Biskek, also known as Bishkek is the capital and the most populous city of Kyrgyzstan. It is also the administrative center of the province of Chuy that surrounds the city, although it is not part of the province. It is believed that its name derives from a Kyrgyz word for a blender used to ferment mare's milk, the country's national drink. It is located in the Chu river valley, in the course of the Alaarcha and Alamedín rivers, at the foot of the Kyrgyz Mountains, a few kilometers from Kazakhstan. Its altitude is 800 m. Above sea level.
According to the 1999 national census it had a population of 762,308 inhabitants and for 2012 it is estimated that it has a population of about 875,000 inhabitants, which includes a historically important Russian minority of 30% of the population. In the middle of the 19th century, the Uzbek Khan of Kokand built a fortress in the place on which the city sits. The stronghold was conquered by the Russians in 1862, who called Pishpek to the city and the surrounding community, a derivation of the original name Bishkek. Between 1926 and 1991, it had the name of Frunze , in honor of the revolutionary leader and general of the Red Army, Mikhail Frunze, who had been born in the city. At the beginning of 1991, the Kyrgyz parliament changed the name of the city again to Bishkek, shortly before the declaration of independence of the country.