Kharkhorin

Kharkhorin Хархорин
—  Town  —
View of Kharkhorin
Kharkhorin Location in Mongolia
Coordinates: 47°11′50″N 102°49′26″E
Country	Mongolia
Province	Övörkhangai
Sum	Kharkhorin
Population (2003)
• Total	8,977
Time zone	UTC+8

Kharkhorin (Mongolian: Хархорин) is a town and sum (district) center in the Övörkhangai Province in Mongolia. Sum population was 13,828 (1994), 13,964 (2000), 13,496(2003). Kharkhorin town population is 8,977 (2003), city area is 20.5 km².

Kharkhorin is located at the lower end of the upper valley of the Orkhon River, part of the World Heritage Site Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape. The location marks the eastern foothills of the Khangai Mountains, where they meet the rolling steppe of central Mongolia.

Nearby are the ruins of the ancient town of Karakorum, which for a short time served as the capital of the Mongol Empire under Ogedei Khan. Another landmark is the Erdene Zuu monastery.

The main sources of income to Kharkhorin are tourism and agriculture. Water from the Orkhon river serves to irrigate the crops on the large plain east of the town. The Kharkhorin Airport (KHR/ZMHH) has one unpaved runway and is served by regular flights from and to Ulan Bator.

References

• PADCO: Mongolia Urban Development and Housing Sector Strategy, Final Report, Vol. 2, 2005 [1]