In 1878 Pishpek became an uyezd centre.The first plan of the design position of Pishpek was adopted in 1878. There were 13 European-style houses in the town, in 1881 they were 98, and in 1897 they were as much as 752 (including 728 clay-and adobe-walled houses roofed with reed, straw, or having a flat clay roof). By 1907 there were 1287 homesteads in the town.

          In 1882 there were 2,135 residents in Pishpek; in 1897 there were 6,615, in 1913 there were 18,468 town residents of different ethnic groups: Russians, Ukrainians, Uzbeks, Tatars, and the Kyrgyz.   In 1885 a tannery began to work, in 1885 cheese making was started. In 1898 there were 19, and in 1911 – 21 running small enterprises. In 1913 the turnover of all the 489 shops in Pishpek amounted to 1 million roubles. 

           All power in Pishpek was held by the head of the uezd, and since 1895 public “self-government” consisted of bourgeoisie was in charge of the town services. Cultural and educational institutions, schools, the cinema Edison, hospitals appeared in Pishpek, a casualty ward, and a chemist^,s shop functioned. A parish one-year school was opened in 1879. The first scientific unit was a meteorological station. An unforgettable contribution to the town^,s history was made by the representatives of progressive Russian intellectuals: the medical attendant M.V.Frunze, the horticulturist A.M.Fetisov, the doctor F.Poyarkov, the public teacher K.F.Svirchevsky and others.

            Soviet power. The Pishpek Soviet of Soldiers^, and Workers^, Deputies was formed in 1917, which organized the nationalization of the bank and industrial enterprises, opened courses for training and retraining teachers. “Red yurts”, reading rooms were established. In 1924 the editorial staff of the first Kyrgyz newspaper Erkin Too began to work in Bishkek.

Since 1924 Pishpek became the center of the Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Region. In 1926 it was renamed as Frunze, which was the capital of the Kirghiz SSR since 1936. In 1925-1928 a number of food and light industry enterprises, foundries, machine shops, joiner's shops, works producing household equipment, recreational goods, essential commodities.

            In 1929 the Smaller Alamedin Hydroelectric Power Plant was built. A broadcasting radio station was put into operation, libraries, theatres, cinemas, a picture gallery, etc. came into being. In 1937 a topographical survey was made; it served as a basis for the development of the General Plan of the town. In 1938 Frunze was divided into three administrative districts: Proletarsky (since 1962: Leninsky), Pervomaisky, and Sverdlovsky.    

In 1941 Frunze became one of the places where industrial enterprises, academic institutions, higher education establishments evacuated from Ukraine, Russia and other regions were concentrated. Beginning from the 1950s the town starts to extend on account of the development of territories south of the railway line. A new, fourth administrative town district was created: Oktyabrsky. In 1978 the capital of Kyrgyzstan celebrated its 100-year jubilee and was awardedthe Order of the Labour Red Banner. 4 theaters, 82 libraries, several cinemas, a circus were functioning in the town. There were more than 700 shops, 580 canteens, restaurants and cafes.

   

The state of Kyrgyzstan. An important event in the history of the Kyrgyz people was the establishment of sovereign statehood in 1991 and the recovery of the historical name of the capital of Kyrgyzstan. Local self-administration bodies were formed; they consisted of the city Kenesh (Council), city administration (an executive and distributive organ), and territorial (district) public self-administration bodies. The population grew considerably: from 619,900 in 1989 to 765,500 as of 1 January 2000. The number of ethnic Kyrgyz increased from 141,800 to 401,100. In 1994 the Assembly of the Peoples of Kyrgyzstan was established to express the national interests of the ethnoses forming the people of Kyrgyzstan.

          In 1999 5,070 enterprises functioned in Bishkek, (the gross revenue from sales of products amounted to 9,893,800,000 soms), including 4,594 small enterprises (2,404,600,000 soms), 337 medium-size enterprises (2,481,800,000 soms), 139 big enterprises (5,007,500,000 soms). The development of market trade became an important branch of the capital^,s economy. The total volume of retail turnover in 1999 was 8,941,100,000 soms. In 1999 the city of Bishkek received imported goods to the total amount of 14,104,800,000 soms, while exports amounted to 5,323,800,000 soms. Under the conditions of a market economy markets began to play a positive role in job creation and the development of market relations. The number of mini markets in Bishkek is: 19 in the Leninsky district, 15 in the Pervomaisky district, 21 in the Sverdlovsky district and 11 in the Oktyabrsky district. 10,399 people had jobs at 72 operating markets of the city. 226 mixed and 70 food shops, 42 cafes and 127 pharmacies were put into operation in the period from 1995 to 2000.

            In 2000 the retail turnover amounted to 125,8% of the 19995 level. The complex program is aimed at making all aspects of life ecologically concerned and making Bishkek one of the favorable cities in Central Asia.