Ulaanbaatar is divided into nine districts (Düüregs): Baganuur, Bagakhangai, Bayangol, Bayanzürkh, Chingeltei, Khan Uul, Nalaikh, Songino Khairkhan, and Sükhbaatar. Each district is subdivided into Khoroos. The capital is governed by a city council (the Citizen's Representatives Hural) with forty members, elected every four years. The city council appoints the mayor. Ulaanbaatar is governed as an independent first-level subdivision of Mongolia, separate from Töv Aimag, the province that surrounds Ulaanbaatar.
Ulaanbaatar has several major universities:
And a big library, The National Library of Mongolia.
Most important places in Ulaanbaatar:
"Choijin Lama Monastery" and "Gandantegchinlen Khiid Monastery" are two of the very few in Mongolia to escape the destruction of Mongolian monasteries under Khorloogiin Choibalsan.
Ulaanbaatar has several museums dedicated to Mongolian history and culture.
The official symbol of Ulaanbaatar is the , a mythical bird in both Buddhist and Hindu mythology called Khan Garuda or "Khangar'd" by Mongols.
The city’s flag is sky blue with the arms in the center.
Pyongyang
Pyŏngyang (평양 직할시 in hangul, 平壤直轄市 in hanja) is the capital and biggest city in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea or DPRK (North Korea). The government does not want people from outside the country to know anything about North Korea, so Pyongyang is one of the few places in North Korea that foreigners (people from other countries) can travel to.
Pyongyang is a closed city meaning that North Koreans can't just go there. They must apply for a permit or be high up in the military. It is the most advanced city in the country which allows tourists to go there. Pyongyang does not really show what North Korea is really like, because the government uses it to pretend to tourists that the country is not poor. The city is kept very clean and littering is strictly not allowed. The city is home to the DPRK's only fast food restaurant which only the most privileged North Koreans go to (a meal would be worth around a weeks wages for the average person there). Many shops there have plastic food on display in the windows to make tourists think that there is lots of food in the country when in fact, food is scarce.
The city has lots of nice attractions like the statues of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il at Mansudae hill. The Juche tower is one of the most recognisable landmarks in the country, towering over the Taedong River across from Kim Il-Sung square. It also has the world's deepest subway system. Pyongyang has many large parks and wide avenues as well as the largest sports stadium in the world, the Rungrado May Day Stadium. The city is also the location of the embalmed bodies of the two leaders, Il-Sung and Jong-Il in the Kumsusan Palace of the sun.
Pyongyang is home to the 105-story hotel, Ryugyong Hotel. The construction started in 1987 and the exterior was completed twenty-four years later in 2011. It was originally intended as a propaganda device to make North Korea look wealthy when a South Korean recently built the world's then-tallest building. The hotel to this day remains empty and unopened. It is a scary monument to the government's problems.
The population of Pyongyang is 3,255,388.
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a multinational technology company from the United States that makes and sells software, computer hardware, infrastructure services, and consulting services. IBM is one of the biggest Information Technology companies in the world. IBM has had the most patents of any technology company for many years, and has made many important inventions and discoveries that have improved computers.
IBM began in 1911, it was called the "Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company". It was set up by a man named Charles Flint. There were no computers at that time, so IBM made other machines, such as typewriters. In 1924, the company changed its name to International Business Machines (IBM). In 1937, the company's Tabulating Machines were used by the United States government to record information about Americans, so they could make a new law called the Social Security Act.
During World War II, IBM made guns for the American army. During the 1960s and 1970s IBM dominated the mainframe computer market. IBM computers were used for American space exploration. From the 1980s starting in 1981 until 2005, IBM made personal computers. In 2005, IBM sold their personal computer manufacturing to a Chinese company called Lenovo. Today, IBM mostly makes software, and some powerful supercomputers.
Mary, mother of Jesus
In Abrahamic religions, Mary (Judeo-Aramaic מרים Maryām "Bitter"; (Maryam); Septuagint Greek Μαριαμ, Mariam, Μαρια, Maria; ) was the mother of Jesus. Her story is told in the New Testament of the Bible.
Christian beliefs about Mary are based on the Bible. The Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke say that Mary was a young woman who was engaged to be married to a man called Joseph. The Gospel of Luke says that the angel Gabriel came to Mary to tell her that she would give birth to a son. The angel told Mary that she should call her son Jesus. The angel also said that Jesus would save people from their sins.
Mary asked the angel how she could be pregnant, since she was a virgin. The angel told her that God had made her pregnant through a miracle.
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.According to the law that Israelites follow, Joseph had the right to divorce Mary publicly, but he did not. In a dream Joseph was told that Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
At this time, the Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus, made a law that everyone in the Roman Empire had to pay a tax. Everyone had to go back to the town that their family came from, to have their name put on the tax lists. Joseph came from Bethlehem, which was called The City of David. So Joseph took Mary to Bethlehem. There, she gave birth to the baby, Jesus. She gave birth in an animal shed, because Mary and Joseph could not find a room to stay in.
Thirty-three years later, Jesus was killed by crucifixion. Many of Jesus' apostles were scared of the Roman soldiers and ran away. However, Mary stood by the cross and was with Jesus when he died. As he was dying, he told the young disciple John to care for Mary as if she was his own mother, and the words were "Woman, this is your son. This is your mother". On the third day after Jesus' death, Mary went to Jesus' tomb with other women. They saw that the stone was rolled away from the tomb, and his body was gone. An angel told the women that Jesus had risen and was alive (see: Book of John, in end pages).