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Ulaanbaatar, capital of Mongolia: facts and figures
Ulaanbaatar is the capital of Mongolia. It has about 1,600,000 residents, which makes it the 87th most populous capital of the 172 in DailyGeo's atlas, and it sits 1,290 m above sea level. Its nearest neighbouring capital is Beijing, 1,168 km away.
Key figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Country | Mongolia |
| Continent | Asia |
| City population | 1,600,000 residents |
| World rank by population | 87th of 172 |
| Elevation | 1,290 m |
| Founded | 1639 |
| Time zone | Asia/Ulaanbaatar |
| Coordinates | 47.89° N, 106.91° E |
| Country population | 3,568,978 residents |
| Country GDP | 25.4 billion US dollars |
| GDP per capita | $7,108 |
| Life expectancy | 72.4 years |
| Internet users | 85.1 % |
| Big Mac price | not reported |
Climate through the year
Ulaanbaatar averages -16.4 °C in winter and 17.2 °C in summer. January is the coldest month of the year and July the warmest, and the city receives 355 mm of precipitation in an average year.
| Month | Mean temperature |
|---|---|
| January | -18.3 °C |
| February | -14.2 °C |
| March | -4.0 °C |
| April | 3.4 °C |
| May | 9.9 °C |
| June | 16.4 °C |
| July | 19.0 °C |
| August | 16.2 °C |
| September | 10.1 °C |
| October | 1.0 °C |
| November | -9.4 °C |
| December | -16.7 °C |
What makes it stand out
- Winter: coldest capital in the world (-16.4 °C).
- Latitude: 2nd northernmost capital in Asia (47.89°).
- Isolation: 2nd most isolated capital in Asia (1,168 km).
Nearest capitals
Distances are great-circle distances between city centres, which is what the Capitals game measures when it tells you how far a guess was from the answer. Beijing is the closest capital to Ulaanbaatar.
| Capital | Country | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Beijing | China | 1,168 km |
| Pyongyang | North Korea | 1,804 km |
| Seoul | South Korea | 1,991 km |
| Astana | Kazakhstan | 2,561 km |
| Bishkek | Kyrgyzstan | 2,565 km |
How to remember it
Reading a figure once rarely fixes it in memory. Attach Ulaanbaatar to a place and a number you already know: it is 1,168 km from Beijing, and it is the 87th largest capital in the atlas. Then practise retrieving it. DailyGeo Capitals gives you one mystery capital a day with distance, direction, language and population clues, the memorising method explains the review schedule, and the capitals index lists all 172.
To see how Mongolia compares with every other country on figures like these, the richest countries by GDP per capita ranks them on geopolitix, a country-ranking game by the same maker as DailyGeo.
Sources
- City population and coordinates: DailyGeo's own game data, the same figures the Capitals game plays with. Population follows the urban area rather than the commune, which is why no density is quoted.
- Temperature and rainfall: ten-year means (2015 to 2024) computed from ERA5 reanalysis, retrieved through Open-Meteo. Hersbach, H., et al. (2020). The ERA5 global reanalysis. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
- Elevation: terrain height at the city's coordinates in the Copernicus DEM, read through Open-Meteo rather than taken from a curated claim.
- Time zone: resolved from the same coordinates.
- Country figures: the World Bank, latest reported year for each series: Country GDP, GDP per capita, Country population, Life expectancy, Internet users.
- Founding date: Wikidata, earliest recorded founding claim.
- This capital elsewhere: Wikipedia, UNdata, Wikidata.
- Method and limits: How this data was collected explains how each figure was collected and what it does not cover.
The short answer
Ulaanbaatar is the capital of Mongolia, in Asia, with about 1,600,000 residents, averaging -16.4 °C in winter and 17.2 °C in summer.
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Play today's DailyGeo puzzleFrequently asked questions
What is the capital of Mongolia?
Ulaanbaatar is the capital of Mongolia. It has about 1,600,000 residents and lies in Asia.
How many people live in Ulaanbaatar?
About 1,600,000, which ranks Ulaanbaatar 87th of the 172 capitals in DailyGeo's atlas by city population.
What is the weather like in Ulaanbaatar?
Ulaanbaatar averages -16.4 °C in winter and 17.2 °C in summer, with 355 mm of precipitation a year. These are ten-year means from ERA5 reanalysis.
How expensive is Ulaanbaatar?
GDP per capita in the country is $7,108, the latest year the World Bank reports.
Keep learning
- Beijing, capital of China: facts and figures
Beijing is the capital of China: 21,500,000 residents, 52 m above sea level, -1.7 °C in winter and 26.2 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Pyongyang, capital of North Korea: facts and figures
Pyongyang is the capital of North Korea: 3,000,000 residents, 74 m above sea level, -3.3 °C in winter and 23.6 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Seoul, capital of South Korea: facts and figures
Seoul is the capital of South Korea: 9,700,000 residents, 37 m above sea level, -1.6 °C in winter and 24.2 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Capitals of the world: the full list by continent
Every capital in DailyGeo's atlas, grouped by continent, with population, elevation and winter and summer temperatures, each linking to its own data page.