Zavkhan Province
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Zavkhan (; mn, Завхан, Zawhan, ) 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 ...
, located in the west of the country, 1,104 km from
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 Uliastai. The aimag is named after the
Zavkhan River Zavkhan River ( mn, Завхан гол, Zawhan gol, ) is a river in Mongolia. It flows from Khangai Mountains to Lake Khyargas, and has a draining area of over . The river forms most of the border between the Govi-Altai and Zavkhan aimags. T ...
, which forms the border between Zavkhan and Gobi-Altai aimag.


Environment

Locally, Zavkhan's environment is considered "Gobi-Khangai" (Говь хангай), since it connects the
Gobi Desert 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 a ...
in the south with the western Khangai Mountain Range and the broad lake basin of Khovd aimag. The highest peak in the province is Otgontenger (Отгонтэнгэр, lit. "youngest sky") both the highest (4,031 m) and only peak in the Khangai range capped with a permanent glacier. The mountain is located in the 95,510 hectare Otgon Tenger Strictly Protected Area, about 60 km east of Uliastai. An image of the mountain can be seen on the aimag's coat of arms. Otgontenger is associated with the Bodhisattva Ochirvaani (Очирваань). The western and south-western regions of Zavkhan contain the massive Bor Khyarin Els sand dunes that stretch for over 100 km within the Zavkhan, down into Gobi-Altai aimag. One of the largest lakes in Zavkhan, Bayan Nuur (баян нуур, "rich lake") is nestled among the dunes.


Climate

Zavkhan has some of the coldest winter temperatures in Mongolia. It has even been known to snow in summer. In Tosontsengel, the largest ''sum'' in Zavkhan, winter temperatures as low as −52.9 °C (−63.2 °F) have been recorded. That ''sum'' also holds the record for the highest
mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value ( magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ...
barometric pressure ever recorded on Earth , measured on 19 December 2001. Most precipitation falls in the summer months as rain, with some snow in the adjacent months of May and September. Winters are typically very dry.


Wildlife

Aside from having massive livestock populations, Zavkhan's broad ecological regions and deep forests are home to a diverse population of wildlife:
Gobi bear The Gobi bear (''Ursus arctos gobiensis''), known in Mongolian as the ''Mazaalai'' (), is a subspecies of the brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') that is found in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. It is listed as critically endangered by the Mongolian R ...
s, Mongolian khulans,
wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species i ...
s,
spotted deer The chital or cheetal (''Axis axis''; ), also known as the spotted deer, chital deer, and axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian subcontinent. It was first described and given a binomial name by German naturalist Johann Christian Po ...
s, argali,
wild goat The wild goat (''Capra aegagrus'') is a wild goat species, inhabiting forests, shrublands and rocky areas ranging from Turkey and the Caucasus in the west to Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east. It has been listed as near thre ...
s,
ibex An ibex (plural ibex, ibexes or ibices) is any of several species of wild goat (genus ''Capra''), distinguished by the male's large recurved horns, which are transversely ridged in front. Ibex are found in Eurasia, North Africa and East Africa ...
es,
Mongolian wolves The Himalayan wolf (''Canis lupus chanco'') is a canine of debated taxonomy. It is distinguished by its genetic markers, with mitochondrial DNA indicating that it is genetically basal to the Holarctic gray wolf, genetically the same wolf as th ...
, Corsac foxes,
marmot Marmots are large ground squirrels in the genus ''Marmota'', with 15 species living in Asia, Europe, and North America. These herbivores are active during the summer, when they can often be found in groups, but are not seen during the winter, ...
s,
mongoose A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family is currently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to so ...
s,
Eurasian lynx The Eurasian lynx (''Lynx lynx'') is a medium-sized wild cat widely distributed from Northern, Central and Eastern Europe to Central Asia and Siberia, the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas. It inhabits temperate and boreal forests up to an eleva ...
es,
hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The g ...
s, and both Mongolian and goitered gazelle. Many forest, mountain and migratory birds can be found in the aimag, including rare snowcocks and
bobwhite ''Colinus'' is a genus of birds in the New World quail family, Odontophoridae. Members of the genus are commonly known as bobwhites. Species Extant species Fossil species * †''Colinus eatoni'' * †''Colinus suilium'' Brodkorb 1959 * † ...
s, as well as
swan Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Som ...
s,
vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
s,
falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...
s and
hawk Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfa ...
s. Fishing is a popular pastime in Zavkhan. Khar Nuur and Bayan Nuur lakes are rich with fish, and many of the hundreds of smaller rivers throughout the province provide decent fishing.


Population

Population growth in Zavkhan aimag stopped in 1994, then migration out of the aimag (approx. 40,000 in 1995-2005) reduced its population to the end of 1979 level. The majority of the population is ethnic
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 ...
but there are sizable Khotgoid and Kazakh minorities. :


Notable natives and residents

*
Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat ( mn, Пунсалмаагийн Очирбат; born 23 January 1942) is a Mongolian political figure and a current member of the Constitutional Court of Mongolia. He served as a president of Mongolia from 1990 to 1997 fi ...
, First President of Mongolia (1990-1997) * Natsagiin Bagabandi, Second President of Mongolia (1997-2005) * S. Damdinbazar Mongolian Jalkhanz Khotagt (Жалханз Хутагт, "reincarnated saint") Independence activist and Prime Minister of Mongolia (1922-1923) * Begziin Yavuukhulan, Soviet Poet * B. Jamsranjav, Mongolian Saint, Lama * S. Chimedtseren, Mongolian Saint, Lama


Economy

Herders breed each of the "5 Kinds" (5-н хошуу мал)of animal in Zavkhan. In 2005, the aimag was home to 2,1 million head of livestock, among them 1,03 million
sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticate ...
, 861,000
goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
s, 107,000
cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...
and
yak The domestic yak (''Bos grunniens''), also known as the Tartary ox, grunting ox or hairy cattle, is a species of long-haired domesticated cattle found throughout the Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent, the Tibetan Plateau, Kachin S ...
s, 101,000
horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...
s, and 6,300
camels A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. ...
.Zavkhan Aimag
''official website''
The area is also rich with mineral resources such as iron ore, tin, gold, copper, diamonds, molybdenum ore, and
phosphorite Phosphorite, phosphate rock or rock phosphate is a non- detrital sedimentary rock that contains high amounts of phosphate minerals. The phosphate content of phosphorite (or grade of phosphate rock) varies greatly, from 4% to 20% phosphorus pento ...
. While Zavkhan's mineral wealth remains largely been unexploited, in 2012 the Golden Hill Project mine was built by Bayan Airag Exploration LLC outside of Durvuljin soum. Bayan Airag Exploration LLC
''official website''
/ref>


Transportation

The old Uliastai Airport has two unpaved runways and is located close to the city, but it has no regular flights operating. Since 2002, the Donoi Airport (or "New Uliastai Airport") with one unpaved runway is located about 25 km west of the city and gets served by regular flights to and from
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 ...
.


Administrative subdivisions

: ::* The aimag capital is Uliastai


References

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