Altai (, ) is the capital of the Govi-Altai

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

in western

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

. As of 2008, its population is 15,800.Annual Report 2008
. Govi-Altai Statistical Office.

Climate

Altai City has a typical Mongolian

cold semi-arid climate Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''BSk'') with

subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of hemiboreal regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Fennoscandia, Northwestern Russia, Siberia, and the Cair ...

(Dwc) influences, although the climate is so dry as to qualify as a

cold desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(

''BWk'') despite the annual mean being sufficient for sporadic permafrost. The climate experiences long, very dry and very cold winters with short, mild summers when the majority of the scant precipitation occurs.

Infrastructure

The city receives its water supply from Zavkhan River connected by a 54-km water pipeline through the Taishir-Altai Water Treatment Plant.

Tourist attractions

* Museum of Govi-Altai Province

Transportation

The

Altai Airport Altai Airport is a public airport serving Altai City, which is the capital of the Govi-Altai Province, Govi-Altai province (''Aimags of Mongolia, aimag'') in western Mongolia. The airport is located west of Altai City. It is capable of handlin ...

(LTI/ZMAT) has three runways and is served by regular flights to

Arvaikheer Arvaikheer, also spelt Arwaiheer (, ; "Barley Steppe") is the capital of Övörkhangai Aimag (province) and one of the most central points of Mongolia. It is a centre for traditional crafts, goat herding and equestrian sports, and hosts a lar ...

and

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 ...

References

{{Mongolia-geo-stub