The Burkhan Khaldun ( ) is one of the Khentii Mountains in the Khentii Province of northeastern Mongolia. The mountain or its locality is believed to be the birthplace of Genghis Khan as well as his tomb. It is also the birthplace of one of his most successful generals, Subutai.
The mountain is part of the Khan Khentii Strictly Protected Area established in 1992. It had strong religious significance before Genghis Khan made it a powerful landmark and is considered the most sacred mountain in Mongolia since it was designated as sacred by Genghis Khan. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 4 July 2015 under the title "Great Burkhan Khaldun Mountain and its surrounding sacred landscape." Under a Presidential Decree of 1995 the worship of this mountain has been formalised and the mountain declared a national monument. Its ecosystem is complex with unique biodiversity with flora of the Central Asian steppe. It has 50 species of fauna and 253 species of birds.
Geography
Burkhan Khaldun is in the northeast of Mongolia in the middle of the Khentii mountain range.
Burkhan Khaldun means the "God Mountain" or "Buddha Mountain" and is also called Khentii Khan (The King of the Khentii Mountain range). It is the highest mountain of the region, rising to an elevation of , and is crescent-shaped. It is the source of several rivers: the Kherlen river flows into Hulun Lake, which in years of high precipitation overflows into the Amur Basin; the Onon River flows through other tributaries into the Amur, which has its outfall in the Pacific Ocean; and the rivers Tuul, Kharaa and Yeruu flow northwards to join the Selenge, which empties into Lake Baikal. It is in a complex ecosystem with unique biodiversity which is defined as a "transition zone from Siberian permafrost land forms to great steppe".
Religious significance
right|thumb|An [[ovoo.]]
Burkhan Khaldun has a spiritual significance unmatched by any other mountain in Mongolia and is given the symbolic status of the "cradle" of Mongolia's nationhood fully representing the "heritage and traditional ways of life of nomadic people of Mongolia". The (unconfirmed) Mongolian belief that Genghis Khan was born here and is buried somewhere in this mountain has added to its sanctity, particularly since Khan offered worship here and declared the mountain as the most sacred in the country.