Bishkek vs Shymkent

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Bishkek (Kyrgyz: Бишкек, Bişkek, بىشکەک, IPA: [biʃˈkek], Kazakh: Бішкек), formerly Pishpek and Frunze (Russian: Фрунзе), is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyz Republic). Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chuy Region. The state surrounds the city, even though the city itself is not part of the state, but instead a province-level unit of Kyrgyzstan. It's also near the Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan border. In 1825, the Khanate of Kokand established the fortress of"Pishpek" to restrain local caravan routes and also to collect tribute from Kyrgyz tribes. On 4 September 1860, with the approval of the Kyrgyz, Russian forces led by Colonel Apollon Zimmermann destroyed the fortress. In 1868, a Russian settlement was established on the website of the fortress under its original title,"Pishpek". It lay within the General Governorship of Russian Turkestan and its Semirechye Oblast. In 1925, the Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast was established in Russian Turkestan, encouraging Pishpek to its own capital. In 1926, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union renamed the city as Frunze, after the Bolshevik military leader Mikhail Frunze (1885--1925), who was born there.

In 1936, the city of Frunze became the capital of the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic, during the closing stages of the national delimitation in the Soviet Union. In 1991, the Kyrgyz parliament changed the capital's title to"Bishkek". Bishkek is located at an altitude of about 800 metres (2,600 ft), just off the northern fringe of the Kyrgyz Ala-Too Range, an expansion of the Tian Shan mountain range. These mountains rise to a height of 4,895 metres (16,060 ft). North of the city, a fertile and gently undulating steppe extends far north into neighbouring Kazakhstan. The Chui River drains the majority of the region. Bishkek is connected to the Turkestan--Siberia Railway by a spur line. Bishkek is a city of wide boulevards and marble-faced public buildings together with numerous Soviet-style apartment blocks surrounding interior courtyards. Additionally, there are thousands of smaller privately built houses, mostly away from the city centre. Streets follow a grid pattern, with most flanked on both sides by narrow irrigation channels, watering innumerable trees to provide shade in the hot summers.

Source: Wikipedia

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Şymkent (Kazakh pronunciation: [ʃɯmˈkɛnt]; Шымкент, شىمكەنت; Yañalif: Şьmkent), known until 1993 as Chimkent (Uzbek: Chimkent, Чимкент, چىمكېنت; Yañalif: Çimkent (Uzbek pronunciation: [tʃɨmˈkɛnt])); Russian: Чимкент, romanized: Čimkent (Russian pronunciation: [ˈtɕɨmˈkʲɛnt])), is a city in Kazakhstan. It is near the border with Uzbekistan. It is one of three Kazakh cities which have the status equal to that of a region (the city of republican significance).

It is the third most populous city in Kazakhstan, behind Almaty and Nur-Sultan, with an estimated population of 1,002,291 as of June 1, 2018.. According to regional and city officials, the millionth resident of Shymkent was born on 17 May 2018. It is a regional cultural centre. Shymkent is situated 690 kilometres (430 mi) west of Almaty and 1,483 kilometres (920 mi) south of Nur-Sultan. It is also 120 kilometres (75 mi) to the north of Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Source: Wikipedia