Uvs (; mn, Увс аймаг, Uws aimag, ; xal, Увс әәмг, Uws äämg, ), is one of the 21 aimags (provinces) of

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million ...

. It is located in the west of the country, away from the national capital

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar (; mn, Улаанбаатар, , "Red Hero"), previously anglicized as Ulan Bator, is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia. It is the coldest capital city in the world, on average. The municipality is located in north ce ...

. Its capital is Ulaangom which lies above sea level. The province is named after Mongolia’s biggest lake,

Uvs Lake Uvs Lake ( mn, Увс нуур, Uws nuur, ; russian: Озеро Убсу-Нур, Ozero Ubsu-Nur; zh, 乌布苏湖, wū bù sū hú, pinyin: ''Wū Bù Sū hú'') is a highly saline lake in an endorheic basin— Uvs Nuur Basin in Mongolia with a ...

Geography

Parts of the

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate gras ...

in this province are protected as the

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

Ubsunur Hollow Uvs Lake Basin (also Uvs Nuur Basin or Ubs Nuur Basin; mn, Увс нуурын хотгор, Uws nuuriin hotgor) is an endorheic basin located on the territorial border of Mongolia and Tuva, a republic of the Russian Federation. The basin is pa ...

''. In the north the province borders

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

for , whilst in the east of border lies between Uvs and

Zavkhan province Zavkhan (; mn, Завхан, Zawhan, ) is one of the 21 aimags (provinces) of Mongolia, located in the west of the country, 1,104 km from Ulaanbaatar. Its capital is Uliastai. The aimag is named after the Zavkhan River, which forms the border ...

. In the south and west it borders for each of Khovd and Bayan-Ölgii provinces for. The province occupies 4.45 percent of the national territory, totalling . Of the total area of the province, sixty percent belongs to the mountainous climatic zone, and forty percent to the

Gobi The Gobi Desert (Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world. Geography The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast ...

semi-desert.

Population

Mongols and their proto-peoples have lived in the province since antiquity. Currently, 42.3% of population is Dörbet, 34.2% is

Bayid The Bayad (Mongol: Баяд/Bayad, ''lit. "the Riches"'') is the fourth largest subgroup of Mongol people in modern Mongolia and they are a tribe in Four Oirats. Baya'ud were a prominent clan within the Mongol Empire. Baya'ud can be found in ...

and 13.6% is

Khalkha The Khalkha ( Mongolian: mn, Халх, Halh, , zh, 喀爾喀) have been the largest subgroup of Mongol people in modern Mongolia since the 15th century. The Khalkha, together with Chahars, Ordos and Tumed, were directly ruled by Borjigin k ...

. Also, there are many

Tuvans The Tuvans ( tyv, Тывалар, Tıvalar) are a TurkicOtto Maenchen-Helfen, Journey to Tuva, p. 169 ethnic group indigenous to Siberia who live in Russia ( Tuva), Mongolia, and China. They speak Tuvan, a Siberian Turkic language. They are a ...

Khotons The Khoton people are a Turkic ethnic group in Mongolia. Most Khotons live in Uvs Province, especially in Tarialan, Naranbulag and Ulaangom. While Khotons spoke a Turkic language until the 19th century, the majority now speak the Dörbet di ...

, and

Kazakhs The Kazakhs (also spelled Qazaqs; Kazakh: , , , , , ; the English name is transliterated from Russian; russian: казахи) are a Turkic-speaking ethnic group native to northern parts of Central Asia, chiefly Kazakhstan, but also part ...

living in this province. At the end of 2014, 20,719 households were residing in this province. 7,476 lived in the provincial center Ulaangom, 4,105 lived in sum centers, and 9,138 lived in the countryside as herding families.

History

After the

Mongolian Revolution of 1921 The Mongolian Revolution of 1921 ( Outer Mongolian Revolution of 1921, or People's Revolution of 1921) was a military and political event by which Mongolian revolutionaries, with the assistance of the Soviet Red Army, expelled Russian White G ...

, the government founded the Jewel Mountain Province (, ). This province included the whole western part of the country. In 1931 it was split into the Khovd and Dörvöd aimags—the latter which was renamed ''Uvs aimag'' in 1933.

Administrative subdivisions

Uvs province is divided into 19 sums, lower administrative division units. Ulaangom is the Uvs province center.

Livestock

Source: National Statistical Office of MongoliaThe National Statistical Office of Mongolia, www.uvs.nso.mn

References

{{Authority control Provinces of Mongolia States and territories established in 1931 1931 establishments in Mongolia