History of Ulaanbaatar 

Ulaanbaatar, also spelled Ulan Bator, formerly Urga or Niislel Khurehe, capital and largest city of Mongolia. It is situated on the Tuul River on a windswept plateau at an elevation of 4,430 feet (1,350 m). The city originated as a seasonal migratory abode of the Mongolian princes and in 1639 finally attained permanence on the present site with the construction of Da Khure Monastery. This building became the residence of the bodgo-gegen, high priest of the Tibetan Buddhist religion (to which the Mongols adhere), and remained as such for about 200 years. Da Khuree became known to the Russians as Urgu and developed as a trade center between China and Russia. In 1911, when Outer Mongolia declared itself independent, the city was renamed Niislel Khuree (“Capital of Mongolia”). In 1921 it was occupied by troops of Mongolia’s revolutionary leader, Damdin Sukhbaatar, and the Soviet Red Army. When Mongolia was declared a people’s republic in 1924, the city was renamed Ulaanbaatar, which means “Ulaanbaatar.”