Ulan Bator pins hopes on trans-Mongolian highway

[dArKeR]

NY TIMES NEWS SERVICENALAIKH , MONGOLIA

Canada has the Trans-Canada Highway. Brazil has the Trans-Amazon. Germany has the Auto bahn, and Russia now has the Trans-Russian. This summer, from westernmost Tsaganuur to Halhyn Gol in the east, road crews are working to add another to the list, the Mongolian Millennium Highway.

Long written off as a buffer state between China and Russia, Mongolia, twice the size of Texas but with 13 percent of the population, is embarking on a classic exercise in modern nation building.

"What I understand from reading books and surfing the Internet is that developed countries, like Canada and the United States, greatly spread development through roads," said Manduul Baasankhuu, policy director of Mongolia's Road, Transport and Tourism Department.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/07/17/2003179316