Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Bishkek is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. It is also the administrative centre of the Chuy Region. BishkeK is situated at an altitude of about 800 metres, just off the northern fringe of the KyrGYz Ala-Too Range, an extension of the Tian Shan mountain range.
About Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in brief
Bishkek is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. It is also the administrative centre of the Chuy Region. In 1825, the Khanate of Kokand established the fortress of \”Pishpek\” to control local caravan routes. In 1860 Imperial Russia annexed the area, and the military forces of Colonel Apollon Ernestovich Zimmermann took and razed the fort. In 1926, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union renamed the city as Frunze, after the Bolshevik military leader Mikhail Frunzes. In 1991, the KyrgyZ parliament changed the capital’s name to \”BISHkek\”. BishkeK is situated at an altitude of about 800 metres, just off the northern fringe of the KyrGYz Ala-Too Range, an extension of the Tian Shan mountain range. North of the city, a fertile and gently undulating steppe extends far north into neighbouring Kazakhstan. The Chui River drains most of the area. BishKEk is a city of wide boulevards and marble-faced public buildings combined with numerous Soviet-style apartment blocks surrounding interior courtyards. There are also thousands of smaller privately built houses, mostly outside the city centre. In 2004, Russians made up approximately 20% of theCity’s population, and about 7–8% in 2011. One of the largest employment centres today is the Dordoy market, where many Chinese goods are sold to CIS countries. Though relatively young, the city is relatively young and is home to a large number of industrial plants, but most have been shut down since 1991 or now operate on a much-redreduced scale.
However, streets have fallen into disrepair, with many second-hand European and Japanese cars and minibuses crowding its streets and sidewalks since the 1990s. The city still preserves its former Soviet feel with Soviet-period buildings and newer structures prevailing over Soviet- period buildings and gardens. In 1936, Bishk became the capital of the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic, during the final stages of the national delimitation in theSoviet Union. In June 1990, a state of emergency was declared following severe ethnic riots in southern Kyrgyzerstan that threatened to spread to the capital. In February 1991, Kyrgyzystan achieved independence later that year during the break-up of Soviet Union. The capital was renamed Bish kek on 5 February 1991 and the country’s financial centre, with all of its 21 commercial banks headquartered there, is now the city of Chuy. The majority of the population are ethnic Russians, with about 20% making up about 7-8% of city’s population in 2004, and around 7-10% of population in the city’s centre. The population of the region is about 2,000,000 people, with the majority of its residents being ethnic Russians. The area around the city has a population of about 1,500,000. The region’s largest employment centre is Dordyoy, home to the largest Chinese market in the country.
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This page is based on the article Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 30, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
