Ulaanbaatar

Ulaanbaatar is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.67 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipality is located in north central Mongolia at an elevation of about 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) in a valley on the Tuul River. The city was founded in 1639 as a nomadic Buddhist monastic centre, changing location 29 times, and was permanently settled at its modern location in 1778.

During its early years, as Örgöö (anglicized as Urga), it became Mongolia's preeminent religious centre and seat of the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, the spiritual head of the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia. Following the regulation of Qing-Russian trade by the Treaty of Kyakhta in 1727, a caravan route between Beijing and Kyakhta opened up, along which the city was eventually settled. With the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911, the city was a focal point for independence efforts, leading to the proclamation of the Bogd Khanate in 1911 led by the 8th Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, or Bogd Khan, and again during the communist revolution of 1921. With the proclamation of the Mongolian People's Republic in 1924, the city was officially renamed Ulaanbaatar and declared the country's capital.

Modern urban planning began in the 1950s, with most of the old ger districts replaced by Soviet-style flats. In 1990, Ulaanbaatar was the site of large demonstrations that led to Mongolia's transition to democracy and a market economy. Since 1990, an influx of migrants from the rest of the country has led to an explosive growth in its population, a major portion of whom live in ger districts, which has contributed to harmful air pollution in winter. Excessive coal production and consumption in Ulaanbaatar make it one of the world's most polluted cities, causing the incidence of pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses to spike amongst children.

Governed as an independent municipality, Ulaanbaatar is surrounded by Töv Province, whose capital Zuunmod lies 43 kilometres (27 mi) south of the city. With a population of just over 1.6 million as of December 2022^[update], it contains almost half of the country's total population. As the country's primate city, it serves as its cultural, industrial and financial heart and the centre of its transport network.

The city at its establishment in 1639 was referred to as Örgöö (Mongolian: ᠥᠷᠭᠦᠭᠡ; Өргөө, lit. 'Palace'). This name was eventually adapted in the West as Urga, being derived from the Russian form. By 1651, it began to be referred to as Nomiĭn Khüree (Mongolian: ᠨᠣᠮ ‍ᠤᠨ ᠬᠦᠷᠢᠶᠡᠨ; Номын хүрээ, lit. 'Khüree of Wisdom'), and by 1706 it was referred to as Ikh Khüree (Mongolian: ᠶᠡᠬᠡ ᠬᠦᠷᠢᠶᠡᠨ; Их хүрээ, lit. 'Great Khüree'). The Chinese equivalent, Dà Kùlún (Chinese: 大庫倫, Mongolian: Да Хүрээ), was rendered into Western languages as Kulun or Kuren.

Other names include Bogdiin Khuree (Mongolian: ᠪᠣᠭᠳᠠ ᠶᠢᠨ ᠬᠦᠷᠢᠶᠡᠨ; Богдын хүрээ, lit. 'The Bogd's Khüree'), or simply Khüree (Mongolian: ᠬᠦᠷᠢᠶᠡᠨ; Хүрээ, romanized: Küriye), itself a term originally referring to an enclosure or settlement.

Upon independence in 1911, with both the secular government and the Bogd Khan's palace present, the city's name was changed to Niĭslel Khüree (Mongolian: ᠨᠡᠶᠢᠰᠯᠡᠯ ᠬᠦᠷᠢᠶᠡᠨ; Нийслэл Хүрээ, lit. 'Capital Khüree').

When the city became the capital of the new Mongolian People's Republic on 29 October 1924, its name was changed to Ulaanbaatar (lit. 'Red Hero'), possibly in honor of Damdin Sükhbaatar. At the meeting of the 1st Great People's Khural in 1924, the majority of delegates voted in favor of renaming the capital of Mongolia to Bator-khoto ("City of the Hero," implicitly referring to the figure of Genghis Khan). Nevertheless, at the insistence of the Comintern representative, Soviet-Kazakhstan political figure T. R. Ryskulov, who previously had no connection to Mongolia, the city was named Ulan Bator Khoto ("City of the Red Hero").^{[citation needed]} After the vote, he gave a speech: