Photos of Dornod Province, Mongolia

Dornod (= the East) is Mongolia’s easternmost aimag. It has an area of 123,597 km² and a population of about 74,000, most Khalkha Mongols but with a Buriad minority of 22.8%. Its capital, previously named Bayan Tümen, was in 1941 renamed after the then communist dictator Khorloogiin Choibalsan.

Choibalsan is now Mongolia’s fourth largest town, with a population of almost 40,000. Its Aimag Museum in the former Government House has, among other things, some memorabilia of Khorloogiin Choibalsan, whose statue stands in front of it. The Mongolian Heroes Memorial, a large arch with a soldier charging on horseback, is one of the more dramatic examples of Stalinist monuments. A Soviet tank that saw action during the Khalkhin Gol war with the Japanese in 1939 is parked next to it.

Danrig Danjaalin Khiid, a Buddhist monastery in Choibalsan, was built around 1840 and was once very active. It contained three northern temples and four southern temples, but less than half the 800 monks could be accommodated at one time. It was closed in 1937 but reopened in 1990 and now has two small temples where about 15 monks worship.