Sociological study of the image of Russia in the population's representations of western and central Mongolia
The article presents the results of ethnosociological studies conducted in Mongolia within the framework of the international project by scientists of the Altai state university and the Mongolian national university. The study was aimed at studying the image of Russia in the views of the population of Mongolia at the present stage. Despite the ethnic tolerance of the population of Mongolia, however, many respondents noted that it is integration with representatives of foreign cultural groups that can lead to the loss of the ethnic uniqueness of the mongolian society. Almost 60% indicated that they had no difficulties in communicating with representatives of the Russian ethnic group. At the same time, more than 80% of respondents stressed that communication with Russians causes mainly positive emotions. The study also found that the population of Mongolia as a whole formed a positive image of Russia, which builds good-neighborly relations with different countries, including Mongolia. At the same time, it is noted that in many ways the positive image of Russia is associated with a long history of relations between the two States, especially in the soviet period. At the same time, some respondents experienced difficulties in determining their attitude to interaction with Russians, especially in the age group from 22 to 35 years. Among the promising areas of cooperation respondents indicated science, economics, education.