Description : Ulaanbaatar, formerly anglicised as, and still called, Ulan Bator /ˌuːlɑːn ˈbɑːtər/ (Mongolian: Улаанбаатар, , literally "Red Hero"), is the capital and largest city of Mongolia. The city is not part of any aimag (province), and its population as of 2014 was over 1.3 million, almost half of the country's population. The municipality is in north central Mongolia at an elevation of about 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) in a valley on the Tuul River. It is the country's cultural, industrial and financial heart, the centre of Mongolia's road network and connected by rail to both the Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia and the Chinese railway system. The city was founded in 1639 as a nomadic Buddhist monastic centre. It settled permanently at its present location, the junction of the Tuul and Selbe rivers, in 1778. Before then, it changed location 28 times, each new location being chosen ceremonially. In the twentieth century, Ulaanbaatar grew into a major manufacturing center. Ulaanbaatar is a member of the Asian Network of Major Cities 21. The city's official website lists Moscow, Hohhot, Seoul, Sapporo and Denver as sister cities.
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