Travel Cloud: Ulaanbaatar

Ulaanbaatar Mongolia

Ulaanbaatar is the capital of Mongolia and the most populous city in the country. It is one of the coldest capitals in the world. Its population in 2008 reached just over one million inhabitants. The city is notable for its Soviet architecture, set alongside Tibetan and Buddhist buildings. Ulaanbaatar was founded in 1649 as a monastic town called Urgon (known as Urga or Urgà in the Western world), which flourished during the 1860s mainly because it was located on a key trading route between Russia and China. Mongolia declared its independence in 1911, and when the city was named the capital of the country in 1924, its name was changed to Ulaanbaatar, which means “red hero” in Mongolian, in honour of the national hero Sukhbaatar, who freed Mongolia from the troops of Ungern von Sternberg (one of those characters who could only have existed in such a remote era. He was an Austrian officer who went over to the Russian side, where he fought with the White Russian army – that is, those loyal to the Tsar during the Russian Revolution – then went on to conquer Mongolia, driving out the Chinese, becoming a private warlord, and finally being handed over by his own men to the Soviet Red Army. His cruelty and viciousness were widely known) and from Chinese rule, fighting alongside the Soviet Red Army. His statue stands in the main square of Ulaanbaatar. Ulaanbaatar has not suffered war-related destruction, except in 1921, during the Battle of Urga, when Baron Ungern von Sternberg defeated the 10,000-strong Chinese garrison (which had occupied Urga without a fight).

Recommended airport

Buyant-Ukhaa International Airport (ULN)

Points of interest

Shangri-La Ulaanbaatar

Nearby destinations

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Ulaanbaatar Mongolia