Töv ( mn, Төв, , ; "central") is one of the 21 aimags (provinces) of

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 million, ...

. The national capital

Ulaanbaatar 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 ce ...

is located roughly at its center, but the city itself is administrated as an independent municipality.

Geography

The Aimag includes the western part of the

Khentii Mountains The Khentii Mountains ( mn, Хэнтийн нуруу) are a mountain range in the Töv and Khentii Provinces in North Eastern Mongolia. Geography The mountain chain overlaps the Khan Khentii Strictly Protected Area and includes Mongolia's sa ...

, the mountains around the capital, as well as rolling steppe in the south and west. The most interesting body of water is the

Tuul River , , "to wade through" , nickname = Queen Tuul , image = Tuul River Mongolia.JPG , image_size = , image_caption = The Tuul flowing through the Gorkhi-Terelj National Park , map = Toula (rivi ...

, which crosses Ulaanbaatar and later joins the

Orkhon River The Orkhon River (; mn, Орхон гол, ''Orkhon gol'', Old Chinese: 安侯水 ''(*arhoushui)'') is a river in Mongolia. The Orkhon river derives its name from the Old Turkic prefix "or" meaning "middle", and "khan" or king. It rises in ...

Population

The Töv aimag is populated primarily by

Khalkha Mongols The Khalkha ( Mongolian: mn, Халх, Halh, , zh, 喀爾喀) have been the largest subgroup of Mongol people in modern Mongolia since the 15th century. The Khalkha, together with Chahars, Ordos and Tumed, were directly ruled by Borjigin khans ...

, major minority group of

Kazakhs The Kazakhs (also spelled Qazaqs; Kazakh: , , , , , ; the English name is transliterated from Russian; russian: казахи) are a Turkic-speaking ethnic group native to northern parts of Central Asia, chiefly Kazakhstan, but also parts o ...

declined at intercensal period of massive out migration to the

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

, rest of minority groups grew off in migrations.

Traffic

The central traffic node is the enclave

. The city includes the largest station of 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 Ru ...

and the

Buyant-Ukhaa International Airport Buyant-Ukhaa International Airport,, formerly called Chinggis Khaan International Airport, from 2005 to 2020 , is a semi-operational international airport serving Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, situated southwest of the capital. Largely replaced ...

. A small airport with an unpaved runway also exists in the aimag capital

Zuunmod Zuunmod ( mn, Зуунмод; , "Hundred Trees") is the administrative seat of Mongolia's Töv Province. It has a population of 16,953 (2017) inhabitants and an area of 19.18 square kilometres. Zuunmod is located on the south side of Bogd Khan Mo ...

Culture

Manzushir Monastery Mañjuśrī Monastery ( mn, Манзуширын хийд; alternately translated as Manzushir; ) is a former gompa established in 1733 and destroyed by Mongolian communists in 1937. Its ruins are located approximately 15 kilometers (as the crow ...

'' is located near Zuunmod in the

Bogd Khan Mountain The Bogd Khan Mountain ( Mongolian: Богд хан уул, ''lit. "Saint Khan Mountain"'') is a mountain in Mongolia that overlooks the nation's capital, Ulaanbaatar, from a height of to the south of the city. World Heritage Status The Bo ...

national park. It was founded in 1733 and used to be the home of 20 temples and 300 monks. Most of it was destroyed by the communists, yet the last temple was restored after democratisation and hosts a small museum today.

National parks

The

Gorkhi-Terelj National Park Gorkhi-Terelj National Park ( mn, Горхи-Тэрэлж , ''creek-rhododendron'') is one of the national parks of Mongolia. The Terelj tourist zone has a number of "tourist camps" ( mn, жуулчны бааз, ''juulchny baaz''). It is connect ...

was founded in 1993. It covers a part of the

. It is most well known for its spectacular rock formations, including a rock that looks like a giant turtle from the right perspective. The landscape has an alpine character, with

larch Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains furt ...

and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

forests, sparkling mountain rivers, and very diverse flora and fauna. In

Khustain Nuruu National Park Hustai National Park (), located in the Khustai Mountains (, lit. ''Birch Mountains'') of Töv Province (Aimag), is a national park of Mongolia. It is also known as Khustain Nuruu National Park. The Tuul River runs through the park. History Th ...

, about 120 km south west of Ulaanbaatar, the original wild horses, ''Takhi'' of Mongolia (

Przewalski horse Przewalski's horse (, , (Пржевальский ), ) (''Equus ferus przewalskii'' or ''Equus przewalskii''), also called the takhi, Mongolian wild horse or Dzungarian horse, is a rare and endangered horse originally native to the steppes of Ce ...

s) have been released to the wild again in a process first begun in 1993. The project has been quite successful, and has developed into an attraction for both scientists and tourists. The

Gun-Galuut Nature Reserve Gun-Galuut Nature Reserve, south-east of Ulaanbaatar, has a great diversity of ecosystems even though it has a comparatively small area. The complex of high mountains, steppes, rivers, lakes and wetlands are kept in their original condition. Visi ...

is a protected area founded in 2003 to conserve globally threatened species and their habitat. The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

red-listed species -

white-naped crane The white-naped crane (''Antigone vipio'') is a bird of the crane family. It is a large bird, long, about tall, and weighing about , with pinkish legs, a grey-and-white-striped neck, and a red face patch. Distribution The white-naped crane br ...

hooded crane The hooded crane (''Grus monacha'') is a crane native to East Asia and a frequent migratory bird in Japan. Description It has a grey body. The top of the neck and head is white, except for a patch of bare red skin above the eye. It is one of t ...

Siberian white crane The Siberian crane (''Leucogeranus leucogeranus''), also known as the Siberian white crane or the snow crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the cranes. They are distinctive among the cranes: adults are nearly all snowy white, except for their ...

swan goose The swan goose (''Anser cygnoides'') is a large goose with a natural breeding range in inland Mongolia, northernmost China, and the Russian Far East. It is migratory and winters mainly in central and eastern China. Vagrant birds are encountered ...

and argali-wild mountain sheep and many other species listed in the National Red book of Mongolia are found here. Because it is considered sacred, the mountain Mount Bogd Khan south of Ulaanbaatar has been a protected area since 1778. During socialism, it was formally established as a national park. This stopped the urban sprawl of the capital on its southern side.

Administrative subdivisions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tov Province Provinces of Mongolia States and territories established in 1931 1931 establishments in Mongolia