The grassy steppe is the perfect environment in which to raise animals, and one of Mongolia's main industries is still herding (raising animals). These animals (cattle, goats and horses) are used for meat, milk, and wool products like cashmere. There are over forty million animals in Mongolia!
Mongolia has a very harsh climate, and the winters are getting even worse as a result of climate change. This makes it even harder for people to live out on the steppe in gers, or traditional tent houses. These worsening winters are also causing lots of animals to freeze to death. This means that the traditional nomadic, (or traveling), lifestyle of Mongolians is harder and harder to maintain. Many people who used to live on the steppe have since moved to Ulaanbaatar to find other jobs.
People have lived in this environment for hundreds of years, and have adapted well. The traditional Mongolian clothing is called a deel (pronounced "dell"), and in the winter people wear deels made of sheepskin. Do you know anyone with sheepskin boots like UGGs or something similar? Imagine wearing that on your whole body! It is very warm. People also make reindeer skin boots, which are the warmest boots you can imagine. Clothes like these, along with warm stoves in their houses in the winter, have allowed people to survive here.
