Bayan Olgii Aimag is outlined in red at the centre of the above map.
Located in the mountainous far northwestern corner of Mongolia, bordering both Russia and China, Bayan Olgii is the westernmost aimag (province) in Mongolia and probably the most remote of all 21 aimags in the country. Bayan Olgii is also unique for being the only Muslim and ethnic Kazakh-majority province in Mongolia. Almost 90% of the approximately 90,000 people living in the province are ethnic Kazakhs, a Turkic Muslim ethnic group from Central Asia and the ethnic majority in Kazakhstan, which also happens to be the largest Central Asian “Stan” country. By contrast, Mongolia’s main ethnic Mongol subgroup, the Khalka Mongols, who account for roughly 80% of the country’s population, account for only about 1% of the poputlation of Bayan Olgii. The Kazakh language is also widely spoken as a mother tongue in the province and while Mongolia doesn’t share a border with Kazakhstan, Bayan Olgii is only separated from the latter by a 38 kilometer strip of border between Russia and China’s Xinjiang province. Bayan Olgii’s close geographic and cultural proximity to both Kazakhstan and China’s Turkic Muslim -majority Xinjiang province give it a distinctly Central Asian flavor not found in the rest of Mongolia. The provincial capital, Olgii, which has about 30,000 residents, is a dusty, windswept frontier town surrounded by mountains with several mosques, a madrassa (Islamic school) and a large bazaar. Olgii is also only about a 3 hour drive from the Russia border. Bayan Olgii is most notable to the outside world for its eagle hunters – men who use tame brown eagles to hunt small game like rabbits, foxes and even wolves! An important traditional cultural practise to Kazakh ethnic identity, eagle hunting has largely died out in Kazakhstan, but remains a thriving practise in Bayan Olgii, which still has some 300+ eagle hunters. An eagle hunting festival, popular with foreign tourists, is held in the provincial capital, Olgii, every autumn.
Azure Traveler 