Category: gobi

This province is located in the southeast of Mongolia and share borders with the Umnugovi, Dundgovi, Govisumber, Khentii and Sukhbaatar provinces. The capital of the province is the city of Sainshand. Much of Dornogovi is located in the steppe of southeastern Mongolia. Despite this there are a number of mountain ranges including, Khutag (1,431 m), Otsol, Sansar, Ikh Bagadulaan, Argalant, Khan Bayanzurkh and Khairkhan (1,031 m).

The province is contained entirely within the Gobi zone and has an area combined with Gobi desert and steppe. It has harsh weather conditions, with temperatures reaching up to +41⁰C during summer time and falling to -40⁰C during winter time. Average wind speed is around 4.2 to 4.6 m/sec with occasional extremes of up to 35 m/sec.

Much vegetation can be found in this province. Black-tailed gazelles, Mongolian wild ass, Siberian ibex and mountain sheep are common. There are no large lakes or rivers in Dornogovi, instead there are many underground water resources. Mineral springs such as Khalzan Uul, Busiin Chuluu and Toli Bulag are located in this region. The major part of territory contains Gobi brown soil, and there are significant amounts of sand as well.

Dundgovi Province was established in 1941 under the name of Sharangad Province with total 18 soums. Of these, eight were transferred from Umnugovi Province, three from Dornogobi Province and 7 from Tuv Province. In 1942, the name was changed to Dundgovi, and the center of the province was moved to its current location Mandalgovi.

Dundgovi Province now has 15 soums, 66 bags and an area of 74,690 km². It accounts for 4.5 percent of total territory of Mongolia. The capital Mandalgovi is located 265 km from Ulaanbaatar, and it shares borders with Tuv, Govisumber, Dornogovi, Umnugovi and Uvurkhangai provinces.

With a total border of 1,230 km, at its widest it is 425 km (Guchin Khudag to Khukh Del) and height north to south (Us Khar Hill to Uvur Tsagaan Ders) is 283 km. The territory contains steppe and Gobi desert zone. The highest point in plain steppe is at an elevation of 1,530 meters above sea level while the lowest point is 980 meters. The highest mountain – Delgerkhangai is 1,913 m. Mountain soil (dark brown, brown and light brown colored soil) is contained in a very small section of the province, found in the northern side of Adaatsag, Baga Gazriin Chuluu, Ugtaal Mountain and Ikh Gazriin Chuluu. The northern and central parts have hillocks and mound types of soil (brown, light brown, desertous steppe umber and Gobi-gray soil). In the southern and central parts, valley-type soil (20 types of soil from desert steppe) is widely found.

Umnugovi Province has a total area of 165,300 km², containing 15 soums and 58 bags. The capital of the province is Dalanzadgad.

Umnugovi is the largest province in the country in terms of geographical size. The area is predominantly Gobi desert and has an average elevation ranging around 1,300-1,600m above sea level. There is however some continuance of the Altai Mountain range, with mountains of 3000m + elevation like Govi Gurvan Saikhan, Sevrei, Noyon Bogd, Nomgon, Tost, Nemegt, Altan Uul, Gilbent, and 100km long Khongor sand dune and couple dozen km vast Gobis like Galba, Borzon, Zeemeg, and Zag Sujiin.

The area has many springs such as Khadat, Nemegt, Zuulun, Enger Buleen and Talkhit cold springs, and the Elgen and Salkhit hot springs.

The steppe area in this province is rich in mineral resources like lead, copper, iron ore, marble, alabaster, feldspar and crystals. The province contains the Tavan Tolgoi deposit which holds several billion tons of high quality coal.

The province has extreme weather conditions. Temperatures range from -20 to 30⁰C during winter and 30 to 38⁰C during summer. The wind speed is 5 to 15m/sec with occasional bouts of 34 to 35m/sec.