Tuul River is a river in central and northern Mongolia

Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...

 considered sacred by the Mongols

Mongols

Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...

. It is 704 km long and drains an area 49,840 square km. The river is called the "Duluo river" in the Suishu, a Chinese historical work completed in 636 AD. The Secret History of the Mongols (1240 AD) frequently mentions a "Black Forest of the Tuul River" where the palace of Wang Khan

Wang Khan

Wang Khan, also Ong Khan, was the title given to the Kerait ruler Toghrul by the Jurchen Jin Dynasty of China. Like the rest of their tribe he may have been Nestorian Christian...

 was located (Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....

 visited it frequently and later made it his own). The Tuul is generally called the Khatan Tuul or Queen Tuul, similar to the Onon River

Onon River

The Onon is a river in Mongolia and Russia of length 818 km and watershed 94,010 km². It originates at the eastern slope of the Khentii Mountains. For 298 km it flows within Mongolia...

, which is called Onon Khatan Ijii or Queen Mother Onon.

Originating in the Khan-Khentein-Nuruu Nature Reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

  in the Khentii Mountains

Khentii Mountains

The Khentii Mountains are a mountain range in the Töv and Khentii Provinces in northern Mongolia. The chain overlaps the Khan Khentii Strictly Protected Area and includes Mongolia's sacred mountain, Burkhan Khaldun, which is associated with the origin of Genghis Khan.The range forms the watershed...

, this body of water runs through the southern part of the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar

Ulaanbaatar

Ulan Bator or Ulaanbaatar is the capital and largest city of Mongolia. An independent municipality, the city is not part of any province, and its population as of 2008 is over one million....

. It is a tributary of the Orkhon River, which flows into the Selenge River

Selenga

The Selenge is a major river in Mongolia and Buryatia, Russia. Its source rivers are the Ider River and the Delgermörön river. It flows into Lake Baikal and has a length of 616 miles...

, which flows into Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 and Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is the world's oldest at 30 million years old and deepest lake with an average depth of 744.4 metres.Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, it is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the...

. The Tuul River also flows along the Khustain Nuruu National Park

Khustain Nuruu National Park

Khustain Nuruu National Park , located in Tov Province , is a national park of Mongolia. It is also known as Hustai National Park. The Tuul River runs through the park....

. It is typically frozen over from the middle of November through the middle of April. Willow forests grow along the Tuul River, and the river itself is home to endangered species of sturgeon

Sturgeon

Sturgeon is the common name used for some 26 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae, including the genera Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus. The term includes over 20 species commonly referred to as sturgeon and several closely related species that have distinct common...

.

Currently the river is suffering from pollution

Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...

, some caused by Ulaanbaatar's central sewage treatment facility, as well as heavy mineral and sedimentation

Sedimentation

Sedimentation is the tendency for particles in suspension to settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained, and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the forces acting on them: these forces can be due to gravity, centrifugal acceleration...

 pollution caused by gold mining

Gold mining

Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...

 in the Zaamar

Zaamar

Zaamar is a sum of Töv Province in Mongolia....

area. In addition, the steady influx of people settling near the river may be causing a degradation of water quality.

External links

• UNESCO paper on water usage in Mongolia, including information on the Tuul River
• Scientific analysis of Tuul River flows (PDF format)
• Report on effects of gold mining on the Tuul River
• Investors' report on gold deposits in the Tuul River basin
• Photo album of the Tuul River
• Report on environmental problems in Hustai National Park and the Tuul River valley