SUHBAATAR

also spelled Schbaatar, or Skhbaatar, town, northern Mongolia, situated about 160 miles (260 km) north-northwest of the capital Ulaanbaatar at the confluence of the Orhon and Selenga rivers. Shbaatar was founded in 1940 at the head of navigation on the Selenga. The town is named after the Mongolian revolutionary leader Damdiny Shbaatar. It was connected to Ulaanbaatar by railway in 1949 and later became a railway terminus for travel to Russia. The town is a trade and industrial centre, with an agricultural college and a thermoelectric station. A flour mill, match factory, distillery, rolling-stock repair depot, and building and woodworking combines are located there. Pop. (1979) 14,400.