Where It's Located
The Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Temple will be located at:
Naadamchid Road
Khan Uul District, 8th khoroo
17101 Ulaanbaatar
Mongolia
The property is approximately 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) east of Ulaanbaatar's airport. The temple will occupy an 11-acre property in the Khan Uul District.
Ulaanbaatar is the capital and largest city of Mongolia, making it a natural location for the country's first temple.
The First Temple in Mongolia
The Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Temple will be the first temple in Mongolia.
When the temple was announced, the country had more than 12,000 Latter-day Saints meeting in approximately 25 congregations. The closest temple at the time was in Hong Kong, more than 1,800 miles away.
That enormous distance helps explain the significance of the announcement for Mongolian Latter-day Saints.
Instead of traveling internationally to reach the nearest temple, members will eventually have a temple in their own capital city.
The Temple Announcement
President Russell M. Nelson announced the Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Temple on October 1, 2023, during the October 2023 General Conference.
The announcement was part of a worldwide temple expansion that included 20 new temples.
At the time, Ulaanbaatar had a population of approximately 1.7 million people.
The Church in Mongolia
The history of the Church in Mongolia is relatively recent.
Missionaries arrived in Mongolia in 1992, and the first mission was established in 1995.
In just a few decades, the Church established congregations throughout the country.
The future temple therefore represents an important milestone in the development of the Church in Mongolia.
A Temple Foretold Before It Was Announced
An especially interesting part of the temple's story happened just weeks before its official announcement.
In September 2023, Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited Mongolia as part of a ministry tour of the Asia North Area.
Approximately 700 members and friends gathered in Ulaanbaatar for a family-focused devotional.
During his remarks, Elder Andersen encouraged Mongolian members to prepare themselves for the House of the Lord, saying that a temple would someday soon be constructed in Mongolia.
Only a few weeks later, President Nelson formally announced the temple.
A Temple for Mongolian Pioneers
During the September 2023 devotional, Elder Andersen described the members in Mongolia as pioneers of the gospel.
He encouraged them to share their faith in Jesus Christ with friends and to continue preparing spiritually for the temple.
That makes the future temple particularly meaningful for a Church community that has developed largely within the lifetime of its current members.
The Temple Site
The Church announced the temple's site on September 15, 2025.
The selected property covers approximately 11 acres and is located along Naadamchid Road in the 8th khoroo of the Khan Uul District.
The site is approximately 2.8 miles from the airport.
Plans call for more than just the temple itself.
A patron housing facility and a meetinghouse will also be constructed on the property.
Temple Rendering
The official exterior rendering was released on September 15, 2025, at the same time the temple site was announced.
The rendering shows a relatively compact, modern temple with a prominent central tower.
The planned building will be single story with a single attached central spire.
Architecture
The Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Temple is planned to contain approximately 18,850 square feet of floor space.
The planned design includes:
- Single-story temple
- Approximately 18,850 square feet
- Single attached central spire
- Patron housing
- Meetinghouse
The temple's relatively compact size is consistent with many newer temples designed to bring temple worship closer to smaller populations around the world.
High Elevation
The future temple site is located at approximately 4,270 feet above sea level, or 1,302 meters.
That elevation contributes to Ulaanbaatar's famously cold climate.
In fact, Ulaanbaatar is commonly described as the coldest national capital city in the world.
Ulaanbaatar: A Unique Temple Setting
The future temple will have a setting unlike almost any other temple in the world.
Ulaanbaatar is surrounded by mountains and sits in the broad Tuul River valley.
The city combines traditional Mongolian culture with a rapidly developing modern urban environment.
Outside the city, the landscape quickly transitions into the enormous open grasslands for which Mongolia is famous.
Mongolia's Nomadic Heritage
Mongolia is particularly famous for its nomadic heritage.
For centuries, Mongolian families have traveled across the country's vast grasslands with livestock, living traditionally in portable gers, commonly known outside Mongolia as yurts.
That history remains an important part of Mongolian identity even as Ulaanbaatar has grown into a modern capital city.
The Gobi and the Mongolian Landscape
Mongolia is one of the world's least densely populated countries.
Its landscape includes:
- Vast grasslands
- Mountains
- Deserts
- Steppes
- Lakes
- Forests
The famous Gobi Desert stretches across southern Mongolia and northern China.
Visitors to Ulaanbaatar can use the city as a starting point for exploring some of these remarkable landscapes.
Visiting Ulaanbaatar
For someone traveling to see the future temple, Ulaanbaatar itself offers plenty to explore.
Important attractions include:
- Genghis Khan National Museum
- Gandantegchinlen Monastery
- Sükhbaatar Square
- National Museum of Mongolia
- Bogd Khan Palace Museum
- Zaisan Memorial
- Mongolian National History attractions
The city provides a mixture of Mongolian history, Buddhist heritage, modern development, and traditional culture.
Genghis Khan
No discussion of Mongolia would be complete without Genghis Khan.
Born as Temüjin, he united many Mongolian tribes and established the Mongol Empire in the early 13th century.
His legacy remains deeply connected to Mongolian national identity.
Visitors can learn about his life and the Mongol Empire throughout Ulaanbaatar and the surrounding region.
Gandantegchinlen Monastery
The Gandantegchinlen Monastery is one of Ulaanbaatar's most important Buddhist sites.
It provides visitors with an opportunity to see the country's strong Buddhist heritage.
The contrast between Mongolia's Buddhist history and the future construction of its first Latter-day Saint temple makes Ulaanbaatar a particularly interesting location for religious travelers.
A Temple for a Small but Growing Church
The Ulaanbaatar Temple is a good example of how the modern temple-building effort is reaching places where the Church has relatively small populations.
The country has approximately 12,000 Latter-day Saints, but those members have historically faced an enormous journey to reach the nearest temple.
The future temple changes that equation dramatically.
Instead of requiring a trip of more than 1,800 miles to Hong Kong, Mongolian members will eventually have a temple in their own country.
Current Construction Status
The Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Temple is currently in the planning and approval phase.
No groundbreaking date has been announced.
However, two major milestones have already occurred:
- The temple site was officially announced.
- The official exterior rendering was released.
Both occurred on September 15, 2025.
Key Milestones
- Announcement: October 1, 2023
- Site announced: September 15, 2025
- Rendering released: September 15, 2025
- Site: 11 acres
- Floor area: 18,850 square feet
- Elevation: 4,270 feet
- Architecture: Single attached central spire
- Planned facilities: Patron housing and meetinghouse
- Groundbreaking: Not yet announced
- Current status: Planning and approval phase
What Happens Next?
The next major milestone will be a groundbreaking ceremony.
Once construction begins, additional information about the building and its construction schedule should become available.
Eventually, the Church will announce a public open house and dedication date.
For now, the released rendering gives the public its first official look at what the completed temple is expected to look like.
Why the Ulaanbaatar Temple Matters
The Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Temple is significant for a very simple reason: it brings a House of the Lord to a country that has never had one before.
For Mongolian Latter-day Saints, that represents a major change in access to temple worship.
The temple also represents the development of the Church in Mongolia since missionaries first arrived in 1992.
From Missionaries in 1992 to a Temple
The timeline is remarkable.
Missionaries arrived in Mongolia in 1992.
The first mission was established in 1995.
By 2023, the country had more than 12,000 Latter-day Saints in approximately 25 congregations.
And in October 2023, the country's first temple was announced.
The future temple is therefore closely tied to the relatively young history of the Church in Mongolia.
Final Thoughts
The Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Temple is one of the more significant temple projects in the Church's modern history simply because it will be the first temple in Mongolia.
President Russell M. Nelson announced the temple on October 1, 2023, during General Conference. At the time, Mongolia had more than 12,000 Latter-day Saints in approximately 25 congregations, while the nearest temple was in Hong Kong, more than 1,800 miles away.
The announcement came just weeks after Elder Neil L. Andersen visited Mongolia and encouraged local members to prepare themselves for the House of the Lord. Approximately 700 members and friends attended the Ulaanbaatar devotional in September 2023.
Two years later, on September 15, 2025, the Church announced the temple site and released the official exterior rendering.
The temple will occupy an 11-acre property on Naadamchid Road in Ulaanbaatar's Khan Uul District, approximately 2.8 miles from the airport. The plans call for an 18,850-square-foot, single-story temple with a single attached central spire, along with patron housing and a meetinghouse.
For now, construction has not begun. The project remains in the planning and approval phase, and no groundbreaking date has been announced.
But the future Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Temple already represents a major milestone.
It will stand in a city known for its frigid winters, Buddhist heritage, nomadic traditions, and enormous surrounding landscapes. More importantly, it will give Mongolian Latter-day Saints their first temple in their own country.
From the arrival of missionaries in 1992 to the announcement of a temple just three decades later, the story of the Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Temple is ultimately a story about the growth of the Church in one of the world's most distinctive countries.
Scott & Riah
Brough Made
broughmade.com
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