Ulan Bator, Mongolia

Ulaanbaatar is the capital of Mongolia. Also called Ulan Bator, it is the largest city in a country with an urban population of 69 percent (2023). The city is also the country's main industrial center. Like the rest of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar is struggling with one of the poorest economies in Asia. It is also has the coldest climate of any capital in the world, and in 2016, it had the highest air pollution levels of any capital city in the world.

Landscape

Ulaanbaatar sits 1,350 meters (4,430 feet) above sea level on the Tuul River, in the northeast part of the great Mongolian plateau that forms much of the nation. To the northeast rise the Hentyn Mountains. The Altai Mountains dominate the landscape to the southwest.

While the city contains modern buildings, its ever-expanding outer districts consist of ger communities, settlements composed of temporary housing such as the traditional round, felt nomad tents that Mongolians call gers, also known as yurts. More than one hundred new Lamaist monasteries and temples can be found in the city; most of these were constructed after the collapse of the Soviet Union, as religion had been suppressed under Soviet rule. Numerous Internet cafés can also be found throughout the city.

Ulaanbaatar has a dry, high-altitude continental climate. The winters are very cold, with temperatures dipping as low as –15° to –30° Celsius (–5° to –22° Fahrenheit). Summers are short and cool, with temperatures ranging from 10° to 26° Celsius (50° to 80° Fahrenheit). Ulaanbaatar typically receives less than 49 millimeters (2 inches) of rain per year, usually in June. Though accustomed to cold temperatures, Mongolians like warm interiors; they use steam heat and coal stoves to keep buildings at about 24° Celsius (75° Fahrenheit). Residents of Ulaanbaatar's ger districts use one million tons of coal annually, contributing to the city's high levels of air pollution.

People

Ulaanbaatar has a population of 1.67 million (2023). The city's population has increased rapidly as a result of immigration from rural areas. Between the 1980s and the 2010s, about 20 percent of Mongolia's population has moved to Ulaanbaatar; by 2018, two-thirds of the city's population were living in ger communities. In 2017, the city's mayor halted new arrival registrations for three years. Ethnically, Khalkha Mongols make up 81.9 percent of the nation's populace. Other ethnic groups include Kazaks, Dorvods, and Bayads.

People in Ulaanbaatar are influenced by many cultures and nations, and the streets are full of Japanese cars, English-language ads, and red-robed Lamaist monks. At the same time, the people are proud of their history and heritage. In 2007, a "Mongol Costumes" fashion show was held in Ulaanbaatar to promote Mongol history and culture. Mongolia's official language is Khalkha Mongol and is spoken by 90 percent of the population; other languages include Russian and Turkic.

After an alignment with the Soviet Union in 1929, traditional Tibetan (Lamaist) Buddhism was forbidden in Mongolia, and priests and monks were killed. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in a resurgence of the practice of Buddhism. About 4 percent of the population is Muslim. Many others are nonreligious.

Although vegetables are available in the markets of the city, Mongolians eat mostly meat, especially mutton. Since water is scarce, milk (from sheep, camels, and horses) is the main beverage. Milk tea, which consists of milk, salt, and tea, is a popular drink. Another popular dish is buuz, a steamed dumpling filled with ground meat or vegetables. In addition to traditional Mongolian food, ethnic restaurants offer other international dishes, including Chinese, German, and French foods.

Economy

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Mongolia has had a free market economy. The currency is the Mongolian tugruk (RUR). No longer based on herding and agriculture, Mongolia's economy is dependent on its mining industries, including the extraction of copper, gold, coal, molybdenum, fluorspar, uranium, tin, and tungsten. Exports account for more than 40 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Mongolia's major trading partners are China and Russia.

As the country's major economic center, Ulaanbaatar produces 40 percent of Mongolia's GDP. It also accounts for 53.4 percent of the country's industrial production, 87.1 percent of construction, 56.3 percent of trade, 80 percent of energy and 98 percent of the transport and communication services.

Ulaanbaatar also boasts two coal-powered electric power stations. More than 3,800 private businesses operate in the capital, including hair salons, cosmetics retailers, tailors, cobblers, laundromats, automobile mechanics, and pawn shops.

Under Soviet rule, tourism was forbidden to ensure the secrecy of Soviet military bases throughout Mongolia. The government now encourages tourism and is working to expand the tourism sector. The Ministry of Roads, Transport, and Tourism sponsored an international seminar in Ulaanbaatar to study and promote Mongolia's participation in Asia-Pacific tourism. Tourism delegates from Japan, India, and Thailand joined Mongolian tourism promoters, as well as representatives from the Regional Support Office for Asia and the Pacific, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The city was celebrated as a UNESCO City of Crafts and Folk Art in 2023.

Ulaanbaatar is served by the Trans-Siberian Railroad, which links Russia and China. The city's international airport also serves as a connection to the world. All the country's major roads and caravan routes meet in Ulaanbaatar.

Landmarks

Suhbaatar Square, in the center of Ulaanbaatar, was named for the Mongolian communist revolutionary hero Damdiny Suhbaatar. The square includes shopping areas, a history museum, the National Theatre and an equestrian statue of Suhbaatar.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ulaanbaatar underwent a cultural transformation, and numerous museums and other cultural sites opened. The Museum of Natural History, just north of Suhbaatar Square, features the complete fossilized remains of two dinosaurs. The University of Mongolia, established in 1942, is the only institution of higher education in the country. The university's library contains ancient Mongolian, Chinese, and Tibetan manuscripts. In addition, the city has more than seventy private cultural institutions, six cinemas, three state-sponsored cultural centers, eight libraries, seven museums, and ten professional art and entertainment organizations.

Temples and monasteries are clustered together in Ulaanbaatar. The most notable are the Gandanlegchinlen Monastery, known familiarly as "Gandan," and Temple Migjid Janreisig Sum, which has a hundred-foot statue of Buddha, covered in gold leaf.

History

Mongolia had other capitals before Ulaanbaatar. The great conqueror Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire, made his capital in Karakorum. In 1279, his grandson, Kublai Khan, moved the capital from Karakorum to Beijing. As the Mongols were dominated by their Chinese former subjects, Karakorum was abandoned. Ulaanbaatar, then known as Urgoo (palace), was founded in 1639 when the Tibetan monastery Da Khure was founded for Bogd Zanabazar, the first spiritual leader of the Mongols. Local princes made their subjects disciples of the new leader and, to better serve him, they set up a city of gers. True to Mongol tradition, the city moved more than twenty times in the next century or so, back and forth along the valleys of the rivers Orkhon, Tuul, and Selenge.

The city has had several names over the course of its history. In 1706, it was renamed Ikh Khuree (big circle) and moved seventeen times in thirty years. The city transitioned from nomadism to settlement over about seven decades and was established in its current location in 1778. Eventually, it became the center of the country's culture, government, and economy. In the nineteenth century, the Russians arrived. They called the city Urga, a corruption of Urgoo. By the 1860s, Urga was an important trade center on the tea route from China to Russia.

Under the domination of China, the country was called Outer Mongolia. In 1911, when Outer Mongolia declared its independence from China, the new Bogd Khaan government named the city Nislel Khuree, which translates to "capital of Mongolia."

During the Russian Civil War (1918–21), the White Army made the city its headquarters, replacing the Chinese. The White Army proved to be as repressive as the Chinese and was soon driven out by the Red (Bolshevik) Army. In 1924, Mongolia became the Mongolian People's Republic, and the capital was renamed Ulaanbaatar, meaning "red hero." By then, the city had about 50,000 residents.

The Soviet Union improved education and farming methods throughout the country. It was not until after World War II, however, that a master plan for development of Ulaanbaatar began to be implemented. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, municipal services were improved, and trees and gardens were planted in the city.

Today, Ulaanbaatar has its own banner, coat of arms, and emblem. It has established relations with many other world cities, including Seoul, Korea; Florence, Italy; Moscow, Russia; and Denver, Colorado. High unemployment throughout the country has led many, particularly those from western provinces, to migrate to the city in search of work.

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