Bayan-Ölgii Province

Bayan-Ölgii Province Баян-Өлгий аймаг ᠪᠠᠶ᠋ᠠᠨᠥᠯᠦᠭᠡᠢᠠᠶᠢᠮᠠᠭ
Province
Olgii
Flag Coat of arms
Coordinates: 48°18′N 89°30′E / 48.300°N 89.500°E / 48.300; 89.500Coordinates: 48°18′N 89°30′E / 48.300°N 89.500°E / 48.300; 89.500
Country	Mongolia
Established	1940
Capital	Ölgii
Area
• Total	45,704.89 km2 (17,646.76 sq mi)
Population (2013)
• Total	90,404
• Density	2.0/km2 (5.1/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+7
Area code(s)	+976 (0)142
ISO 3166 code	MN-071
Vehicle registration	БӨ_
Website	www.bayan-olgii.gov.mn

Bayan-Ölgii (Mongolian: Баян-Өлгий; Kazakh: Бай-Өлке, Rich cradle/region, alternately spelled Olgiy, Ulgii, etc.) is the westernmost of the 21 aimags (provinces) of Mongolia. The country's only Muslim and Kazakh-majority aimag, it was established in 1940. Its capital is Ölgii.

Geography

The aimag is located in the extreme west of the country, and shares borders with both Russia and China. The border between the two neighbouring countries is very short here, though, and ends after about 40 km at the eastern end of Kazakhstan. Within Mongolia, the neighbouring aimags are Uvs in the north east and Khovd in the south east..

Bayan-Ölgii is the highest Mongolian aimag. For the most part it is located in the Mongolian Altay, at the transition point to the Russian Altay. About 10% of the territory are covered by forests, consisting primarily of Siberian Larch.

The Nairamdal Peak (also Friendship Peak, Chinese: Youyi Feng) of the Altai Tavan Bogd (five saints mountain) massif mountain marks the corner between the three neighbouring countries. About 2.5 km further south on the Mongolian-Chinese border, the Khüiten Peak is the highest point of Mongolia with 4374 m. The massif includes several glaciers, such as the 19 km Potanin Glacier, and is only accessible to experienced climbers with local guidance.

The Khovd River (the longest in the western Mongolian Great Lakes Depression) has its origin in this aimag. It is fed by the three lakes Khoton, Khurgan, and Dayan, and in turn feeds the lake Khar-Us Lake in the Khovd Aimag. The Tolbo Lake is a large saline lake about 50 km south of the aimag capital. It features clear and cold water on an elevation of 2080 m.

Population

Most inhabitants of Bayan-Ölgii are Kazakhs (88.7%). Smaller parts of the population are composed of Uriankhai (7.2%), Dörvöd (1.5%),^[1] Khalkha, Tuva and Khoshuud. A significant portion of the population speaks Kazakh as their mother tongue and the Mongolian language only as a second language, if at all.

After democratization, many inhabitants moved to their historical homeland, Kazakhstan, assuming they would find a better future there. The result was a noticeable loss of population in 1991-1993, when approx. 30,000 were repatriated to Kazakhstan. A noticeable number of former immigrants have been returning, so that the population has risen again.

Bayan-Ölgii aimag population ^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]}

1956 census	1960 est.	1963 census	1969 census	1975 est.	1979 census	1981 est.	1985 est.	1989 census	1991 est.	1993 est.	1995 est.	1998 est.	2000 census	2002 est.	2004 est.	2005 est.	2008 est.	2009 est.
38,800	44,600	47,800	58,100	66,600	71,400	74,500	82,400	90,900	102,817	75,043	82,259	87,341	94,094	98,066	99,112	95,758	93,931	93,017

Culture

The culture of the Kazakh majority is strongly influenced by Islamic traditions. The mosque of Ölgii also houses the Islamic Center of Mongolia. It is placed at an unusual angle within the fabric of the city, because the building was oriented exactly towards Mecca. There's also a Madrasah (Islamic school) at the same place.

The aimag is famous for the traditional hunting method using trained eagles.^{[9][10][11][12][13]} The captive eagles work in a similar way as hunting falcons do. While eagles are used for hunting in other parts of the world, particularly Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, most are in Bayan-Ölgii. An estimated 80% of the world's eagle hunters live here.^[14] An annual Eagle festival is held in Ölgii every October to display their skill with about 70 eagle hunters participating on average.^[15][16]

Traffic

The Ölgii Airport (ULG/ZMUL) has one runway, unpaved until 2011. It offers regular flights to Ulaanbaatar and irregular flights to Ulaangom and Moron in Mongolia and Almaty in Kazakhstan.

A road connecting to Russia starts in Tsagaannuur.

The border with China is open only for a short time in the summer.

National parks

The Altai Tavan Bogd National Park covers 6,362 km² and is located south of the highest mountain of Mongolia. It includes the lakes Khoton, Khurgan, and Dayan. The protected area offers a home for many species of alpine animal, such as the Argali sheep, Ibex, Red deer, Beech marten, Moose, Snow cock, and Golden eagle.

The Khökh Serkhiin Nuruu Protected Area (659 km²) and the Siilkhemiin Nuruu National Park (1,428 km²) are of similar character.

The Develiin Aral Natural Reserve (103 km²) is established around Develiin Island at the confluence of the rivers Lsan Khooloi and Khovd. Since 2000 it has provided protection for various birds and animals including pheasants, boars, and beavers.

The Tsambagarav Uul National Park includes 1,115 km² of land around the glaciers near the Khovd aimag and protects the snow leopards living there, among others.

Administrative subdivisions

The Sums of Bayan-Ölgii aimag

Sum	Mongolian	Sum population (1985)	Sum population (1994)[17]	Sum population (2005)[3]	Sum population (2008)[7]	Sum population (2009)[8]	Sum centre population (2009)[8]	Area (km²)[18]	Density (/km²)	Distance from Ölgii city(km)
Altai	Алтай	3,400	3,237	3,914	3,659	3,811	973	3,163.56	1.20	112
Altantsögts	Алтанцөгц	3,300	3,038	3,038	3,114	3,080	826	1,786.10	1.72	43
Bayannuur	Баяннуур	4,800	4,507	5,320	5,012	5,033	1,784	2,339.50	2.15	126
Bugat	Бугат	3,300	2,777	3,604	3,741	3,642	1,161	2,049.10	1.78	5
Bulgan	Булган	5,000	5,115	5,901	5,827	5,528	944	4,977.33	1.11	294
Buyant	Буянт	2,300	2,546	3,002	2,683	2,514	653	1,845.67	1.36	72
Delüün	Дэлүүн	6,600	6,782	8,183	7,078	7,133	1,642	5,594.99	1.27	158
Nogoonnuur	Ногооннуур	7,500 *	6,331	6,539	6,566	6,375	2,165	5,221.94 *	1.22 *	92
Ölgii	Өлгий	24,000	21,569	28,248	28,496	28,448	28,448	100.92	281.89	0
Sagsai	Сагсай	4,100	3,746	5,185	5,174	5,089	1,375	3,139.99	1.62	27
Tolbo	Толбо	4,100	3,746	4,260	4,076	4,136	1,067	2,974.69	1.39	76
Tsagaannuur	Цагааннуур	-	1,878	1,528	1,452	1,473	1,473	-	-	69
Tsengel	Цэнгэл	6,700	6,539	8,364	8,305	8,348	2,028	6,463.17	1.29	79
Ulaankhus	Улаанхус	7,300	6,807	8,672	8,748	8,407	1,480	6,047.93	1.39	46

^* - Tsagaannuur including

References

Further reading

• Soma, Takuya & Battulga, Sukhee. 2014. 'Altai Kazakh Falconry as Heritage Tourism: “The Golden Eagle Festival” of Western Mongolia', "The International Journal of Intangible Heritage vol. 9", edited by Alissandra Cummins, pp. 135–148. Seoul: The National Folk Museum of Korea. 　
• Soma, Takuya. 2014. 'Current Situation and Issues of Transhumant Animal Herding in Sagsai County, Bayan Ulgii Province, Western Mongolia', E-journal GEO 9(1): pp. 102–119.
• 相馬拓也 2014 「モンゴル西部バヤン・ウルギー県サグサイ村における移動牧畜の現状と課題」『E-Journal GEO vol. 9 (no. 1) 』: pp. 102–189.

External links

• Bayan-Olgii Tourism Website
• Bayan-Ulgii blog

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Ölgii.

	Russia		Uvs Province
	Bayan-Ölgii Province
	Xinjiang, China		Khovd Province

Sums of Bayan-Ölgii Altai Altantsögts Bayannuur Bugat Bulgan Buyant Delüün Nogoonnuur Ölgii Sagsai Tolbo Tsagaannuur Tsengel Ulaankhus

Administrative divisions of Mongolia Aimags (provinces) Arkhangai Bayankhongor Bayan-Ölgii Bulgan Darkhan-Uul Dornod Dornogovi Dundgovi Govi-Altai Govisümber Khentii Khovd Khövsgöl Ömnögovi Orkhon Övörkhangai Selenge Sükhbaatar Töv Uvs Zavkhan Municipality Ulan Bator