Choibalsan (city)

Choibalsan (Mongolian: Чойбалсан) is the fourth-largest city in Mongolia after Ulaanbaatar, Darkhan, and Erdenet. The name of the city was Bayan Tümen (Баян Түмэн) until 1941, when it was renamed after the communist leader Khorloogiin Choibalsan in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Mongolian Revolution of 1921. It is the capital of the province of Dornod. The city administrative unit's official name is Kherlen sum, with area of 281 sqkm. It is situated at the Kherlen River, at an elevation of 747 m above sea level.

History
The location has been a post on a trading route for centuries. In the 19th century it grew into a city, and became the economic hub of eastern Mongolia in the twentieth century and is still serving as an active economic center for Eastern Mongolia.

Due to the city's proximity to the site of the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, it contains a museum dedicated to Georgy Zhukov, hero of the battle.

Population
The city of Choibalsan has a population of 45,490 (1994), 41,714 (2000), 36,142 (2003), 39,500 (2006), 39,500 (2007, 53.2% of the Dornod Aimag's total population), 38,150 (2008 51.2% of the Aimag's population).

Choibalsan is inhabited primarily by Halh Mongols, with smaller numbers of Buryats, Barga Mongols, and Üzemchin. There is also a minority of immigrants from China who now constitutes the only China Town in Mongolia outside Ulaanbaatar.

Climate
Choibalsan experiences a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk) with frigid, very dry winters and warm, wetter summers. In terms of temperatures it resembles a humid continental climate (Dwb), but falls short of that classification due to the very dry winters. Extreme temperatures range from a minimum of -41.1 °C to a maximum of 41.9 °C, recorded in August 2016.

Transportation
The Choibalsan Airport (COQ/ZMCD) has one paved runway, and is served by regular flights to Ulaanbaatar, and Hailar and Manzhouli in Inner Mongolia, China.

There is a railway line (unconnected to the rest of the Mongolian rail network) that connects Choibalsan to the Trans-Siberian Railway (the original routing) in Borzya, Russia; although there are no passenger service across the border: passenger trains from Choibalsan terminate in Chuluunkhoroot (Ereentsav).