Bishkek is the capital city of Kyrgyzstan, a country in Central Asia. It sits in the Chu River valley, with mountains not far away. Older books and maps may call it Frunze — that was its name for much of the twentieth century, when the area was part of the Soviet Union. Before that it was called Pishpek. People who live there, and people who write about the country now, use Bishkek. Write it with a capital letter; it is a place name, not a kind of thing.