Sari ( pronunciation ) (/Sārī/ Mazandarani: ساری, Persian: ساری; also Romanized as Sārī; also known as Shahr-i-Tajan and Shari-i-Tajan) is the provincial capital of Mazandaran and former capital of Iran (for a short period), located in the north of Iran, between the northern slopes of the Alborz Mountains and southern coast of the Caspian Sea. At the 2006 census, its population was 259,084, in 71,522 families.