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According to Paul Theroux in his book Riding the Iron Rooster, what city's name means "red hero " in Mongolian?



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Answer: Ulan Bator

The place now known as Ulan Bator was founded in 1649 as a monastery town named Urga. When it became the capital of the Mongolian republic in 1924, it was renamed Ulaanbaatar ("red hero") in honour of Sukhbaatar, who liberated Mongolia from Chinese rule by calling in the Soviet Army.


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