Darkhan-Uul

Darkhan exists because Soviet planners decided in 1961 that Mongolia needed a second industrial city. Ulaanbaatar was growing too fast; the Trans-Mongolian Railway had reached the Russian border in 1956; an industrial hub in the north could anchor development beyond the capital. They chose a spot where the railway could branch west to planned copper mines at Erdenet, and named it "Blacksmith"—Darkhan in Mongolian.

The city rose from empty steppe through COMECON cooperation. Polish specialists built woodworking plants and brickworks. Hungarians constructed a meat-processing factory that opened in 1974. Czechoslovaks and East Germans contributed technical expertise. Japan, outside the socialist bloc but seeking influence, funded the steel mill that became Darkhan's primary industry. By the 1980s, the city processed Mongolia's raw materials—leather, wool, meat, timber—and manufactured cement, chemicals, and steel for domestic consumption.

The Soviet collapse nearly killed what Soviet planning had created. Industrial output crashed in the early 1990s. The Russian engineers and technicians who had operated the factories went home. In 1994, Darkhan was carved out of Selenge Province and elevated to provincial status—a recognition that this planned city had developed distinct governance needs. The population stabilized around 100,000, making it Mongolia's second-largest urban center despite losing much of its industrial base.

Today, Darkhan retains the Soviet aesthetic: block apartments, wide squares designed for parades that never happen, Cyrillic signage. The steel mill still operates under agreements dating to Soviet-era joint ventures. The railway junction remains critical—freight and passengers moving between Beijing and Moscow pass through. By 2026, Darkhan's challenge is whether post-industrial diversification can replace what central planning once provided.