Mandalay is the second largest city in Myanmar (formerly Burma) with a population of 927,000 (2005 census). It is the former royal capital of Myanmar and capital of the current Mandalay Division. The city is bordered by the Ayeyarwady River and is located at 21°58?N 96°04?E, 716 km north of Yangon. Mandalay is in the center of Myanmar's dry zone. Mandalay is the terminus of the main rail line from Yangon and the starting point of branch lines to Lashio and Myitkyina. It is also the major trading and communications center in northern and central Myanmar. Among the leading industries are silk weaving, jade cutting, stone sculpture, brewing, distilling, the manufacture of matches, the working of gold flakes and the working of silver. Mandalay is a cultural and religious center of Buddhism, having many monasteries and more than 700 pagodas. At the bottom of Mandalay Hill sits the world's official "Buddhist Bible", also known as the world’s largest book, in Kuthodaw Pagoda. There are 729 slabs inscribed with the entire Buddhist canon, each housed in it own white stupa. Buddha relics from Kanishka's stupa in Peshawar, Pakistan, now in Mandalay, Burma. Teresa Merrigan, 2005.The buildings inside the Mandalay Fort, a walled square to the north of Mandalay with a moat, were mostly destroyed during World War II including the Palace. There is now a Museum and some concrete reconstructions.