Choir (; mn, Чойр, ) is a city in east-central

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 millio ...

. It is the capital of

Govisümber Province ( mn, Говьсүмбэр, ; Gobi- Sümber) is one of the 21 aimags (provinces) of Mongolia. It is located in the center of the country. Its capital is Choir. Govisümber is the least populated Mongolian aimag. History Borjigon clan said ...

. Choir is officially known as Sümber sum.

History

Choir was a military base during the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

period. In 1989, the Soviet anti-aircraft missile units left Choir. The longest runway in Mongolia, now abandoned, is located 25 km N from Choir, a relic of that period. In 1992, the military cantonment passed into the jurisdiction of Govisümber Province, according to the 1992 constitution. Near the railway station is a statue commemorating Mongolia's first

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa ( mn, Жүгдэрдэмидийн Гүррагчаа; russian: Жугдэрдэмидийн Гуррагча, , born 5 December 1947) is a Mongolian cosmonaut and military leader. He was the first Mongolian and secon ...

Geography

Location

Choir lies in the

Choir Depression The Choir Depression is a depression near Choir, Mongolia. It is about 150 km long and 10 to 20 km wide, about 500 m lower than the surrounding upland. It lies at an altitude of 1269 m. Uranium mines Uranium prospecting began in the ...

, a lowland strip about 150 km long and 10 to 20 km wide, about 500 m lower than the surrounding upland. It lies at an altitude of 1269 m.

Climate

Choir has a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''BSk'') with warm summers and severely cold winters. Most precipitation falls in the summer as rain, with some snow in the adjacent months of May and September. Winters are very dry.

Population

In 2002 a population of Choir city was 7,588 (and 9,207 with rural parts of Sümber

sum Sum most commonly means the total of two or more numbers added together; see addition. Sum can also refer to: Mathematics * Sum (category theory), the generic concept of summation in mathematics * Sum, the result of summation, the additio ...

), up from a population of 4,500 in 1979. For the end of 2006 estimations population was 7,998.

Economy

Choir has been declared a free enterprise zone. Along with Darkhan and

Erdenet Erdenet ( mn, Эрдэнэт, literally "with treasure") is the third-largest city in Mongolia, with a 2018 population of 98,045, and the capital of the aimag (province) of Orkhon. Located in the northern part of the country, it lies in a valley ...

, it is one of three autonomous cities in Mongolia. Choir has a medium-security prison which can house 460 prisoners.

Transport

It lies along the

Trans-Mongolian Railway , map_name = , map_state = collapsed , embedded = The Trans-Mongolian Railway follows an ancient tea-caravan route from China to Russia and connects Ulan-Ude, on the Trans–Baikal ( Trans–Siberian) railway in R ...

, 250 km to the southeast of

Ulan Bator 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 c ...

. The

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field offi ...

is considering a 430-km paved road from Choir to the Chinese border, the final stage of a north-south route through the country.

References

External links

{{Provincial capitals of Mongolia Aimag centers Districts of Govisümber Province