Kharaty, Protected mountain area near Lake Baikal, Buryatia, Russia

Kharaty is a 922-metre botanical nature monument on the left bank of the Selenga, 3 km west of Zarubino in Buryatia's Dzhidinsky District. Its slopes are gentle except for the steep, rocky western side, and the protected area covers 1.5 km². A geodesic marker stands on the summit, where an obo rises.

Kharaty is a former volcano; volcanic-origin fossils can still be found in its surroundings. The mountain is a botanical natural monument of Buryatia protecting a relict mountain grass-shrub grove, a model site for studying and monitoring that ecosystem. The Buryat legend of Genghis Khan's brother Kharbach, recorded by Ya. S. Smolev in 1900, explains the toponym: from the summit the whole Selenga valley is visible from Ust-Kyakhta to its confluence with the Dzhida.

Kharaty is a sacred site for local Buryats, who believe that spirits protecting the area live here. At the summit stands an obo, a stone cairn used in offerings. The name comes from a Buryat legend about Genghis Khan's brother Kharbach, who climbed the hill to look around; "look" in Buryat is "kharakha", from which Kharaty derives.

Kharaty lies 3 km west of Zarubino in the Dzhidinsky district, on the left bank of the Selenga; the summit, 922 m, carries a geodesic marker. Slopes are gentle except the rocky, steep western face, so the western approach is the hardest. The protected area covers 1.5 km² and serves as a model site for school field practice, so groups should keep to the tract and leave the rare plants untouched.

Kharaty is a former volcano, and fossils of volcanic origin can still be found in its surroundings. The name comes from the Buryat word "kharakha" (to look): from the summit the whole Selenga valley is visible, from Ust-Kyakhta to its confluence with the Jida. A geodesic marker stands on top.