Ulan Bator, or Ulaanbaatar (), is the capital and largest city of Mongolia. The city is an independent municipality not part of any province, and its population as of 2008 is just over 1 million.^[1]

Located in the north central part of the country, the city lies at an elevation of about 1310 m in a valley on the Tuul River. It is the cultural, industrial, and financial heart of the country. It is a transport center, connected by highway to all the major towns in Mongolia and by rail to the Trans-Siberian Railway and Chinese railroad network.^[2]

The city was founded in 1639 as a Buddhist monastery center and, in the 20th century, grew into a major manufacturing center defined by its broad boulevards and squares and Socialist Classicist-style buildings.^[2]

Names

Ulan Bator has had numerous names in its history. From 1639?1706, it was known as Örgöö (Mongolian: ?????, residence), and from 1706?1911 as Ikh Khüree (Mongolian: ?? = "great", ????? = "camp"), Da Khüree or simply Khüree. Upon independence in 1911, with both the secular government and the Bogd Khan's palace present, the city's name changed to Niislel Khüree (Mongolian: ??????? = "capital", ????? = "camp").

When the city became the capital of the new Mongolian People's Republic in 1924, its name was changed to Ulaanbaatar (???????????, classical script:

In Europe and North America, Ulan Bator was generally known as Urga (from Örgöö) or sometimes Kuren (from Khüree) or Kulun (from ??, the Chinese transcription of Khüree) before 1924, and Ulan Bator afterwards, after the . The Russian spelling is different from the Mongolian because it was defined phonetically, and the Cyrillic script was only introduced in Mongolia seventeen years later.

Geography

Ulan Bator is located at about 1350 meters (4430 ft) above sea level, slightly east of the center of Mongolia on the Tuul River, a subtributary of the Selenge, in a valley at the foot of the mountain Bogd Khan Uul.

Due to its high elevation, relatively high latitude, and location hundreds of kilometres from any coast, Ulan Bator is the coldest national capital in the world, with a monsoon-influenced subarctic climate (Koppen climate classification Dwc) with brief, warm summers and long, very cold and dry winters. Precipitation is heavily concentrated in the warmer months. It has an average annual temperature of -1.3 °C (29.7 °F). The city lies in the zone of sporadic permafrost, which means that building is difficult in sheltered aspects that preclude thawing in the summer, but easier on more exposed ones where soils fully thaw. Suburban residents live in traditional gers that do not protrude into the soil.^[3]

History

Parliament building, Sükhbaatar Square, August 2007

As a mobile monastery-town, it was often moved to various places along the Selenge, Orkhon and Tuul rivers, as supply and other needs would demand. During the Dzungar wars of the late 17th century, it was even moved to Inner Mongolia.^[4] As the city grew, it moved less and less.^[5] In 1778, the city settled for good at its current location, near the confluence of the Selbe and Tuul rivers and beneath Bogd Khan Uul, back then also on the caravan route from Beijing to Kyakhta.^[6] The city became the seat not only of the Jebtsundamba Khutugtus, but also of two Qing ambans, and a Chinese trade town () grew several kilometers east of the city center.

In 1911, Mongolian leaders in Ikh Khüree for Naadam met in secret and resolved upon independence from China for their country. On December 29, 1911, the Bogd Khan was declared ruler of an independent Mongolia.^[5] Khüree as the seat of the Jebtsundamba Khutugtu was the logical choice for the capital of the new state. In 1919, it was occupied by Chinese troops, and in 1921 changed hands twice, first to Baron Ungern's Whites Soldateska, and in July to the Soviet-supported Mongolian troops led by Sükhbaatar. On October 29, 1924, the town was renamed to Ulaanbaatar ("red hero") as reference to Sükhbaatar, who had died earlier that year.^[5]

In the socialist period, and especially following the Second World War, most of the old yurt quarters were replaced by Soviet-style blocks of flats, often financed by the Soviet Union. The Transmongolian Railway, connecting Ulan Bator with Moscow and Beijing, was completed in 1956, and cinemas, theatres, museums etc. were erected. On the other hand, many of the temples and monasteries of pre-socialist Khüree were destroyed following the anti-religious purges of the late 1930s.

Ulan Bator was the site of demonstrations that led to Mongolia's transition to democracy and a market economy in 1990. A December 10, 1989 protest outside the Youth Culture Centre called for Mongolia to implement perestroika and glasnost in their full sense. Dissident leaders demanded free elections and economic reform. On January 14, 1990, the protesters, having grown from two hundred to some 1,000, met at the Lenin Museum in Ulan Bator. A demonstration in Sukhbaatar Square on Jan. 21 (in weather of -30 C) followed. After came weekend demonstrations in January and February and the forming of Mongolia's first opposition parties. On March 7 ten dissidents assembled in Sukhbaatar Square and went on hunger strike. Thousands of supporters joined them. More came on March 8, and the crowd grew more unruly; seventy people were injured and one killed. On March 9 the Communist MPRP government resigned. The new government announced Mongolia's first free elections, which were held in July. (Ironically, the Communist government won the election by a wide margin.)^[7]

Since Mongolia's transition to market economy in 1990, the city has experienced further growth - especially in the yurt quarters, as construction of new blocks of flats had basically broken down in the 1990s - and population has doubled to now one million inhabitants, about 40% of Mongolia's entire population. This causes a number of social, environmental, and transportation problems. In recent years, construction of new buildings has gained new momentum, especially in the city center, and flat prices have skyrocketed.

In 2008, Ulaanbaatar was the scene of riots after the opposition Mongolian Democratic Party protested its defeat by the MPRP in parliamentary elections. Protesters set the MPRP's headquarters on fire, and five people were killed.

Administration and subdivisions

Ulan Bator is divided into nine districts (Düüregs): Baganuur, Bagakhangai, Bayangol, Bayanzürkh, Chingeltei, Khan Uul, Nalaikh, Songino Khairkhan, and Sükhbaatar. Each district is subdivided into Khoroos.

The capital is governed by a city council (the Citizen's Representatives Hural) with forty members, elected every four years. The city council appoints the mayor. The current mayor is Tüdeviin Bilegt^[8]. Ulan Bator is governed as an independent first-level subdivision of Mongolia, separate from Töv Aimag, the province that surrounds Ulan Bator.

The city consists of a central district built in Soviet 1940s and 1950s-style architecture, surrounded by and mingled with residential concrete towerblocks and large yurt quarters. In recent years, a lot of the towerblock's ground floors have been modified and upgraded to small shops, and many new buildings have been erected, some of them illegally.

Transportation

Ulaanbaatar train station

Intra-urban: The national and municipal governments regulate a wide system of private transit providers which operate numerous bus lines around the city. A secondary transit system of microbuses (passenger vans) operates alongside these bus lines.

Education

Ulan Bator has five major universities: the National University of Mongolia, Science and Technological University of Mongolia, University of Health and Medical Science, Pedagogical University, and University of Art and Culture. The National Library of Mongolia has a wide selection of English-language texts on Mongolian subjects.^[12] The American School of Ulaanbaatar and the International School of Ulaanbaatar both offer Western-style K-12 education in English for Mongolian nationals and foreign residents.^[13][14]

Sights

Gandantegchinlen Khiid Monastery

The Theatre in Ulan Bator

Ulaanbaatar has several museums dedicated to Mongolian history and culture. The Natural History Museum features many dinosaur fossils and meteorites found in Mongolia.^[17][18] The National Museum of Mongolian History includes exhibits from prehistoric times through the Mongol Empire to the present day.^[19][20] The Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts contains a large collection of Mongolian art, including works of the 17th century sculptor/artist Zanabazar, as well as Mongolia's most famous painting, One Day In Mongolia by B. Sharav.^[21][22]

The Winter Palace of the Bogd Khan remains as a museum of the last king of Mongolia (1911-1924). The complex includes six temples as well as many of the Khan's possessions, such as his throne and bed, his collection of art and stuffed animals, his ornate ceremonial ger, and a pair of ceremonial boots given to the Khan by Russian Tsar Nicholas II.^[23][24]

The Ulaanbaatar Opera House hosts concerts and musical performances.

Sükhbaatar Square, in the government district, is the center of Ulaanbaatar. In the middle of Sükhbaatar Square, there is a statue of Damdin Sükhbaatar on horseback. On the north side of Sükhbaatar Square is the Mongolian Parliament building, featuring a large statue of Chinggis Khan at the top of the front steps. Peace Avenue (Enkh Taivny Örgön Chölöö), the main thoroughfare through town, runs along the south side of the square.^[25]

The Zaisan Memorial, a memorial to Russian soldiers killed in World War II, sits on a hill south of the city. The Zaisan Memorial includes a Russian tank paid for by the Mongolian people and a circular memorial painting which depicts scenes of friendship between the peoples of Russia and Mongolia. Visitors who make the long climb to the top are rewarded with a panoramic view of the whole city down in the valley.

National Sports Stadium is the main sporting venue. The Naadam festival is held here every July.

Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, a nature preserve with many tourist facilities, is approximately 70 km from Ulan Bator. Accessible via paved road.

Symbols

Traffic in Ulan Bator

Coat of arms

The appears on Ulan Bator's coat of arms. In its right hand is a key, a symbol of prosperity and openness, and in its left is a lotus flower, a symbol of peace, equality, and purity. In its talons it is holding a snake, a symbol of evil of which it is intolerant. On the 's forehead is the soyombo symbol, which is featured on the flag of Mongolia.

Flag

The city?s flag is sky blue with the arms in the center.

Sister cities

The Naadam ceremony

• Seoul, South Korea
• Irkutsk, Russian Federation
• Moscow, Russian Federation
• Denver, Colorado, USA^[27]
• Sapporo, Japan
• Taipei, Taiwan
• Hohhot, People's Republic of China

See also

• Architecture of Mongolia

References

• Kohn, Michael. Lonely Planet Mongolia. 4th edition, 2005. ISBN 1740593596

External links

• Digital map of Ulan Bator ger districts including
• "Urga or Da Khuree" from A. M. Pozdneyev's Mongolia and the Mongols

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