Tokmok

Tokmok Токмак
Airplane monument in Tokmok
Flag Seal
Tokmok Location in Kyrgyzstan
Coordinates: 42°50′N 75°17′E / 42.833°N 75.283°E / 42.833; 75.283Coordinates: 42°50′N 75°17′E / 42.833°N 75.283°E / 42.833; 75.283
Country	Kyrgyzstan
Province	Chuy Region
Government
• Mayor	Anvarbek Omorkanov (since May 2012)
Area
• Total	41 km2 (16 sq mi)
Elevation	816 m (2,677 ft)
Population (2009)
• Total	53,231
• Density	1,300/km2 (3,400/sq mi)
Time zone	KGT (UTC+6)
Website	http://tokmok.org/

Tokmok (Kyrgyz: Токмок, Tokmok ('hammer'); Russian: Токмак, Tokmak) is a city in Chuy Valley, northern Kyrgyzstan, east of the country's capital of Bishkek. Its area is 41 square kilometres (16 sq mi), and its resident population was 53,231 in 2009(according to other data, "over 58,000"). Its geographical location is 42°50′N 75°17′E / 42.833°N 75.283°E / 42.833; 75.283; its altitude is 816 m above sea level. From 2004 until 19 April 2006 it served as the administrative seat of Chuy Region. Just to the north is the Chu River and the border with Kazakhstan.

Tokmok was established as a northern military outpost of the Khanate of Kokand ca. 1830. Thirty years later, it fell to the Russians who demolished the fort. The modern town was founded on 13 May 1864 by Major-General Mikhail Chernyayev.

Currently, the city of Tokmok is a district-level administrative unit of Chui Province. Although the city is surrounded by the province's Chuy District (whose administrative center is the village of Chuy, adjacent to Tokmok), it is not a part of it.

Despite its relatively modern origin, Tokmok stands in the middle of the Chuy Valley, which was a prize sought by many medieval conquerors. The ruins of Ak-Beshim, the capital of the Western Turkic Khaganate, are situated 8 km southwest from Tokmok. Yusuf Has Hajib Balasaguni, author of the Kutadgu Bilig is said to have been born in this area.