Uvs (; mn, Увс аймаг, Uws aimag, ; xal, Увс әәмг, Uws äämg, ), is one of the 21
aimags
An aimag (, ; xal, әәмг, ), 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 ...
(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, ...
. It is located in the west of the country, away from 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 ...
. Its capital is
Ulaangom
Ulaangom (; mn, Улаангом, ; xal, Уланһом, ) is the capital of Uvs Province in Mongolia. It is located on the slopes of the Kharkhiraa mountain, southwest from the lake Uvs Nuur shore and south from the Russian border.
Descri ...
which lies above sea level.
The province is named after Mongolia’s biggest lake,
Uvs Lake
Uvs Lake ( mn, Увс нуур, Uws nuur, ; russian: Озеро Убсу-Нур, Ozero Ubsu-Nur; zh, 乌布苏湖, wū bù sū hú, pinyin: ''Wū Bù Sū hú'') is a highly saline lake in an endorheic basin—Uvs Nuur Basin in Mongolia with a s ...
.
Geography
Parts of the
steppe
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the temperate grasslands, ...
in this province are protected as the
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
''
Ubsunur Hollow
Uvs Lake Basin (also Uvs Nuur Basin or Ubs Nuur Basin; mn, Увс нуурын хотгор, Uws nuuriin hotgor) is an endorheic basin located on the territorial border of Mongolia and Tuva, a republic of the Russian Federation. The basin is part ...
''. In the north the province borders
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
for , whilst in the east of border lies between Uvs and
Zavkhan province
Zavkhan (; mn, Завхан, Zawhan, ) is one of the 21 aimags (provinces) of Mongolia, located in the west of the country, 1,104 km from Ulaanbaatar. Its capital is Uliastai. The aimag is named after the Zavkhan River, which forms the border b ...
. In the south and west it borders for each of
Khovd and
Bayan-Ölgii provinces for. The province occupies 4.45 percent of the national territory, totalling . Of the total area of the province, sixty percent belongs to the mountainous climatic zone, and forty percent to the
Gobi
The Gobi Desert (Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world.
Geography
The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast an ...
semi-desert.
Population
Mongols and their proto-peoples have lived in the province since antiquity. Currently, 42.3% of population is
Dörbet, 34.2% is
Bayid
The Bayad (Mongol: Баяд/Bayad, ''lit. "the Riches"'') is the fourth largest subgroup of Mongol people in modern Mongolia and they are a tribe in Four Oirats. Baya'ud were a prominent clan within the Mongol Empire. Baya'ud can be found in b ...
and 13.6% is
Khalkha
The Khalkha (Mongolian script, Mongolian: mn, Халх, Halh, , zh, 喀爾喀) have been the largest subgroup of Mongols, Mongol people in modern Mongolia since the 15th century. The Khalkha, together with Chahars, Ordos Mongols, Ordos and Tum ...
. Also, there are many
Tuvans
The Tuvans ( tyv, Тывалар, Tıvalar) are a TurkicOtto Maenchen-Helfen, Journey to Tuva, p. 169 ethnic group indigenous to Siberia who live in Russia (Tuva), Mongolia, and China. They speak Tuvan, a Siberian Turkic language. They are als ...
,
Khotons
The Khoton people are a Turkic ethnic group in Mongolia. Most Khotons live in Uvs Province, especially in Tarialan, Naranbulag and Ulaangom. While Khotons spoke a Turkic language until the 19th century, the majority now speak the Dörbet di ...
, and
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 ...
living in this province.
At the end of 2014, 20,719 households were residing in this province. 7,476 lived in the provincial center
Ulaangom
Ulaangom (; mn, Улаангом, ; xal, Уланһом, ) is the capital of Uvs Province in Mongolia. It is located on the slopes of the Kharkhiraa mountain, southwest from the lake Uvs Nuur shore and south from the Russian border.
Descri ...
, 4,105 lived in sum centers, and 9,138 lived in the countryside as herding families.
History
After the
Mongolian Revolution of 1921
The Mongolian Revolution of 1921 (Outer Mongolian Revolution of 1921, or People's Revolution of 1921) was a military and political event by which Mongolian revolutionaries, with the assistance of the Soviet Red Army, expelled Russian White Guar ...
, the government founded the Jewel Mountain Province (, ). This province included the whole western part of the country. In 1931 it was split into the Khovd and Dörvöd aimags—the latter which was renamed ''Uvs aimag'' in 1933.
Administrative subdivisions
Uvs province is divided into 19
sums
In mathematics, summation is the addition of a sequence of any kind of numbers, called ''addends'' or ''summands''; the result is their ''sum'' or ''total''. Beside numbers, other types of values can be summed as well: function (mathematics), fu ...
, lower administrative division units.
Ulaangom
Ulaangom (; mn, Улаангом, ; xal, Уланһом, ) is the capital of Uvs Province in Mongolia. It is located on the slopes of the Kharkhiraa mountain, southwest from the lake Uvs Nuur shore and south from the Russian border.
Descri ...
is the Uvs province center.
Livestock
Source: National Statistical Office of Mongolia
[The National Statistical Office of Mongolia, www.uvs.nso.mn]
References
{{Authority control
Provinces of Mongolia
States and territories established in 1931
1931 establishments in Mongolia