Kobdo

(Jirgalanta), a city in the Mongolian People’s Republic, on the Buyantu River near Lake Hará Usa. The administrative center of Kobdo Aimak. Population, 10,600 (1963).

Kobdo is a transport point on the east-west trans-Mongolian highway, and the economic and cultural center of the western part of the country. It has fuel and power enterprises; construction materials and food products are made and wool is processed there.

The city arose on the site of a fortress founded in 1731 (the ruins have been preserved). The fortress consisted of Sangiin-Khoto (Stone City) and a trading settlement. Most of Kobdo consists of two-story houses; there are also a hospital and a movie theater.

a river in western Mongolian People’s Republic, the longest river in the Mongolian Altai. Length, 516 km; basin area, 50,000 sq km. The sources of the river are on the southern slopes of the Tabyn-Bodgo-Ola massif. Its upper course flows through the Kobdo Lakes, then crosses the spurs of the northern slopes of the Mongolian Altai. The lower course is within the Basin of Great Lakes, where the Kobdo separates into three branches and forms a swampy delta. The river empties into Lake Hará Usa. The Kobdo is fed by snow and rain, and its high water period is May-June. The water flow in the lower course of the river is about 100 cu m per sec. The river is used for timber rafting.