Territory constitutes one of the fundamental elements of statehood and serves as the spatial foundation upon which sovereignty is exercised. In modern legal theory, it is widely recognized that a state cannot exist without a defined territory, as territorial integrity is inseparably linked to national identity, political authority, and legal order. In the case of Mongolia, territorial integrity and inviolability are explicitly recognized as core components of national security and vital national interests, encompassing not only sovereignty and independence but also the preservation of the nation’s people, culture, and sustainable development.

Within this context, land represents not merely a physical space but a complex legal and economic category, forming the basis of social relations, resource management, and state governance. The legal regulation of land in Mongolia has undergone significant transformation since the transition to a market-oriented economy in the 1990s, marked by the recognition of both public and private property. As a result, a comprehensive legal framework governing land relations has emerged, including laws on land ownership, land use, mineral resources, and land fees. However, despite these developments, the current legal system remains characterized by fragmentation, inconsistencies, and regulatory gaps, which pose challenges to effective land governance and may have broader implications for territorial security.

Moreover, historical legal traditions in Mongolia demonstrate a long-standing emphasis on the protection of land and territorial integrity as essential elements of statehood. From early state formations to modern constitutional arrangements, land has consistently been regarded as a collective national asset subject to legal protection. In contemporary conditions, however, the expansion of land ownership rights and increasing pressures on land use necessitate a re-examination of the legal framework to ensure its alignment with national security objectives.

Despite the existence of an extensive body of legislation governing land relations in Mongolia, the relationship between land regulation and territorial security has not been sufficiently conceptualized in legal scholarship. Existing studies have predominantly focused on land as a subject of property law, resource management, or administrative regulation, with limited attention to its broader implications for sovereignty and national security.

Against this background, this article addresses the following research question: how does the current legal framework governing land relations in Mongolia affect territorial security, and to what extent does it ensure the protection of national sovereignty and territorial integrity? In addition, the study examines whether the existing regulatory framework adequately balances the expansion of private land ownership with the strategic interests of the state.

This article contributes to the literature by reinterpreting land regulation as not merely a legal mechanism for managing property relations, but as a strategic component of national security. By linking doctrinal legal analysis with considerations of territorial integrity and sovereignty, the study offers a more integrated perspective on land governance in Mongolia.

Accordingly, this study aims to analyze the legal regulation of land in Mongolia and its relationship with territorial security by examining the existing legal framework, institutional arrangements, and historical foundations. It further seeks to identify key legal challenges and propose directions for improving land legislation and governance in order to strengthen the protection of territorial integrity and national sovereignty.

The term “state territory” originates from the Latin word territorium (The term “state territory” originates from the Latin word territorium (Latin: territorium), referring to a de-fined geographical area under the authority of a state.), and today it is not only an essential attribute of the state but also something without which a state can no longer be conceived. In the case of Mongolia, national security refers to a condition in which favorable internal and external circum-stances are reliably ensured to safeguard the country’s fun-damental national interests It is defined that the funda-mental national interests of Mongolia include the country’s independence, territorial integrity, the survival of the Mongo-lian people and civilization, national unity, the guaranteed protection of human rights and freedoms, as well as sus-tainable economic development and ecological balance. In other words, the existence of a state implies the posses-sion of territory, and throughout history, the concepts of “territory” and “state” have often been equated, a notion that continues even today. Therefore, territory is an insepa-rable attribute of the state. On the other hand, the Na-tional Security Concept of Mongolia explicitly affirms that territorial integrity and the inviolability of state borders form part of the country’s fundamental national interests, thereby demonstrating that territory is an inseparable element of state sovereignty. Territory is a part of the Earth’s surface defined by boundaries and subject to the sovereignty of a particular state. It includes land and water surfaces, the subsoil, airspace, and other equivalent objects. This is recog-nized and guaranteed by both national and international legal norms, and the boundaries of states are reflected on global and national maps. A state’s territory is delimited by its borders. The territorial integrity and inviolability of a state are protected by both national and international law. Mongolia has a territory of approximately 1.565 million square kilometers, ranking 17th in the world by land area. It is a landlocked country, bordering the Russian Federation to the north for about 2,700 km and the People’s Republic of China to the south for about 4,300 km .

Territory and its security constitute an inseparable part of Mongolia’s independence and national security. In order to examine territorial security, it is necessary first to study land and its legal regulation. Land may be defined as a spatial layer comprising the earth’s surface, including its soil, forests, water, and vegetation. It is also one of the primary types of natural resources and serves as the main means of agricul-tural production. In a broad sense, land encompasses the spatial environment in which human civilization and culture exist, including both surface and subsurface resources. However, under the law of Mongolia, land is defined as “a spatial layer consisting of the earth’s surface, including its soil, forests, water, and vegetation.” The territorial secu-rity of Mongolia is recognized as an integral part of the country’s fundamental national interests and its independ-ence. Since 1990, Mongolia has recognized both public and private ownership and has continuously deepened its eco-nomic and legal reforms. As a result of these legal reforms, the field of land relations is currently governed by several key laws, including the Law on Land (2002), the Law on Minerals (2006), the Law on Granting Land Ownership to Mongolian Citizens (2002), the Law on Land Fees (1997), and the Law on Subsoil (1988), along with relevant regula-tions and procedures. According to the Constitution of Mongolia, subsoil is state property, that is, it belongs to the people as a whole. However, subsoil may only be granted for use. Subsoil refers to the space extending beneath the sur-face of the earth and all material objects contained within it, including all types of rocks, minerals, other geological for-mations, as well as constructions. Regardless of whether it is being utilized or not, subsoil in its entirety forms part of the state unified fund. Mongolia adheres to the principles of territorial integrity and the unity of the land fund, whereby all land within its borders, regardless of the type or form of ownership, is included in the unified land fund. The territory of the state is indivisible and inviolable, and this characteris-tic is an essential component of state sovereignty. Therefore, it is protected under both national and international law. The state bears the responsibility to safeguard its territory from any attempts whether external or internal to alter or under-mine it.

The National Security Concept of Mongolia sets forth the objective of improving the unified policy and governance system of the country’s land fund in alignment with the principle of ensuring territorial security. Therefore, it is nec-essary to examine the current state of Mongolia’s unified land fund, its legal regulation, and its management system.

The unified land fund is classified based on the primary purpose and use of land into categories such as agricultural land, urban and settlement land, land for infrastructure and communication networks, forest land, and water fund land. Agricultural land includes pasture, hayfields, cropland, fal-low land, land occupied by agricultural facilities, and other land designated for agricultural production. Urban and set-tlement land, including that of the capital city, encompasses land occupied by buildings and structures, industrial and mining sites, engineering infrastructure, facilities for disaster prevention, public-use areas, and land reserved for future expansion. Public-use land, in turn, includes streets, squares, roads, recreational and sports areas, parks, cemeteries, waste disposal sites, and treatment facilities within urban and set-tlement areas. The land of cities, towns, and other settle-ments, including the capital city, is delimited by the bounda-ries defined under Article 6.2 of the Law on the Legal Status of the Capital City of Mongolia. The capital and its satellite cities are organized into zoned territories. In cases where the land of a satellite city is located within another administrative unit, land fees collected from individuals and legal entities using or possessing such land are allocated to the budget of the respective aimag or soum where the satel-lite city is situated. Land designated for infrastructure and communication networks includes land allocated outside urban and settlement areas for electricity, heating, gas, water supply, sewage systems, roads, transport, communication, and information purposes. Forest land includes areas cov-ered by forests, shrubs, deforested areas, forest clearings, strips, and land designated for forest regeneration and ex-pansion. Water fund land includes lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, springs, reservoirs, wetlands, glaciers, and the pro-tective zones surrounding these water bodies, as regulated by law. Furthermore, the unified land fund must be managed under a single system regardless of its classification, admin-istrative division, or purpose of use. In this regard, the Gov-ernment has the authority to establish procedures for land management, conduct state supervision and certification of land conditions and quality, and maintain reports on the unified land fund. The central administrative body responsi-ble for land issues is tasked with reporting on the status of the unified land fund to the Government. The classification of land within the unified land fund and the transfer of land from one category to another are decided by the Govern-ment in accordance with legal provisions. At the local level, Citizens’ Representative Khurals and Governors of aimags, soums, the capital city, and districts are responsible for re-viewing and consolidating annual reports on the unified land fund within their jurisdictions, submitting them for discussion, and reporting to higher-level authorities and relevant state administrative bodies. The Government, the central state administrative body responsible for land issues, and the Cit-izens’ Representative Khurals and Governors of aimags, soums, the capital city, and districts exercise supervision over the possession, use, and protection of the unified land fund, as well as over the implementation of land legislation, within the scope of their legally defined powers. All catego-ries of land within the unified land fund are subject to man-datory state inspection and certification of land condition and quality once every five years. Such certification is also conducted when the land possession or use rights of indi-viduals, legal entities, or organizations are terminated. How-ever, under current conditions, land legislation operates alongside more than 60 effective laws and approximately 200 administrative normative acts, resulting in 7 instances of overlap, 29 inconsistencies, and 25 legal gaps. This has cre-ated ambiguity and deficiencies in legal regulation. There-fore, in order to establish a coherent and effective legal framework, efforts are underway to improve the legislation through the development of a revised package of land laws. Researchers have concluded that revising the package of land laws would lead to several important outcomes. In particular, it is argued that the Law on Land would enable the effective implementation of the principle of the unified land fund of Mongolia. Empirical data show that out of Mongolia’s total unified land fund of 156,411,575 hectares, 72.9% consists of agricultural land, 0.6% of urban and set-tlement land, 0.3% of land for infrastructure and communi-cation networks, 9.1% of forest land, 0.4% of water fund land, and 16.7% of land designated for special state needs. According to the 2021 report on the unified land fund, agri-cultural land decreased by 61.8 thousand hectares, while urban and settlement land increased by 38.6 thousand hec-tares, infrastructure and communication land by 2.4 thou-sand hectares, forest land by 0.7 thousand hectares, and land for special state needs by 20.0 thousand hectares. There was no change in water fund land. In terms of land rights, compared to 2019, privately owned land increased by 2.2 thousand hectares, reaching a total of 68.1 thousand hectares. As of the end of 2021, there were 1,151,476 land-owners, possessors, and users nationwide, representing an increase of 41,430 compared to the previous year. When compared to the total population of Mongolia, 19.8% of citizens owned land, which is an increase of 0.2 percentage points from the previous year. In addition, 67.4 thousand hectares of land were granted free of charge for family use to 653,161 citizens; 29.31 hectares were sold preferentially for business purposes to 312 citizens; 1.63 hectares were allocated through auction for business purposes to 50 citi-zens; and 60.74 hectares were sold preferentially for agri-cultural purposes to 61 citizens .

Based on the reports of the unified land fund, it can be observed that privately owned land has been increasing year by year. This raises the question of whether such a trend may affect territorial security and thus warrants further examination. To address this issue, it is necessary first to study in detail the traditions and reforms of land ownership rights. From a historical state and legal perspective, the his-tory of Mongolian statehood is considered to have begun with the establishment of the Xiongnu state, an early polity of Mongolic origin. It is recorded that Modun Shanyu, ruler of the Xiongnu Empire, proclaimed that “land is the foundation of the state.” Similarly, Genghis Khan did not grant land as private property to those who rendered out-standing service to the state; rather, he granted them special rights of possession. As stated, “Let Sorqon-Shira be granted the land, and let the Merkid lands be possessed and passed down to their descendants for generations.” .

Furthermore, in examining the historical traditions of land relations, the Great Yassa of Genghis Khan placed particular emphasis on pastureland and underscored the importance of protecting it from destruction. In the Khalkh Jirum (custom-ary legal code), it was stipulated that if a person knowingly settled on land marked by a post, they would be subject to a penalty of threefold compensation, whereas if they did so unknowingly, a single horse would be taken as compensa-tion. This reflected a distinctive form of legal regulation of land relations at the time. Following the victory of the Peo-ple’s Revolution in 1921, land relations were legally restruc-tured, and for the first time land was declared state property accessible for public use. For example, it was legally estab-lished that “all land of the state shall henceforth not be sub-ject to seizure or appropriation by any domestic or foreign persons claiming it as their own.” Such legal regulations were established, and these provisions were subsequently reflected in the first Constitution of the Mongolian People’s Republic adopted in 1924. Specifically, it was stipulated that “all land within the territory of the Mongolian People’s Re-public, including its subsoil, forests, water, and their resources, shall be under the ownership of the people, and private own-ership thereof shall not be permitted.” It was also stipu-lated in Resolution No. 19 of the Provisional People’s Gov-ernment of Mongolia, adopted on April 21 of the eleventh year of the Bogd Khanate (corresponding to May 21, 1921), that “the land, which constitutes the fundamental wealth of the Mongolian people, shall no longer be freely and without limitation used by individuals” In order to implement the provisions of the First Constitution of the Mongolian People’s Republic, several legal regulations were subse-quently adopted by the Government. For instance, in 1926, it was provided that “disputes and conflicts arising among the people due to deprivation of pasture, winter camps, and seasonal grazing areas, as well as the unlawful seizure of excess land, shall be prevented; and land shall be allocated appropriately by local authorities based on long-term habi-tation, adaptation of humans and livestock, and the number of livestock owned” Later, in 1928, it was stipulated that “people shall reside within the boundaries of their re-spective territories; migration into other administrative terri-tories without valid reason shall be restricted; unclear boundaries shall be redefined; and in cases of natural disas-ters such as dzud, prior permission must be obtained through relevant administrative authorities” In 1935, further legal provisions established that “citizens of the state, as well as state, cooperative, industrial, and public organizations, shall use pasture and water free of charge and without time limitation, while such resources may be leased to foreign nationals” The 1940 Constitution of the Mongolian People’s Republic reaffirmed the provisions of the first Con-stitution by declaring that “all land, forests, water, and their resources are state property, that is, the property of the peo-ple.” Subsequently, the Law on Land Tenure adopted in 1942 classified land use rights into categories such as la-bor-based land use rights of private households, land use rights of cooperatives and public organizations, and land use rights of state enterprises, stations, industries, and institutions. The 1960 Constitution of the Mongolian People’s Republic further reinforced the provisions of the 1940 Constitution and additionally established that “land shall be provided to agricultural cooperatives free of charge and for permanent use.” At the same time, legal regulations were developed concerning the classification of the unified land fund, the rights and duties of land users, procedures for land allocation and withdrawal, land registration and supervision, land management, dispute resolution, and liability for violations of land legislation. From the above analysis, it can be concluded that the historical traditions of land ownership have consistently prioritized the protection of territorial secu-rity. This explains the continued existence of the present independent state. In other words, ensuring Mongolia’s in-dependence, sovereignty, inviolability of borders, and territo-rial integrity has always been regarded as the foundation of existential security throughout history. As the prominent Mongolian scholar B. Chimed stated: “Mongolia is a coun-try with centuries-old statehood, culture, and civilization founded by Chingis Khan, possessing a territory of 1.564 million square kilometers under the eternal blue sky.” Therefore, it is appropriate to safeguard territorial integrity through the policy of the unified land fund. As emphasized, “the essential elements constituting a state territory, popula-tion, and sovereign authority form the foundation of state existence; if any one of these elements is lost, the state loses its basis for existence and legal legitimacy.”.

Within the framework of reforms in the legal regulation of land, the legal provisions concerning the granting of land ownership to citizens of Mongolia can be examined as fol-lows: granting land ownership to citizens refers to the trans-fer of land, which is permitted under the Constitution of Mongolia to be owned by citizens, into private ownership in accordance with legally prescribed size, conditions, require-ments, procedures, and terms. It is further stipulated that all land not granted to citizens remains state property, and that, except for pastureland, public-use land, and land des-ignated for special state needs, land may be owned only by citizens of Mongolia.

A landowner may be understood as a person who pos-sesses the right to control and dispose of a particular plot of land. In other words, land ownership refers to the legally recognized ability to hold land under one’s control with the right to dispose of it within the limits permitted by law. “In legal relations, an owner participates with a number of inviolable preferential rights compared to non-owners and may exercise their rights by all means not prohibited by law” . “The rights of ownership of immovable property are guaranteed by the state through the issuance of a certifi-cate”. Furthermore, it is prohibited for any person to interfere, in any form, with a citizen’s exercise of their right to own land .

This study applies a qualitative legal research methodology based on doctrinal analysis. It examines the legal regulation of land and its relationship with territorial security in Mongolia. The research uses primary legal sources (the Constitution, land-related laws, and policy documents) and secondary sources (academic literature and official reports). The main methods include doctrinal analysis, historical analysis, comparative method, and systemic analysis to identify legal gaps and inconsistencies. The study is limited to legal and document-based analysis and does not include empirical field research.

The study finds that Mongolia has a structured legal framework regulating land relations, closely linked to territorial security. However, the coexistence of numerous laws and regulations has created overlaps, inconsistencies, and legal gaps. Statistical data show that agricultural land dominates (72.9%) and the number of landowners and privately owned land is steadily increasing. Overall, while legal reforms have expanded land ownership, they also raise concerns regarding effective regulation and territorial security.

The findings indicate that land regulation in Mongolia is closely linked to territorial security and state sovereignty, rather than being solely a matter of property law. However, the current legal framework is fragmented, with overlapping and inconsistent regulations, reducing its effectiveness. The growth of private land ownership reflects legal and economic development, but also raises concerns regarding control over territory and public interest. Historically, land has always been treated as a foundation of statehood, suggesting that modern reforms should align with traditional principles of territorial protection. Future research should focus on comparative analysis, practical implementation, and improving the unified land fund system.

This study demonstrates that the legal regulation of land in Mongolia constitutes a fundamental mechanism for ensuring territorial security and safeguarding national sovereignty. Territory is an essential attribute of statehood, and its integrity and inviolability form the core of national security.

The findings reveal that multiple laws and administrative regulations governing land relations in Mongolia operate simultaneously, leading to overlaps, inconsistencies, and legal gaps. These issues weaken the effectiveness of the regulatory framework, negatively affect the unified land fund policy and management system, and may pose risks to territorial security.

Furthermore, the increasing implementation of land ownership rights reflects a positive development in securing citizens’ economic rights. However, it also necessitates balancing private ownership with the protection, rational use, and strategic management of land resources, particularly in relation to national security concerns. Historically, Mongolian legal tradition has emphasized the collective and strategic protection of land, and this principle should be incorporated into modern legal regulation.

Therefore, it is necessary to:

1) systematically reform and codify land-related legislation,

2) eliminate legal overlaps and gaps,

3) improve the governance and management system of the unified land fund, and

4) align land ownership regulation with national security objectives.

In conclusion, improving the legal regulation of land is not merely a matter of governing property relations, but a strategic imperative for ensuring Mongolia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and long-term national security.

The author would like to express sincere gratitude to the faculty members of the Public Law Department at Shihihutug University for their invaluable academic guidance, professional support, and continuous encouragement throughout the course of this research. Their insightful comments and constructive suggestions have significantly contributed to the development and completion of this study.

Ankhbayar Erdenebaatar: Conceptualization, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Gantugs Gankhuyag: Data curation, Resources, Validation, Visualization, Writing – review & editing

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.