Alag-Erdene () is a sum (district) of Khövsgöl aimag (province). The area is about 4,500 km², of which 1,460 km² are forest, and 2,760 km² are pasture. In 2005, the sum had 2992 inhabitants, including some Darkhad, Khotogoid, and

Uriankhai Uriankhai is a term of address applied by the Mongols to a group of forest peoples of the North, who include the Turkic-speaking Tuvans and Yakuts, while sometimes it is also applied to the Mongolian-speaking Altai Uriankhai. The Uria ...

. The center, officially named ''Mankhan'' () is situated close to the road from

Mörön Mörön (; ) is the administrative center of Khövsgöl, Mongolia. Before 1933, Khatgal had been the aimag capital. It has 12,286 families and a population of 46,918, and is considered a major city such as Ulaanbaatar, Darhan, Erdenet and ...

to Khatgal, 62 km north of

and 733 kilometers from

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Mongolia, most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.6 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipa ...

History

The Alag-Erdene sum was founded, together with the whole Khövsgöl aimag, in 1931. In 1933, it had about 3,400 inhabitants in 1006 households, and about 82,000 heads of livestock. In 1942, two bags were transferred to Renchinlkhümbe, in 1952 two other bags became part of Tünel sum. In 1956, three bags were transferred from Büren sum, together with the Khögjil

negdel Negdel (, "union, association") is the common term for the agricultural cooperatives in the Mongolian People's Republic. The full name is Khödöö aj akhuin negdel ( = ''Agricultural association''). History Early attempts The first attempts ...

Economy

In 2004, there were roughly 76,000 heads of livestock, among them 26,000

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

, 36,000

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

s, 11,500

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

and yaks, 6,400

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

s, and 33

camels A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provide ...

. During the 1980s,

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

geologists conducted large-scale exploration projects for

phosphorite Phosphorite, phosphate rock or rock phosphate is a non-detrital sedimentary rock that contains high amounts of phosphate minerals. The phosphate content of phosphorite (or grade of phosphate rock) varies greatly, from 4% to 20% phosphorus pentoxi ...

in the area, but these projects were discontinued in the early 1990s, due to both the general political/economic situation after the end of socialism, and the discontent of the local population. Other commodities include

black coal Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''Psy ...

graphite Graphite () is a Crystallinity, crystalline allotrope (form) of the element carbon. It consists of many stacked Layered materials, layers of graphene, typically in excess of hundreds of layers. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable ...

, and

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

Administrative divisions

The district is divided into five

bags A bag, also known regionally as a sack, is a common tool in the form of a floppy container, typically made of cloth, leather, bamboo, paper, or plastic. The use of bags predates recorded history, with the earliest bags being lengths of animal s ...

, which are: * Mankhan * Shuvuut * Tsagaan Burgas * Ujig / Tsagaan Belchir * Yargis

Miscellaneous

Lake Khövsgöl borders the sum to the north. Erkhel nuur was the site of an

avian influenza Avian influenza, also known as avian flu or bird flu, is a disease caused by the influenza A virus, which primarily affects birds but can sometimes affect mammals including humans. Wild aquatic birds are the primary host of the influenza A viru ...

outbreak in 2005.

Literature

M.Nyamaa, ''Khövsgöl aimgiin lavlakh toli'', Ulaanbaatar 2001, p. 14f

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alag-Erdene, Khovsgol Districts of Khövsgöl Province