Mongolian President U.Khurelsukh issued a decree to rebuild the country’s ancient capital of Kharkhorum.

The move aims to create conditions for citizens to live in a healthy and safe environment, increase access to basic social services, reduce urbanization, ensure balanced regional development and restore the valuable historical and cultural heritage, noted the decree.

Kharkhorum was the capital of the Mongol Empire between 1235 and 1260 and of the Northern Yuan dynasty in the 14–15th centuries. Its ruins lie in the northwestern corner of the Uvurkhangai Province of modern-day Mongolia, near today’s town of Kharkhorin and adjacent to the Erdene Zuu Monastery, the probably earliest surviving Buddhist monastery in Mongolia. They are part of the upper part of the World Heritage Site Orkhon Valley.

Under Uguudei and his successors, Karakorum became a major site for world politics.

Kharkhorum is located in the territory of the central province of Uvurkhangai, more than 300 km west of the country’s current capital of Ulaanbaatar.

Ulaanbaatar, home to over half of the country’s 3.4 million population, has been facing such issues as traffic jam, air pollution and housing.