List of cities in Mongolia facts for kids

This page lists the main cities in Mongolia. It includes places with more than 7,500 people. The numbers come from a census taken on January 5, 2000. We also used population estimates from the end of 2008. If 2008 data wasn't available, we used the closest reliable information.

Looking at the population numbers over time helps us understand how much Mongolia's cities have grown. It also shows how more people are moving to live in urban areas.

Understanding Mongolian City Populations

In Mongolia, the largest administrative areas are called aimags. Think of them like states or provinces. However, Ulaanbaatar, the capital city, is special. It manages its own federal district. This means cities like Nalaikh and Baganuur are part of Ulaanbaatar's special area. The population numbers you see in the table below are just for the cities themselves, not for the areas around them.

List of Mongolian cities

Rank	Name	1979 est.	1989 est.	2000 census	2010 Census	Change since 2000 Census	Province/Municipality
1	Ulaanbaatar	396,300	540,600	760,077	1,144,954	299,715	Ulaanbaatar
2	Erdenet	29,100	-	70,950	83,379	12,429	Orkhon Province
3	Darkhan	49,100	-	65,791	74,738	8,947	Darkhan-Uul Province
4	Choibalsan	28,500	37,300	40,123	38,537	1,586	Dornod Province
5	Mörön	16,500	21,300	28,903	35,789	6,886	Khövsgöl Province
6	Nalaikh	-	-	23,600	30,049	6,449	Ulaanbaatar
7	Bayankhongor	16,300	21,200	22,066	29,817	7,751	Bayankhongor Province
8	Ölgii	18,700	27,200	25,791	29,392	3,601	Bayan-Ölgii Province
9	Khovd	17,500	24,100	25,765	29,012	3,247	Khovd Province
10	Arvaikheer	12,300	16,900	19,058	27,162	8,104	Övörkhangai Province
11	Ulaangom	17,900	22,900	25,993	27,152	1,159	Uvs Province
12	Baganuur	-	-	21,100	22,210	1,110	Ulaanbaatar
14	Sainshand	11,100	10,300	18,290	20,515	2,225	Dornogovi Province
13	Tsetserleg	14,700	20,300	18,519	20,604	2,085	Arkhangai Province
15	Sükhbaatar	14,300	19,600	22,374	19,662	2,712	Selenge Province
16	Öndörkhaan	11,100	14,400	18,003	19,000	997	Khentii Province
17	Dalanzadgad	10,000	14,300	14,050	18,740	4,690	Ömnögovi Province
18	Züünkharaa	11,400	-	15,000(2004)	18,002		Selenge Province
19	Uliastai	15,400	20,300	18,154	17,468	686	Zavkhan Province
20	Altai	13,700	18,800	15,741	16,542	801	Govi-Altai Province
21	Baruun-Urt	11,600	16,100	15,133	16,130	997	Sükhbaatar Province
22	Mandalgovi	10,200	16,100	14,517	13,660	857	Dundgovi Province
23	Zuunmod	9,800	15,800	14,837	13,330	1,507	Töv Province
24	Zamyn-Üüd	-	-	5,486	13,285	7,799	Dornogovi Province
25	Bulgan	11,300	12,800	12,681	11,320	1,361	Bulgan Province
26	Kharkhorin	-	-	13,648	10,847	2,801	Övörkhangai Province
27	Choir	4,500	-	8,983	9,708	725	Govisümber Province
28	Bor-Öndör	-	-	6,406(2001)	8,080		Khentii Province
29	Sharyngol	-	-	8,902	7,795	1,107	Darkhan-Uul Province

What the Colors Mean

The colors in the table help you quickly see how much a city's population has changed:

• Salmon cells: These mean the city's population has gone down. Or, it has grown very little (less than 1%).
• Light green cells: This shows that the population has grown by 1% to 2%.
• Dark green cells: This means the population has grown a lot, by 2% or more!

See also

• History of Mongolia
• List of historical cities and towns of Mongolia
• List of city listings by country