Protestors allege vote rigging and subsequent riots end with four people shot dead and
hundreds arrested.
2008
Naidan Tuvshibayar wins Mongolia's first ever Olympic gold medal while competing in judo at
the Bĕijīng summer games. Enkhbat Badar-Uugan, a boxer, also wins gold in Bĕijīng.
2012
The Democratic Party narrowly wins parliamentary elections and joins smaller parties to form a
Coalition government. Former president N Enkhbayar is sentenced to 2½ years in prison for cor-
ruption.
2013
