Uliastai

Uliastai is the capital of Zavkhan Province in western Mongolia, one of the most remote aimag capitals in the country, roughly 1,115 kilometers from Ulaanbaatar in a river valley where the Chigestai and Bogdiin Gol rivers meet, surrounded by mountains on all sides. It was founded in 1733 as a Qing dynasty military garrison and later served as the de facto capital of Outer Mongolia, when the Qing Amban governing the Khalkh and Oirad Mongol populations established an office there. Its population was 24,276 at the 2000 census, then Mongolia's tenth most populous city, though later estimates put it around 16,240 in 2006.