Biger

Biger lies in the Valley of the Lakes, a long depression between the Khangai and Govi-Altai mountains in southwestern Mongolia. Sandy and rocky plains dominate the valley floor, where saline and takir soils alternate with dry grassland. At elevations between 1,000 and 1,400 metres, winters are severe and rainfall is limited. Herders must move across long distances to reach water and seasonal pasture.

Rivers rising in the Khangai feed a chain of shallow lakes, including Böön Tsagaan and Orog. The lakes vary greatly with season and year, and some dry out entirely. As water retreats in summer, salt marsh spreads along the shores, while barchan dunes appear at the margins of the valley. Fish, ducks and shorebirds gather where open water and wetlands persist.

Pastoral families used the country by moving sheep, goats, cattle, horses and camels between the desert margins and wetter mountain-fed pastures. Springs, lake edges and snow patches determined winter camps, and tracks followed the gaps between dunes and ridges. Biger therefore belongs to a fragile chain of lakes and dry plains where movement, not permanent cultivation, allowed communities to live across a difficult part of the Gobi.