| En Name: | Ulan-Ude |
| Ru Name: | Улан-Удэ |
| Loc Name1: | Улаан-Үдэ |
| Loc Lang1: | Buryat |
| Coordinates: | 51.8333°N 143°W |
| Flag Caption: | Flag |
| Image Coa: | Ulan-Ude COA (2005).gif |
| Coa Caption: | Coat of arms |
| Holiday: | September's first Saturday |
| Federal Subject: | Republic of Buryatia |
| Adm Inhabloc Jur: | city of republic significance of Ulan-Ude |
| Capital Of: | Republic of Buryatia |
| Adm Ctr Of1: | city of republic significance of Ulan-Ude |
| Inhabloc Cat: | City |
| Urban Okrug Jur: | Ulan-Ude Urban Okrug |
| Mun Admctr Of1: | Ulan-Ude Urban Okrug |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Title Ref: | [1] |
| Leader Name: | Igor Shutenkov |
| Representative Body: | City Council of Deputies |
| Area Km2: | 347.6 |
| Pop 2010Census: | 404426 |
| Pop 2010Census Rank: | 45th |
| Established Date: | 1666 |
| Current Cat Date: | 1775 |
| Postal Codes: | 6700xx |
| Dialing Codes: | 3012 |
| Website: | ulan-ude-eg.ru |
| Date: | July 2020 |
Ulan-Ude (;[2] Russian: Улан-Удэ, pronounced as /ru/; Buriat: Улаан-Үдэ|Ulaan-Üde, pronounced as /ʊˌlaːɴ‿ˈʉdə/) is the capital city of Buryatia, Russia, located about 100km (100miles) southeast of Lake Baikal on the Uda River at its confluence with the Selenga. According to the 2021 Census, 437,565 people lived in Ulan-Ude; up from 404,426 recorded in the 2010 Census, making the city the third-largest in the Russian Far East by population.
Ulan-Ude was first called Udinskoye (Russian: Удинское, pronounced as /ru/) for its location on the Uda River. It was founded as a small fort in 1666.[3] From around 1735, the settlement was called Udinsk (Russian: Удинск, pronounced as /ru/) and was granted town status under that name in 1775. It was renamed Verkhneudinsk (Russian: Верхнеудинск, pronounced as /ru/; "Upper Udinsk") in 1783, to differentiate it from Nizhneudinsk ("Lower Udinsk") lying on a different Uda River near Irkutsk which was granted town status that year.
The descriptors "upper" and "lower" refer to the positions of the two cities relative to each other, rather than the location of the cities on their respective Uda rivers. Verkhneudinsk lies at the mouth of its river, while Nizhneudinsk is along the middle stretch. The current name was given to the city on 27 July 1934 and means "red Uda" in Buryat, reflecting the ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Ulan-Ude lies 5640km (3,510miles) east of Moscow and 100km (100miles) southeast of Lake Baikal. It is 600m (2,000feet) above sea level at the foot of the Khamar-Daban and Ulan-Burgas mountain ranges, next to the confluence of the Selenga River and its tributary, the Uda, which divides the city.[4]
Ulan-Ude is traversed by two rivers, the Selenga and Uda. The Selenga provides the greatest inflow to Baikal Lake, supplying 50% of all rivers in its basin. The Selenga brings about 30abbr=off0abbr=off of water into the lake per year, exerting a major influence on the lakewater's renewal and its sanitary condition. Selenga is the habitat of the most valuable fish species such as Omul, Siberian sturgeon, Siberian taimen, Thymallus and Coregonus.
Uda is the right inflow of the Selenga river. The length of the watercourse is 467abbr=off0abbr=off.
The largest known Russian military equipment storage base is located in Vagzhanovo, northwest of Ulan-Ude. Prior to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, approximately 3840 units of armored vehicles were stored there under open skies. Since the advent of the war, more than 40% of the units have been removed.[5]
A Central Tank Reserve Base, Military Unit 44286, is reported at Divizionnaya, within the Vagzhanovo microdistrict of Ulan Ude.[6]
The first occupants of the area where Ulan-Ude now stands were the Evenks and, later, the Buryat Mongols. Ulan-Ude was settled in 1666 by the Russian Cossacks as the fortress of Udinskoye. Due to its favorable geographical position, it grew rapidly and became a large trade center which connected Russia with China and Mongolia and, from 1690, was the administrative center of the Transbaikal region.
By 1775, it was known as Udinsk, and in 1783 it was granted city status and renamed Verkhneudinsk. After a large fire in 1878, the city was almost completely rebuilt. The Trans-Siberian Railway reached the city in 1900 causing an explosion in growth. The population, which was 3,500 in 1880, reached 126,000 in 1939.[7]
From 6 April to October 1920, Verkhneudinsk was the capital of the Far Eastern Republic (Дальневосточная Республика), also known as the Chita Republic.[8] It was a nominally independent state that existed from April 1920 to November 1922 in the easternmost part of the Russian Far East. On 27 July 1934, the city was renamed Ulan-Ude.
Ulan-Ude is the capital of the republic.[9] Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as the city of republic significance of Ulan-Ude — an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.[10] As a municipal division, the city of Ulan-Ude is incorporated as Ulan-Ude Urban Okrug.[11]
According to the 2021 Census, 437,565 people lived in Ulan-Ude;[12] up from 404,426 recorded in the 2010 Census. In terms of population, it is the third-largest city in eastern Siberia. It ranks 45th among all cities in Russia. Roughly 600,000 people live in the urban agglomeration.
The ethnic makeup of Ulan-Ude in 2021 was:[13]
61.4%
35.1%
The city is the center of Tibetan Buddhism in Russia and the important Ivolginsky datsan is located 23km (14miles) from the city.
Ulan-Ude is located on the main line (Trans-Siberian line) of the Trans-Siberian Railway between Irkutsk and Chita at the junction of the Trans-Mongolian line (the Trans-Mongolian Railway) which begins at Ulan Ude and continues south through Mongolia to Beijing in China. The city also lies on the M55 section of the Baikal Highway (part of the Trans-Siberian Highway), the main federal road to Vladivostok. Air traffic is served by the Ulan-Ude Airport (Baikal), as well as the smaller Ulan-Ude Vostochny Airport. Intracity transport includes tram, bus, and marshrutka (share taxi) lines.
Until 1991, Ulan-Ude was closed to foreigners. There are old merchants' mansions richly decorated with wood and stone carving in the historical center of Ulan-Ude, along the river banks which are exceptional examples of Russian classicism. The city has a large ethnographic museum which recalls the history of the peoples of the region. There is a large and highly unusual statue of the head of Vladimir Lenin in the central square: the largest in the world. Built in 1970 for the centennial of Lenin's birth and weighing 42 tons, it continued to tower over the main plaza at 7.7m (25.3feet).[14]
The Ethnographic Museum of the peoples of Transbaikal is one of Russia's largest open-air museums. The museum contains historical finds from the era of the Slab Grave Culture and the Xiongnu until the mid 20th century, including a unique collection of samples of wooden architecture of Siberia.
Odigitrievsky Cathedral – Eastern Orthodox Church Diocese of the Buryat, was the first stone building in the city and is a Siberian baroque architectural monument. The cathedral is considered unique because it is built in a zone of high seismic activity in the heart of the city on the banks of the River Uda River where it flows into the Selenga.
One of the attractions of Ulan-Ude is a monument in the town square — the square of the Soviets — in the form of the head of Lenin (sculptors G.V. Neroda, J.G. Neroda, architects Dushkin, P.G. Zilberman). The monument, weighing 42 tons and with a height of 7.7m (25.3feet), was opened in 1971 in honor of the centenary of Lenin's birth.
Ulan-Ude can be described as possessing a humid steppe climate (Köppen climate classification BSk), bordering on a humid continental climate (Dwb) and a subarctic climate (Dwc). The climate is characterised by long, dry, cold winters and short but very warm summers. Precipitation is low and heavily concentrated in the warmer months.
The record high is on 8 July 2016. The record low is on 6 January 1931. Temperatures have never risen above freezing from 31 December to 1 February, inclusive.
The Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant is based in Ulan-Ude.
Ulan-Ude serves as the endpoint for the Mongol Rally.
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Russia. Ulan-Ude is twinned with:[15]
Anyang, South Korea
Berkeley, USA[16]
Changchun, China
Chita, Russia
Darkhan, Mongolia
Donetsk, Ukraine Elista, Russia Erdenet, Mongolia Erenhot, China Grozny, Russia
Haeju, North Korea Hohhot, China Hulunbuir, China Lanzhou, China Manzhouli, China
Rumoi, Japan
Taipei, Taiwan Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Ulanqab, China Yalta, Ukraine Yamagata, Japan Yeongwol County, South Korea