Tov
The donut around Ulaanbaatar—surrounds the capital without containing it. Bogd Khan Mountain protected since 1778, Przewalski's horse reintroduction at Khustain Nuruu. Gateway and buffer for 1.7 million urban residents.
Tov means "center" in Mongolian, and the province earns that name by surrounding the national capital Ulaanbaatar without containing it—the city administers itself as an independent municipality. This geographic arrangement creates a province shaped like a donut: rural territory encircling a metropolis of 1.7 million people. Most residents of Ulaanbaatar have never ventured into the Tov Province that surrounds their city, yet everything flowing into the capital—livestock, dairy, vegetables—comes through it.
The province contains three nationally significant protected areas. Bogd Khan Mountain, directly south of Ulaanbaatar, has been protected since 1778—making it one of the oldest formally protected landscapes on Earth. The Qing-era decree forbidding development remains visible today: the capital's urban sprawl stops abruptly at the mountain's edge. Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, northeast of the city, draws day-tripping tourists to its granite formations and alpine landscapes. More remarkable is Khustain Nuruu National Park, where since 1993 Mongolia has reintroduced Przewalski's horses—the last truly wild horses on Earth—to steppe they once roamed before going extinct in the wild.
The provincial capital Zuunmod sits 46 kilometers south of Ulaanbaatar, on the far side of Bogd Khan Mountain. Its proximity to the capital has not translated into growth; most services and opportunities concentrate in Ulaanbaatar itself.
By 2026, Tov's future remains defined by that geographic relationship: feeder province for the capital, weekend escape for urban residents, buffer zone where protected mountains meet expanding suburbs.