Ulan Bator City Map Poster

About Ulan Bator

Ulaanbaatar has been given numerous names in its history. Before 1911, the official name was Ikh Khüree (; "great monastic center"), or simply Khüree (; "monastery"). In Chinese sources, the city at that time was known as ("Great Eastern Monastery") or ("Eastern Great Monasteries"). The Qing dynasty referred to the city as , which literally means "Northern Capital" but is also a term for a capital city. In Mongolian, Ulaanbaatar continued to be referred to as such after independence and even into the 21st century but it is officially named by authorities today using its Mongolian name without any modifier. The Russian transliteration of Улаанбаатар () from Tibetan language would be written Ulankhutar in English transcription while his own pronunciation would have been something like . As an adjective, however, улс () may mean 'big' rather than 'capital'.