Republic Day

Republic Day commemorates November 26, 1924, when Mongolia proclaimed the Mongolian People’s Republic and adopted its first constitution. The date belongs to a decisive and complicated chapter in the country’s modern political history, when Mongolia defined a new constitutional order after the death of the Bogd Khan.

Today the holiday provides a civic moment to consider Mongolia’s constitutional development, sovereignty and changing forms of government. It is distinct from the current Constitution Day, observed in January, and from the December holiday commemorating the restoration of independence in 1911. Public events can be formal, but families also use the late-autumn day off for rest and time together.

The 1924 constitution created a socialist people’s republic closely connected to the Soviet sphere, so responsible commemoration separates constitutional significance from uncritical celebration of the regime that followed. November 26 first appeared as an observance, was removed from that category, and returned as a public holiday through a 2016 amendment. The date now sits alongside January 13 Constitution Day: one recalls the first republican constitution, while the other focuses on the democratic constitutional order adopted in 1992.