Photos of Darkhan-Uul Province, Mongolia

Darkhan-Uul (= Sacred Mountain) aimag is located in the north of the country. Darkhan was founded on 17 October 1961 as a second industrial centre to reduce the migration pressure on the capital Ulaanbaatar and is now Mongolia’s third-largest town. The province’s area is 3,275 km², with a population of around 92,000.

There is an “Old Town” with large Soviet-style apartment buildings and a “New Town” in the south with most shops, hotels and restaurants. Near a roundabout between the two parts of Darkhan is a giant seated Buddha statue and a monument depicting a man on horseback, playing a “Morin Khuur”, the traditional horse head fiddle; a pedestrian bridge connects the two. On the hill are an ovoo, a shamanistic cairn made from rocks and shamanistic poles, blue “khadag” scarves symbolising the open sky and the sky spirit Tengger (Tengri) tied to them, overlooking both sides of the town.