Here’s a little-known fact: The Bulgan Aimak Province of Mongolia is “similar to Idaho in geography, topography and climate.”

That factoid is brought to you by the Idaho Department of Commerce and Labor, in honor of the visit this weekend to Boise of Mongolia’s ambassador to the United States, Raydan Bold. The ambassador is scheduled to arrive in Idaho on Sunday, and meet Monday and Tuesday with the governor and with state commerce, labor and agriculture officials.

Various Idaho-Mongolia exchanges and outreach efforts in recent years have included an Idaho delegation that traveled to Mongolia to give training in herd management and veterinary medicine, and a Mongolian government delegation that visited Idaho in 2003 to study the state’s government and economy.

Mongolia, somewhat smaller than the state of Alaska, sits between China and Russia and is home to 2.8 million people, according to the Idaho Department of Commerce and Labor.

---

---