Mongolia Tourism

Mongolian topography consists of mountains, hummocks and high denudation plains, with three major regional stages. Erosive mountain relief and depressions of tectonic origin formed during the late Cretaceous and early Quaternary periods are numerous in the north. Erosion, tectonic depression and humps of folded mountains, lifted during the Cretaceous period's fourth stage, occur frequently. Eighty per cent of the entire area is about 1,000 meters above sea level. Mongolia claims the most of the Mongol Altai Mountains, the Great Lakes' Depression, mountains surrounding Lake Khuvsgul, the Khangai mountain range, the Orkhon-Selenge river basin, Khentii Mountain, the Dornod Steppe and Great Khyangan Mountains eastwards. The Mongol Altai Mountains in the west runs for 600-650km, with thin hills, hollows and precipitous crags of over 4,000 meters. The Khuiten peak of Mt. Altai Tavan Bogd is the highest point in the country, at 4,374 meters. There are glaciers in the heights of the Mongol Altai, and the humps and hollows of the ice-age period remain in Khuvsgul, Khangai, Khentii and Altai mountains. Rivers of the Tes basin and the River Delger of the Selenge basin flow from there westward and eastward. This zone was called 1905 splitting zone since a strong earthquake in 1905. A wide range of the Khangai Mountains lies in the center of Mongolia. The Bulnai, Tarvagatai and Buren Mountain range are continuous from the Khangai range; the latter being in the splitting zone. The highest peak of the Khangai range is Mt. Otgontenger in the western portion of the range, at 4,021 meters, with a small glacier on top. There are more falls in river originating in the Khangai range. The valleys are rich in rapids and falls; one of the biggest falls in is the Ulaan Tsutgalan waterfall on the Orkhon River. The Lakes Valley is in the thin depression between the mountains at the southward point if the head of the Khangai Mountain range. The Gobi-Altai Chain continue 600km at the southern end of the Lakes Valley, formed by several separate mountains. The highest point of the Gobi-Altai Mountains is Mt. Ikh Bogd, at 3,957 meters. The special state-protected area of the Mongol Altai Mountains includes the protected area of Khukh Serkh Range and the natural complex of the Mt. Altai Tavan Bogd. A wide desert-like depression named Altai Uvur Gobi continues southward from the Gobi Altai Chain and gradually changes to stony desert with dark-colored desert scraps and stone surface. The Tian Shan, Atas Bogd and Tsagaan Bogd Mountain ranges are at the forward end of the Altai Uvur Gobi. The central and southern praries as well as the steppe of the Dornod province contiguously stretch for over 1,200 km to the east of the Khangai Mountain range, Lakes Valley and Gobi Altai Mountain. This steppe falls from west to east, with a high point of 560 meters above sea level. The zenith of the Khentii Mountain range is the Mt. Asralt Khairkhan, 2,800 meters high, formed by basalt plateau and granite massif in the edge of eastern steppes.

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Mongolia Tourism