Selenge

Introducing Selenge

Mongolia’s breadbasket, Selenge is a fertile landscape of rolling wheat fields, apple orchards and meandering rivers. Wide-scale agriculture has settled many nomads and nowadays wood cabins and lumbering trucks far outnumber gers and camel caravans.

The relatively well developed infrastructure of paved roads, cities and train lines means that Selenge sees a steady flow of through traffic, particularly from travellers heading to and from Russia. The main reasons to visit are the majestic but remote monastery, Amarbayasgalant Khiid, and some beautiful scenery.

Darkhan is the major population centre, although the city is actually part of its own tiny aimag, Darkhan-Uul. The aimag capital, Sükhbaatar, is comparatively small, but as a border town it remains a viable part of the local economy.

In the southeast, the open-pit coal mine at Sharyngol produces about two million tonnes of coal each year to provide electricity for the Erdenet mine in Bulgan aimag. Selenge’s biggest revenue earner is the Canadian-owned Boroo gold mine, which produces 5 tonnes of gold per year, netting US$65 million.

The mighty Selenge Gol starts in the mountains of western Mongolia and flows into Lake Baikal in Siberia, draining nearly 300, 000 sq km of land in both countries. The other great river, the Orkhon Gol, meets the Selenge Gol near Sükhbaatar.

Last updated: Mar 2, 2009