- Bishkek
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/bish kek"/, n.the capital of Kirghizia (Kyrgyzstan), in the N part. 616,000. Formerly, Pishpek (until 1926), Frunze (1926-91).
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City (pop., 1999 est.: 619,000), capital of Kyrgyzstan.It lies on the Chu River near the Kyrgyz Mountains on the Kazakhstan border. In 1825 the Uzbek khanate of Kokand (see Qoqon) established a fortress on the site, which in 1862 was captured by the Russians. The Russians mistakenly called it Pishpek. When the Kirgiz (Kyrgyz) Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was set up in 1926, the city became its capital and was renamed Frunze for a Red Army leader who was born there. It developed as an industrial city, especially in World War II (1939–45) when heavy industries from western Russia were moved there.* * *
city and capital of Kyrgyzstan. It lies in the Chu River valley near the Kyrgyz Mountains at an elevation of 2,500–3,000 feet (750–900 metres). Bishkek is situated along the Alaarcha and Alamedin rivers and is intersected in the north by the Bolshoy (Great) Chuysky Canal. In 1825 the Uzbek khanate of Kokand established on the site the fortress of Bishkek, which in 1862 was captured by the Russians, who mistakenly called it Pishpek (though, to local nationalities, it remained Bishkek). By 1913 the population was 14,000 (mainly Russians), and though it was the administrative centre of a district, it remained essentially a sprawling, dusty village. In 1924 it was chosen as the administrative centre of the new Kyrgyz autonomous oblasty (province). When the latter became the Kirgiz (Kyrgyz) Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1926, Pishpek became its capital and was renamed Frunze after the revolutionary and Red Army leader Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze (Frunze, Mikhail Vasilyevich), who was born there in 1885. It developed rapidly into a modern city. In 1991 it was renamed Bishkek.Bishkek is laid out on a grid, with wide, tree-lined streets. It has parks and many orchards, and permanently snow-capped mountains are visible to the south. Besides the various government buildings, there are theatres, the local Academy of Sciences (founded 1954), the Kyrgyz State University (1951), and agricultural, medical, polytechnic, and teacher-training institutes.The city's industry developed in two stages: until 1941 emphasis was on the food and other light industries using local raw materials; but, after the evacuation of heavy industries from western Russia during World War II, an extensive machine-building and metalworking industry came into being. Development was particularly rapid in the 1960s. Pop. (1999) 750,327.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
