Erdenet

Erdenet Эрдэнэт ᠡᠷᠳᠡᠨᠢᠲᠦ
District
Bayan-Öndör District Баян-Өндөр сум ᠪᠠᠶ᠋ᠠᠨᠥᠨᠳᠦᠷᠰᠤᠮᠤ
View of Erdenet
Seal
Erdenet
Coordinates: MN 49°01′40″N 104°02′40″E / 49.02778°N 104.04444°E
Country	Mongolia
Province	Orkhon Province
Founded	1974
Area
• Total	208.0 km^2 (80.3 sq mi)
Elevation	1,280 m (4,200 ft)
Population (2010)
• Total	83,379
• Density	400/km^2 (1,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC + 8 (UTC+8)
Area code(s)	+976 7035 (7039)
Vehicle registration	OP_ ( _ variable)
Climate	Dwc
Website	www.erdenet.mn

Erdenet (Mongolian: Эрдэнэт, literally "with treasure") is the third-largest city in Mongolia and the capital of the aimag (province) of Orkhon. Officially known as Bayan-Öndör sum.

Located in the northern part of the country, it lies in a valley between the Selenge and Orkhon rivers about 150 miles (241 kilometres) (as the bird flies) northwest of Ulaanbaatar, the capital. The road length between Ulaanbaatar and Erdenet is about 230 mi (370 km).

History

Erdenet, one of the youngest settlements in Mongolia, was founded in 1974^[1] in an area where large deposits of copper had been discovered in the 1950s. A single-track railway line with a length of 75 mi (121 km) linking Erdenet to the Trans-Mongolian Railway was inaugurated in 1977.^[2] In the middle of the 1980s, more than 50% of the inhabitants were Russians working as engineers or miners. After the fall of Soviet Communism in 1990, however, most Russians left Erdenet. Today about 10% of the population is Russian.^[1]

Erdenet Mining Corporation

The city hosts the fourth largest copper mine in the world. The "Erdenet Mining Corporation" is a joint Mongolian-Russian venture, and accounts for a majority of Mongolia's hard currency income. Erdenet mines 22.23 million tons of ore per year, producing 126,700 tons of copper and 1,954 tons of molybdenum.^[3] The mine accounts for 13.5% of Mongolia's GDP and 7% of tax revenue.^[4] About 8,000 people are employed in the mine.^[5]

Infrastructure

The city of Erdenet offers a large variety of shops, has a comparatively large hospital, a Sports Palace, several hotels and restaurants.

The city is linked to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, and to the towns of Darkhan and Bulgan by a paved road and is easily accessible by bus several times each day. The distance to the capital where the nearest airport is situated amounts to 230 miles (370 km) and travel by car takes about eight hours.

Train connections between Erdenet and Ulaanbaatar are less comfortable as there is only one train per day covering the distance in 11 hours.

Sights

• Tourists are allowed to visit the mine by appointment. It is in the eastern part of the city, about 6 km (4 mi) from the centre.
• Another important economic factor of Erdenet is the carpet factory about 2 km (1 mi) from the center to the east which was founded in 1981. Every year, about 2,000 metric tons of wool are processed in the factory where about 1,100 people are employed.^[6]
• The Mining Museum, in the Culture Palace on the central town square.^[7]
• The Aimag Museum was founded in 1983.
• The Fraternity Monument dating from 1984 is on a hill offering a scenic view of the whole city in the northeastern part of Erdenet.
• A new temple with a large Buddha statue was built very recently in the eastern part of Erdenet.
• An amusement park was laid out in the east of the center.
• Amarbayasgalant Monastery is a Buddhist monastery about 60 km (37 mi) northeast of Erdenet. It was founded between 1727 and 1737, partially destroyed by order of Khorloogiin Choibalsan in 1937 and reconstructed after 1975 using financial aid provided by the UNESCO.

Population

Erdenet population ^{[8][9][10][11][12] [13]}

1975 est.	1979 census	1981 est.	1985 est.	1989 census	1994 est.	2000 census	2003 est.	2004 est.	2005 est.	2006 est.	2007 est.	2008 est.
4,100	31,900	38,700	45,400	56,100	63,000	68,310	78,882	80,858	81,249	83,160	85,121	86,866

Gallery

• 
  The "Fraternity Monument" in Erdenet
• 
  City Centre
• 
  Main Street
• 
  City Centre
• 
  Market in the center
• 
  New Buddha Statue
• 
  Residential area with LDS Church
• 
  Typical residential area in the west of Erdenet
• 
  Amusement park

Twin towns – Sister cities

Erdenet is twinned with:^[14]

City	Region	Country
Fairbanks	Alaska	United States
Ulan-Ude	Buryatia	Russia
Edremit[15]	Balıkesir	Turkey
Székesfehérvár[16]	Fejér County	Hungary

References

1. Michael Kohn: Mongolia, p. 142, London 2008
2. Werner Elstner: Mongolei, p. 146, Berlin 1993
3. Montsame News Agency. Mongolia. 2006, Foreign Service Office of Montsame News Agency, ISBN 99929-0-627-8, p. 80
4. Montsame News Agency. Mongolia. 2006, Foreign Service Office of Montsame News Agency, ISBN 99929-0-627-8, p. 83
5. Michael Kohn: Mongolia, p. 143, London 2008
6. Marion Wisotzki. Mongolei, p.227, Berlin 2010
7. Michael Kohn: Mongolia, p. 144, London 2008
8. National Statistical Office
9. National Economy of the Mongolian People's Republic (1921 - 1981), Ulaanbaatar 1981
10. , GeoHive: Global Statistics
11. Population Statistics: historical demography
12. Mongolia City Development Strategies for Secondary Cities
13. Statistical Report 2008
14. Chris Freiberg (2008-03-30). "Sister-city program brings Mongolian delegation to Fairbanks". newsminer.com. Retrieved 2010-01-09.
15. Sister/Twin Cities of Balıkesir Province
16. Bozsoki, Agnes. "Partnervárosok Névsora Partner és Testvérvárosok Névsora" [Partner and Twin Cities List]. City of Székesfehérvár (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 2012-12-08. Retrieved 2013-08-05.

External links

• Erdenet Mining Corporation