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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Letters

Mongolia is home to the world’s first national park

Gobi desert, near Dalanzadgad, Mongolia
Mongolia. ‘In 1783, the Mongolian government under the control of the Qing dynasty established a protected reserve and the world’s first national park.’ Photograph: Alamy

In your article on the climate threat to the Old Faithful geyser (Yellowstone’s most famous geyser could shut down, with huge ramifications, 2 July), it was claimed that Yellowstone, founded in 1870, was the world’s first national park.

Citizens of Mongolia and those who are proud to call it home may take exception to that claim. Almost a full century earlier, in 1783, the Mongolian government under the control of the Qing dynasty established Bogd Khan Uul, a mountain that overlooks today’s capital of Ulaanbaatar, as a protected reserve and the world’s first national park. It remains a national park, Unesco biosphere reserve and popular hiking spot to this day. I can see it from my living room window. It’s lovely.
Keith Taylor
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

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