Ulan-Bator - SpeedyLook encyclopedia

History

The history of the creation of Ulan-Bator is closely related to the political life of the Mongolia at the 17th century. The State Mandchou, which thrived in the middle of the 17th century in the east of Mongolia and occupied the south of Mongolia in 1636, threatened to invade Khalkha and the west of Mongolia. With an aim of continuing a policy centralized in Mongolia, Gombodorji (1594 - 1655), Khan of Tüsheet, one of the three Khans Khakha, named his/her son Zanabazar with the head of the Buddhist religion in Mongolia. Zanabazar was named Jebtsundamba Khutuktu (name of a line of Buddhist reincarnations, whose 8th and last one will be proclaimed king de Mongolie between 1911 and 1924; it is about the reincarnation of the monk Jonangpa Taranatha) by the chuulgan (assembled) of the kings khalkha and the noyods (lords) held in Tsagaan Nuur in 1639.

In 1649, Zanabazar, founded in the current province of Arkhangai a wandering monastery called Da-Khüriye , where da means “large” in Chinese and khüriye ( khüree in Mongolian modern) indicated the organized camping formerly rings some around the Yourte of a chief. This building was destroyed at the beginning of the 18th century by Dzoungars (or Jüüngar, of the Western Mongols). It was rebuilt and changed sixteen times of place between 1719 and 1778, year during which it was fixed close to the Tuul river, in the north of Bogd Uul, the “crowned Mountain”. Permanent residence of the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, it became the core of a city which the Westerners knew under the name of Ourga. It is a deformation, via Russian, of the Mongolian örgöö “residence of a prince, palate”. This term has nothing to do with the urga , pole-lasso used by the stockbreeders to catch their animals.

In 1654, the building work was launched and its expansion finished in 1680.

Later, the city was renamed Ikh Khüree. During the two centuries which followed, Mongolia was under Manchu domination. Located on the road of the The between the China and the Russia, Ourga became at the 19th century an important center administrative and commercial, with a population of approximately 50.000 inhabitants. A hundred temples ( süm ) and monasteries ( khiid ) there were built. There remain now only some about it. One can quote the monastery of Gandan, going back to 1840, which remained in service until today and which is the seat of an important Buddhist university . Between 1893 and 1903, the 8th Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, which carried the title of Bogdo gegen, were made build a palate in the south of the city, to remain there during the winter. It became a museum today. The palate of summer of the Bogdo gegen was completely destroyed. For his/her younger brother, the Choijin LAMA , a monastery was built between 1903 and 1906. Today, it is also a museum.

Mongolia proclaimed its autonomy in 1911 and the city became the capital of a Buddhist mode whose Bogdo gegen was the monarch. It was called Niislel Khüree, where niislel means “capital”. The first tests of modernization of Mongolia were organized there. The Buriat Djamtsarano tried to open there a first public school in 1913 but ran up against the opposition of the Buddhist clergy.

Ourga remained the capital of Mongolia after the death of the Bogdo gegen the November 26th 1924, but it was renamed Ulaanbaatar (“red Mongolian Hero”) in the honor of the national hero Sukhbaatar (“Hero with the Axe”). A statue of this last is visible on the central place of the city. Theocracy was abolished, Mongolia became a popular republic and it was interdict to seek the reincarnation of the Bogdo Gegen. The 9th reincarnation of the Bogdo Gegen was however discovered with the Tibet with Lhassa. At the time of the Chinese insavion of the Tibet, the 9th Bogdo Gegen was exiled in India. He currently lives with Dharamsala where he in particular appointed chief of the school Jonangpa by the 4th Dalaï Lama.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the pluspart of the inhabitants lived in yurts surrounded by palisades. Starting from the Years 1930, the Russian undertook an urbanization with the Soviet manner. The inhabitants were transferred in buildings, but much preserved their yurts and their animals (one counted more than 3500 horses). They preferred to turn over in their old residences during the winter. It is at that time that the near total of the religious buildings were shaven. The rural migration contributed to maintain the existence of districts of yurts, but the inhabitants replace more and more their tents by huts out of wooden. The enrichment of a small portion of the population, thanks to the market economy, involves the construction of houses into hard.

The 14th Dalaï Lama, venerated by the Mongolian population, visited 5 times Ulan-Bator. At the time its first visit in September 1991, 700.000 people had converged towards the city to accommodate it. The last visit of Dalaï Lama in Mongolia goes up at August 2006. The arrival of the prize winner of the Nobel Prize of peace 1989 crown one year of celebration for Mongolia, which celebrated, in July 2006, 800 years of creation by Genghis Khan of the Mongolian State. In the traces of her predecessors, the 14th Dalaï Lama gave a conference in the Mongolian capital in front of 10.000 people, during whom he in particular declared that the Buddhist heritage of Tibet helped its people during the tops and of bottoms of its history.

Economy

During last years, the economic growth of the city was of 5 with 8 %. Since 1995, the Gross domestic product as well as the income per capita is in constant growth, the Inflation is controlled and the importance of the private sector increased considerably, mainly within the informal sector.

Demography

In July 2006, the population of Ulan-Bator, in strong growth, was estimated at 961.900 inhabitants. That accounts for approximately 34% of the total population of the country. It was of 659 200 inhabitants in 1998 and of 846.500 inhabitants in 2002. The number of recorded employees was respectively of 209.800 and 254.200 during these same years. The life expectancy was 64,62 years in 1999 and 64,95 years in 2002, that is to say approximately a year more than the national average.

Transport

Subway

The Métro of Ulan-Bator was built of 1994 with 2001, with the assistance of specialists in Moscow, Kazan, Tachkent and Novosibirsk. The single line has a 8 km length and comprises 6 stations connecting the residential western part to the remainder of the city. One of the stations, Moskva Uuly, ensures the correspondence with the Railroad. The daily traffic of this underground line is of 120.000 travellers. The Logo of the subway is a sympathetic nerve bearing Chameau on its back the gilded letter M.

Highway network

Ulan-Bator is connected by the Route to all the main cities of Mongolia.

The “roads” are in fact a network of Piste S, often bad, which make it possible to connect between them the principal cities. A construction project of a road crossing the country right through exists, it is the “Road of the Millenium”, but this program proceeds with an extreme slowness. There is not true a Autoroute S in Mongolia.

Chemin de iron

There is no either strictly speaking rail network: only the Mongolian branch of the Transsibérien (makes Transmongolien of it) crosses the country, of the Russia to the China, by serving only one small number of localities.

Airport and air transport

Ulan-Bator is served by a international Aéroport.

Sources, references

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