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Erdenet

geography Maturity 11-13 Next article →

Erdenet is a large city in northern Mongolia. It is the capital of the Orkhon province. The name Erdenet means precious or valuable. This city sits in a valley between two rivers. These are the Selenge and Orkhon rivers. It is located northwest of the capital city, Ulaanbaatar. The city is also near the town of Darkhan.

A big mining company is very important here. It is called the Erdenet Mining Corporation. This company is a joint venture between Mongolia and Russia. The mine pulls up many tons of ore every year. It produces 126,700 tons of copper each year. It also produces 1,954 tons of molybdenum. This mining work helps Mongolia earn a lot of money. About 8,000 people have jobs at the mine.

Erdenet is one of the youngest cities in Mongolia. People founded the settlement in 1974. This happened because they found large amounts of copper nearby in the 1950s. In 1977, a single-track railway was opened. This line connects Erdenet to the Trans-Mongolian Railway. In the middle of the 1980s, many people lived there. More than 50% of the people were Russian engineers or miners. After 1990, most Russians left the city.

Many different things happen in the city today. There is a factory that makes carpets from wool. It started in 1981 and uses 2,000 tons of wool every year. About 1,100 workers work there. You can also visit the Mining Museum in the Palace of Culture. There is a Museum of Orkhon Province that opened in 1983. A large Friendship Monument stands on a hill in the northeast. You might even see the Amarbayasgalant Monastery nearby.

Life in Erdenet depends on the weather. The climate is cold and semi-arid. This means it is quite dry. Summers are usually warm and rainy. However, the nights stay cool during the summer. Winters are very different from the summer months. They are long, very cold, and dry. Traveling to the city can take a long time. A car trip from Ulaanbaatar takes about eight hours.

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