# Bayannur

Bayannur or Bayannao'er (Chinese: 巴彦淖尔市; pinyin: bāyànnàoěr; Mongolian: Bayannaɣur qota, Mongolian Cyrillic Баяннуур хот) is a prefecture-level city in western Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China. Until 1 December 2003, the area was called Bayannur League.
Bayannur has an administrative area of 65,788 km$^2$ (25,401 sq mi). The name of the city in Mongolian means "Rich Lake". As of the 2010 census, the population of Bayannur was 1,669,915; while the city proper, Linhe District, had 520,300 inhabitants.
The city is served by the Bayannur Tianjitai Airport.

## History

The Zhao dynasty (403 BCE–222 BCE) controlled an area including modern-day Bayannur, while the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE–24 CE) established a hierarchical Chinese administrative structure. The Qing dynasty (1644–1912) designated this area as part of "Inner Mongolia", but after its overthrow by the Republic of China (1912–1949), Bayannur was assigned to Suiyuan Province. Because of Mongol-Chinese cooperation with the Communist faction in the Chinese Civil War (stalled since 1950), Suiyuan was annexed to the new Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from 1954, although not without controversy because of the province's large and longstanding ethnic Han majority.

## Geography and climate

Bayannur is located in the western part of inner Mongolia Autonomous region. Neighbouring prefectures are:
* Baotou (E)
* Alxa (W)
* Ordos (S)
It also borders Mongolia to the north. The whole area of the prefecture is 65,788 km$^2$ (25,401 sq mi) at present and the total population is nearly 1.7 million. Bayannur features a desert climate (Köppen BWk), marked by long, cold and very dry winters, very warm, somewhat humid summers, and strong winds, especially in spring. Most of the rain falls between July and September, with very little snow in winter.
Climate data for Bayannur (Linhe District), elevation 1,041 m (3,415 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1956–2010) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 12.3 (54.1) | 16.9 (62.4) | 24.2 (75.6) | 33.3 (91.9) | 36.6 (97.9) | 39.1 (102.4) | 39.4 (102.9) | 37.9 (100.2) | 36.0 (96.8) | 29.9 (85.8) | 20.2 (68.4) | 12.4 (54.3) | 39.4 (102.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −3.1 (26.4) | 2.5 (36.5) | 10.0 (50.0) | 18.5 (65.3) | 24.8 (76.6) | 29.4 (84.9) | 31.1 (88.0) | 28.9 (84.0) | 23.8 (74.8) | 16.1 (61.0) | 6.2 (43.2) | −1.4 (29.5) | 15.6 (60.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −9.4 (15.1) | −4.7 (23.5) | 2.9 (37.2) | 11.3 (52.3) | 17.8 (64.0) | 22.9 (73.2) | 24.8 (76.6) | 22.5 (72.5) | 16.7 (62.1) | 8.8 (47.8) | 0.2 (32.4) | −7.1 (19.2) | 8.9 (48.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −14.5 (5.9) | −10.4 (13.3) | −3.1 (26.4) | 4.3 (39.7) | 10.7 (51.3) | 16.2 (61.2) | 18.7 (65.7) | 16.7 (62.1) | 10.7 (51.3) | 3.1 (37.6) | −4.3 (24.3) | −11.6 (11.1) | 3.0 (37.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −35.3 (−31.5) | −32.4 (−26.3) | −19.1 (−2.4) | −10.3 (13.5) | −3.1 (26.4) | 5.5 (41.9) | 9.0 (48.2) | 5.1 (41.2) | −2.0 (28.4) | −9.6 (14.7) | −20.0 (−4.0) | −27.0 (−16.6) | −35.3 (−31.5) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 0.8 (0.03) | 1.3 (0.05) | 3.5 (0.14) | 4.7 (0.19) | 14.4 (0.57) | 21.7 (0.85) | 28.4 (1.12) | 37.6 (1.48) | 23.3 (0.92) | 6.6 (0.26) | 2.5 (0.10) | 0.9 (0.04) | 145.7 (5.75) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 1.0 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 3.7 | 5.1 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 5.0 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 36.6 |
| Average snowy days | 2.0 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 8.4 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 53 | 44 | 37 | 31 | 34 | 41 | 52 | 56 | 54 | 50 | 53 | 52 | 46 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 213.8 | 218.0 | 259.0 | 279.9 | 313.5 | 306.6 | 304.5 | 291.6 | 260.3 | 261.5 | 217.1 | 201.7 | 3,127.5 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 71 | 72 | 69 | 70 | 70 | 68 | 67 | 69 | 71 | 77 | 74 | 70 | 71 |
| Source 1: China Meteorological Administration ||||||||||||||
| Source 2: Weather China ||||||||||||||

## Demographics

In 2000, there were 1,682,662 inhabitants:
| Ethnic group | no. of inhabitants | share |
| Han | 1,579,969 | 93.9% |
| Mongols | 76,368 | 4.54% |
| Hui | 19,835 | 1.18% |
| Manchu | 4,231 | 0.25% |
| Tujia | 560 | 0.03% |
| Tibetans | 393 | 0.02% |
| Miao | 224 | 0.01% |
| Koreans | 211 | 0.01% |
| Yi | 178 | 0.01% |
| Daur | 166 | 0.01% |
| Other | 527 | 0.03% |
At the end of 2004, the population was at around 1.79 million inhabitants.

## Administrative subdivisions

Bayannur is divided into one district, two counties and four banners:
Map :
| Linhe Wuyuan County Dengkou County Urad Front Banner Urad Middle Banner Urad Rear Banner Hanggin Rear Banner ||||||||
| Name | Mongolian | Hanzi | Hanyu Pinyin | Population (2010) | Area (km$^2$) | Density (/km$^2$) |
| Linhe District | ᠯᠢᠨᠾᠧ ᠲᠣᠭᠣᠷᠢᠭ (Linhė toɣoriɣ) | 临河区 | Línhé Qū | 541,721 | 2,354 | 230 |
| Wuyuan County | ᠦᠶᠤᠸᠠᠨ ᠰᠢᠶᠠᠨ (Üyuvan siyan) | 五原县 | Wǔyuán Xiàn | 260,480 | 2,493 | 104 |
| Dengkou County | ᠳ᠋ᠧᠩᠺᠧᠦ ᠰᠢᠶᠠᠨ (Dėŋḵėü siyan) | 磴口县 | Dèngkǒu Xiàn | 117,091 | 4,167 | 28 |
| Urad Front Banner (Urad Omnod Banner) | ᠤᠷᠠᠳ ᠤᠨ ᠡᠮᠦᠨᠡᠳᠦ ᠬᠣᠰᠢᠭᠤ (Urad-un Emünedü qosiɣu) | 乌拉特前旗 | Wūlātè Qián Qí | 293,269 | 7,476 | 39 |
| Urad Middle Banner (Urad Dundad Banner) | ᠤᠷᠠᠳ ᠤᠨ ᠳᠤᠮᠳᠠᠳᠤ ᠬᠣᠰᠢᠭᠤ (Urad-un Dumdadu qosiɣu) | 乌拉特中旗 | Wūlātè Zhōng Qí | 134,204 | 22,606 | 6 |
| Urad Rear Banner (Urad Hoit Banner) | ᠤᠷᠠᠳ ᠤᠨ ᠬᠣᠶᠢᠲᠤ ᠬᠣᠰᠢᠭᠤ (Urad-un Qoyitu qosiɣu) | 乌拉特后旗 | Wūlātè Hòu Qí | 65,207 | 24,925 | 2 |
| Hanggin Rear Banner (Hanggin Hoit Banner) | ᠬᠠᠩᠭᠢᠨ ᠬᠣᠶᠢᠲᠤ ᠬᠣᠰᠢᠭᠤ (Qaŋɣin Qoyitu qosiɣu) | 杭锦后旗 | Hángjǐn Hòu Qí | 257,943 | 1,767 | 145 |

## Cuisine

Located in Hetao Plain, Bayannaoer is the largest agricultural hub in Inner Mongolia. Bayannaoer is famous for "Bameng braised dishes" (巴盟烩菜), meaning "braised dishes".