Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape

Grasslands along the Orkhon River have fed nomadic herders for well over a millennium, and their animals still graze among archaeological remains reaching back to the 6th century. The valley's 121,967 hectares also hold Kharkhorum, capital of the Mongol Empire in the 13th and 14th centuries — proof of how deeply nomadic society and imperial power intertwined in central Asia. UNESCO listed the Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape in 2004.