CHOYBALSAN

also spelled Choibalsan, or Cojbalsan, also called Bayan Tumen, town, eastern Mongolian People's Republic, on the Kerulen River. First a monastic centre and later a trading town on the Siberia-China route, it was named to honour Khorloghiyin Chojbalsan, a communist hero of the 1921 Mongolian revolution. With the construction of a branch of the Trans-Siberian Railway in 1939, Choybalsan became the leading Mongolian transportation centre in the east. In addition, a major truck road crossing the country from east to west connects the town with Ulaanbaatar, the national capital, and Hovd. An electric power plant is located there, and coal is mined in the surrounding area. Factories include a wool-washing plant, a meat combine, and brickyards. The town has an agricultural college. Pop. (1979) 28,600.