Khovd (; ), alternatively

romanized In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...

as Khobhd, is one of the 21

aimags An aimag ( ; ; ), originally a Mongolian word meaning 'tribe', is an administrative subdivision in Mongolia, Russia, and in the Inner Mongolia region of China. Mongolia In Mongolia, an aimag is the first-level administrative subdivision. ...

(provinces) of

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

, located in the west of the country. Its capital is also named Khovd. Khovd province is approximately 1,580 km from

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Mongolia, most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.6 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipa ...

, Mongolia's capital. It takes its name from the

Khovd River Khovd River (, ) is a river in western Mongolia. It flows from Tavan Bogd mountain of the Altai Mountains in Bayan-Ölgii Province to Khar-Us Lake. The length of the river is 516 kilometres. See also *List of rivers of Mongolia This is a ...

, which is located in this province.

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

is a significant religion practiced by around 10–15% of the population, namely the

Kazakhs The Kazakhs (Kazakh language, Kazakh: , , , ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia and Eastern Europe. They share a common Culture of Kazakhstan, culture, Kazakh language, language and History of Kazakhstan, history ...

and a small minority of

Uyghurs The Uyghurs,. alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as the ti ...

Population

Khovd is distinguished by its multi-cultural population. It is home to more than 17 nationalities and ethnicities. Each of these groups has its own distinct traditional dwelling and settlement pattern, dress and other cultural distinctions, literary, artistic, and musical traditions. The Khovd aimag population growth stopped in 1991, then migration out of the aimag (approx. 20,000 in 1992-2004) compensated the natural increase and confined aimag's population within the limits of 87 thousand to 92 thousand since.

Climate

Khovd is notorious for its harsh weather, for temperatures regularly reach as high as during summer and as low as during winter. The climate is dry, as it receives approximately the same average annual precipitation as

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

Rivers

The major rivers are: *

Bulgan River Bulgan may refer to: * Bulgan Province, a province (aimag) of Mongolia * Bulgan (city), the capital of Bulgan province * Bulgan Airport, the airport of Bulgan city * Bulgan Gol, a upstream river of Ulungur River * several districts (sums) in differe ...

* Buyant River *

Hoid tsenher River Brandon Winn Sanderson (born December19, 1975) is an American author of high fantasy, science fiction, and young adult books. He is best known for the Cosmere fictional universe, in which most of his fantasy novels, most notably the '' Mistbor ...

* Dund tsenher River * Uench River * Bodonch River

Lakes

Khar-Us Lake Khar-Us Lake (; , "Black-Aqua Lake", is a lake in Khovd Province, Mongolia, located in Har Us Nuur National Park. It is the upper one in a system of the interconnected lakes: Khar-Us, Khar, Dörgön, Airag and Khyargas. Its area value (1,852 ...

* Khar Lake *

Dörgön Lake Dörgön Lake (, ), is a saltwater lake in Khovd Province, Mongolia. It is a part of the Great Lakes Depression The Great Lakes Depression, also called the Great Lakes Hollow, is a large semi-arid Depression (geology), depression in Mongolia th ...

* Tsetseg Lake

Mountains

Altai Mountains The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The ...

** Jargalant hairhan ** Bumbat hairhan ** Baatar hairhan ** Monkh hairhan ** Baitag bogd

Transportation

The

Khovd Airport Khovd Airport (; ) is a public airport located in Khovd city, Khovd Province, Mongolia. Airlines and destinations See also * List of airports in Mongolia This is a list of airports in Mongolia, grouped by type and sorted by locatio ...

(HVD/ZMKD) has two runways, one of which is paved, and gets served by regular flights from and to

Mörön Mörön (; ) is the administrative center of Khövsgöl, Mongolia. Before 1933, Khatgal had been the aimag capital. It has 12,286 families and a population of 46,918, and is considered a major city such as Ulaanbaatar, Darhan, Erdenet and ...

, and Bulgan. And flights are planned to Ürümqi city of Xinjiang.

Economy

The region around the Khovd city is famous in Mongolia for its watermelon crop. There is a sizable hydroelectric dam-building project underway that will theoretically generate enough electricity to power the three most western aimags (

Uvs Uvs Province ( ) is one of the 21 aimags (provinces) of Mongolia. It is located in the west of the country, away from the national capital Ulaanbaatar. Its capital is Ulaangom which lies above sea level. The province is named after Mongolia's ...

, Bayan-Ölgii, and Khovd). The city of Khovd is connected to the Russian power grid and subject to blackouts if it falls behind in its payments. Domestic and international tourism and sports hunting are a sizable industry of Khovd province. The natural environment, fresh and salt water lakes, mountains, valleys, caves, ancient rock paintings and fortresses are other sightseeing attractions. Animal herding is the main economy of this province. In 2018, the province contributed to 1.21% of the total national GDP of Mongolia.

Administrative subdivisions

The aimag capital Khovd is geographically located in the Buyant sum, but is administered as independent Jargalant sum. The administrative center of the Khovd Sum is also called Khovd, which is a common source of confusion. The other administrative centers carry the name of the respective Sum as well. ^* - The aimag capital Khovd

References

Citations

Sources

''Natalia Rudaya, Pavel Tarasov, Nadezhda Dorofeyuk.''.. Holocene environments and climate in the Mongolian Altai reconstructed from the Hoton-Nur pollen and diatom records: a step towards better understanding climate dynamics in Central Asia // Quaternary Science Reviews

Expedition trip to the North-West Mongolia, Tomsk State University and the University of Hovd, cooperation. Video.
{{Authority control Provinces of Mongolia 1931 establishments in Mongolia States and territories established in 1931