Mongolians are classified under Czech law not as national minority, but as an ethnic minority. They are included in this exhibition because they have long been active in the Committee for National Minorities of the Karlovy Vary Regional Council. The Mongolian population in the Czech Republic is growing steadily, and the local Mongolian community ranks among the five largest abroad and is the largest within the European Union.
In 1956, Czechoslovakia and Mongolia concluded their first treaty on mutual economic assistance, including provisions for the training and employment of Mongolian workers in Czechoslovak industry and universities. By 1989, around 30,000 Mongolians had studied or worked in Czechoslovakia, including thirty women employed in 1980 at the TOSTA textile factory in Aš.
After 1989, under new economic and political conditions, these agreements gradually lost validity. Socio-economic migration from Mongolia to the Czech Republic, however, continued, changing in character and composition. Young people began coming to the country, and thanks to the earlier generation’s contacts, the Czech Republic is not an unfamiliar place in Mongolia. Since 2010, labour migration has enjoyed strong support from the Czech government, which designated Mongolia as a priority country in this area.
The annual quota for work migration has gradually increased to 3,000 people per year.
Today, approximately 14,000 Mongolian citizens live in the Czech Republic, mainly employed in automotive, leather, and food industries. The popularity of Asian cuisines, including Mongolian, has also encouraged their involvement in the hospitality trade.
In the Karlovy Vary region, according to 2024 data, there are about 450 Mongolians out of the nationwide total. Of these, around 320 live in the Cheb area, with the largest groups in Aš, Hazlov, Cheb, and Františkovy Lázně. Many work in local industry, particularly in companies located in the Cheb industrial zone.