Mongolia is a landlocked country in Central Asia and East Asia, located between China and Russia. The terrain is one of mountains and rolling plateaus, with a high degree of relief.^[2] The total land area of Mongolia is 1,564,116 square kilometres.^[3] Overall, the land slopes from the high Altai Mountains of the west and the north to plains and depressions in the east and the south.^[2] The Khüiten Peak in extreme western Mongolia on the Chinese border is the highest point (4,374 m (14,350 ft)).^[2] The lowest point is at 560 m (1,840 ft), is the Hoh Nuur or lake Huh.^[1] The country has an average elevation of 1,580 m (5,180 ft).^[2]

The landscape includes one of Asia’s largest freshwater lakes (Lake Khövsgöl), many salt lakes, marshes, sand dunes, rolling grasslands, alpine forests, and permanent mountain glaciers.^[2] Northern and western Mongolia are seismically active zones, with frequent earthquakes and many hot springs and extinct volcanoes.^[2] The nation’s closest point to any ocean is approximately 645 kilometres (401 mi) from the country’s easternmost tip, bordering North China to Jinzhou in Liaoning province, China along the coastline of the Bohai Sea.