Mongolia is divided into 21 aimags (province) and the capital, Ulaanbaatar. Each aimag is subdivided into several sums. The name aimag is derived from the Mongolian and Turkic languages word for "tribe".
Ulaanbaatar
Ulaanbaatar (English: The Red Hero), is the capital and largest city of Mongolia. The city is an independent municipality not part of any province, and its population as of 2008 is just over 1 million. Located in the north central part of the country, the city lies at an elevation of about 1,310 metres (4,300 ft) in a valley on the Tuul River. It is the cultural, industrial, and financial heart of the country. It is also the center of Mongolia's road network, and connected by rail to the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Chinese railway network. The city was founded in 1639 as an initially nomadic Buddhist monastic center. In 1778 it settled permanently at its present location, the junction of the Tuul and Selbe rivers. Before that it had changed location 28 times, with each location being chosen ceremonially. In the 20th century, Ulan Bator grew into a major manufacturing center. Ulan Bator is divided into nine districts: Baganuur, Bagakhangai, Bayangol, Bayanzurkh, Chingeltei, Khan Uul, Nalaikh, Songino Khairkhan, and Sükhbaatar. Each district is subdivided into Khoroos. The capital is governed by a city council (the Citizen's Representatives Hural) with forty members, elected every four years. The city council appoints the mayor.
During the Qing Dynasty, the territory of Outer Mongolia was divided (from east to west) into the Setsen Khan, Tüsheet Khan, Sain Noyon Khan, and Zasagt Khan aimags plus the Khovd area. The northern border to Russia was guarded by a watch post area. After Mongolia's second declaration of independence in 1921, the aimags were renamed in 1923, to Khaan Khentii Uulyn Aimag, Bogd Khan Uulyn Aimag, Tsetserleg Mandal Uulyn Aimag, and Khan Taishir Uulyn Aimag, respectively. The Khovd area and the Jebtsundamba Khutughtu's great shabi (personal fiefdom) turned into aimags of their own, Chandmani Uulyn Aimag and Delger Ikh Uulyn Aimag, respectively (the latter was later merged with Tsetserleg Mandal Uulyn Aimag). But otherwise the administrative structure was largely left unchanged until the 1930s.
An administrative reorganisation was initiated in 1931, which resulted in the Aimags Khovd, Dörvöd (later renamed Uvs), Altai (later renamed Govi-Altai), Khövsgöl, Zavkhan, Arkhangai, Övörkhangai, Ömnögovi, Tariachin (later split into parts of Bulgan and Selenge), Töv, Dornogovi, Khentii and Dornod (later renamed to Choibalsan). The Bayankhongor, Bayan-Ölgii, Bulgan, Dundgovi, Sükhbaatar, and Selenge aimags were created in the 1930s and 1940s. The Choibalsan Aimag was re-renamed to Dornod Aimag in 1963, and the capital Ulan Bator was split from Töv Aimag as a separate district. The same status was given to the newly founded industrial cities of Darkhan (1961 in the Selenge Aimag) and Erdenet (1975 in the Bulgan Aimag). In 1994, two Sums of the Bulgan Aimag were taken to build the Orkhon Aimag around Erdenet, and four Sums of the Selenge Aimag to build the Darkhan-Uul Aimag around Darkhan, ending the special status of the two cities. In a highly disputed decision, the Govisümber Aimag was split from the Dornogovi Aimag in 1996.
