Districts of Mongolia
A district (sum; Mongolian: сум, arrow, sometimes spelled soum or—from the Russian form—as somon) is a second level administrative subdivision of Mongolia. The 21 Provinces of Mongolia are divided into 331 districts.[1]
| Administrative divisions of Mongolia |
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| First-level |
| Second-level |
| Third-level |
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| This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Mongolia |
On average, each district administers a territory of 4,200 km2 (1,600 sq mi) with about 5,000 inhabitants, primarily nomadic herders. It has total revenues of 120 million Tögrög, 90% of which comes from national subsidies.
Each district is again subdivided into bags (brigades; sometimes spelled baghs[1]). Most bags are of an entirely virtual nature. Their purpose is to sort the families of nomads in the district into groups, without a permanent human settlement.
Officially, and occasionally on maps, many district seats (sum centers) bear a name different from that of the district. However, in practice the district seat (sum center) is most often referred to under the name of the district, to the point of the official name of the district seat (sum center) being unknown even to the locals.
References and external links
- Montsame News Agency. Mongolia. 2006, Foreign Service office of Montsame News Agency, ISBN 99929-0-627-8, p. 46