Tosontsengel, Zavkhan

Founded in 1923, Tosontsengel sum is located in the northeastern part of Zavkhan province. It is bordered by Ider, Ikh-Uul, Otgon, and Telmen sums of Zavkhan province; Tsetserleg sum of Khuvsgul province; and Tsakhir sum of Arkhangai province.

The Ider River divides Tosontsengel into two parts. The southern part of the sum is located at the head of the Tarvagatai mountain range, a branch of the Khangai Mountains, which belongs to the forest steppe and steppe zone. The main part of the Khangai Mountains occupies most of the sum.

The district is divided into seven bags, which are:{{cite web|url=https://www2.1212.mn/tablesdata1212.aspx?tbl_id=dt_nso_0300_004v5&ln=en|title=Resident Population in Mongolia, by Bag/Khoroo|website=Mongolian Statistical Information Service|access-date=28 February 2025}}

• Bayan-Ulaan
• Darkhan-Uul
• Ider
• Khairkhan
• Orgikh
• Rashaant
• Ulaantolgoi

Tosontsengel has a subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification Dwc) with mild summers and bitterly cold winters. The average minimum temperature in January is {{convert|-37.0|°C|°F}}, and temperatures as low as {{convert|-52.9|°C|°F}} have been recorded. Most precipitation falls in the summer as rain, with some snow in the adjacent months of May and September. Winters are very dry. The wind causes the snow to drift, making it difficult for the nomadic herders to keep their animals alive.

The highest barometric pressure ever recorded on Earth was {{convert|1085.7|mb|inHg|comma=off}}, measured in Tosontsengel on 19 December 2001.{{cite web

|url = http://wmo.asu.edu/highest-sea-lvl-air-pressure-above-700m

|title = Highest Sea Lvl Air Pressure Above 750m

|publisher = Wmo.asu.edu

|date = 2001-12-19

|accessdate = 2013-01-13

|url-status = dead

|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20121013225735/http://wmo.asu.edu/highest-sea-lvl-air-pressure-above-700m

|archivedate = 2012-10-13

}}

{{Weather box

|location = Tosontsengel, elevation {{convert|1713|m|ft|abbr=on}}, (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1964–present)

|metric first = Y

|single line = Y

|width = auto

|Jan record high C = -0.8

|Feb record high C = 8.9

|Mar record high C = 13.8

|Apr record high C = 25.6

|May record high C = 30.4

|Jun record high C = 33.0

|Jul record high C = 36.0

|Aug record high C = 32.7

|Sep record high C = 28.7

|Oct record high C = 26.0

|Nov record high C = 10.9

|Dec record high C = 4.7

|Jan high C = -24.7

|Feb high C = -18.2

|Mar high C = -5.6

|Apr high C = 8.3

|May high C = 15.9

|Jun high C = 21.6

|Jul high C = 23.1

|Aug high C = 21.0

|Sep high C = 15.1

|Oct high C = 5.5

|Nov high C = -9.2

|Dec high C = -21.0

|Jan mean C = -31.5

|Feb mean C = -26.9

|Mar mean C = -14.7

|Apr mean C = 0.6

|May mean C = 7.8

|Jun mean C = 13.8

|Jul mean C = 15.8

|Aug mean C = 13.2

|Sep mean C = 6.5

|Oct mean C = -2.8

|Nov mean C = -16.1

|Dec mean C = -27.1

|Jan low C = -36.2

|Feb low C = -33.0

|Mar low C = -22.2

|Apr low C = -6.1

|May low C = -0.1

|Jun low C = 6.1

|Jul low C = 9.0

|Aug low C = 6.4

|Sep low C = -0.9

|Oct low C = -9.3

|Nov low C = -21.5

|Dec low C = -31.8

|Jan record low C = −53.0

|Feb record low C = -48.9

|Mar record low C = −43.5

|Apr record low C = -30.0

|May record low C = -14.3

|Jun record low C = -5.7

|Jul record low C = -1.9

|Aug record low C = -5.2

|Sep record low C = -14.2

|Oct record low C = -32.1

|Nov record low C = −42.1

|Dec record low C = −48.9

|year record low C = -53.0

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 3

|Feb precipitation mm = 3

|Mar precipitation mm = 4

|Apr precipitation mm = 9

|May precipitation mm = 18

|Jun precipitation mm = 38

|Jul precipitation mm = 62

|Aug precipitation mm = 50

|Sep precipitation mm = 24

|Oct precipitation mm = 10

|Nov precipitation mm = 7

|Dec precipitation mm = 6

|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 1.2

|Feb precipitation days = 0.7

|Mar precipitation days = 1.1

|Apr precipitation days = 1.9

|May precipitation days = 3.3

|Jun precipitation days = 7.0

|Jul precipitation days = 10.5

|Aug precipitation days = 9.0

|Sep precipitation days = 4.6

|Oct precipitation days = 3.1

|Nov precipitation days = 2.0

|Dec precipitation days = 1.5

|source 1 = Pogoda.ru.net

{{cite web|url=http://www.pogodaiklimat.ru/climate4.php?id=44225|script-title=ru:КЛИМАТ ТОСОНЦЭНГЭЛА|publisher=Pogoda.ru.net|language=ru|access-date=4 January 2015}}

|source 2 =NOAA (1973-1990){{cite web

|url = ftp://ftp.atdd.noaa.gov/pub/GCOS/WMO-Normals/RA-II/MO/44225.TXT

|title = Tosontsengel Climate Normals 1973-1990

|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

|accessdate = January 13, 2013}}

|date = January 2013

}}

The population of Tosontsengel is about 9,000. The population of the sum center is about 920 families (about 5,000 people) in winter and about 680 in summer. There are two schools (elementary through high school), a trade school, and a hospital in the sum center. Outside of the main sum are two large fields owned by a foreigner, Tom Phillips, which provide most of the vegetables for the town.

In the socialist period Tosontsengel was one of the largest timber processing centres in Mongolia. A new{{When|date=January 2013}} small hydropower station was built on the Ider close to the sum centre.

Most residents are nomadic herders moving between their summer locations, often by a river, to their Uveljus (winter homes) to protect their animals from the harsh Mongolia winter. The people who live in the sum center operate stores, drive trucks, or leave to mine in the summer months. As the nomadic lifestyle becomes more difficult, more young people are leaving the sum for the capital city to attend university and find jobs.

Tosontsengel sum has relatively good road connections to Uliastai city ({{convert|181|km|mi}}), Mörön city ({{convert|213|km|mi}}), Tsetserleg city ({{convert|361|km|mi}}), and Ulaangom city ({{convert|573|km|mi}}); and to the Russian border crossing ({{convert|307|km|mi}}) and the Russian cities Kyzyl (Tyva respublic) and Krasnoyarsk (Krasnoyarsk Krai).

There is a small airport called Tosontsengel Airport in the sum centre. It is located on the right bank of the Ider. The airport has not been used often since 2007, with the main users being a medical airplane flown by Blue Sky and the annual crop duster plane that has been combatting the moths that are destroying the forests.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081101223554/http://gate1.pmis.gov.mn/zavkhan/index.php?main5 Zavkhan aimag official site. Aimag sums description (in Mongolian)].
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110724063020/http://shpp.net/publ/INTEGRATION_SHP_Experiences.pdf INTEGRATION: environment & energy.Experiences in Small Hydropower Projects. p.8]
• {{cite web|url=http://www2.mcaa.gov.mn/pdf/mc/app51.pdf |title=Descriptions of 22 Domestic Airports |publisher=Civil Aviation Authority of Mongolia |accessdate=2007-01-19 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928123059/http://www2.mcaa.gov.mn/pdf/mc/app51.pdf |archivedate=September 28, 2007 }}

{{Districts of Zavkhan}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Districts of Zavkhan Province