[:ja]セルゲイ・コルサコフ宇宙飛行士がISSから撮影したキルギスの首都ビシュケクです。

人口約100万人を擁するビシュケクはキルギス北部のイリ・アララト山脈の麓に位置し、海抜は800mです。市の北方を流れるチュイ川はカザフスタンとの国境になっています。1991年までの旧名はフルンゼ(Frunze、ロシア語・キルギス語 Фрунзе)で、現在のビシュケクという都市名は、キルギスの国民酒である馬乳酒 (Кумыс) を作る時の撹拌器の名前に由来します。昔は、天山山脈を通るキャラバンの停泊地としてソグド人に造営されたと考えられている。民族的には、ソ連時代はロシア人が多数を占めていましたが、独立以降に急減し、2009年時点ではキルギス人が60%と大半を占めています。ロシア人は23%となっており、高麗人やウイグル人、タタール人、ドンガン人、ウクライナ人やカフカス系の民族も在住するなど多民族都市となっています。
地上の様子はこちらです。

参考文献: Sergey Korsakov’s Tweet
地球俯瞰画像を見る: LiVEARTH
[Earthview Wonders] No.1631: Bishkek🇰🇬
Astronaut Sergey Korsakov captured from ISS Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.

With over 1 million inhabitants, Bishkek, formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. It is near the Kazakhstan–Kyrgyzstan border. The city was renamed Bishkek on Feb. 5, 1991 and Kyrgyzstan achieved independence later that year during the breakup of the Soviet Union. Today, Bishkek is a modern city with many restaurants and cafes and many second-hand European and Japanese cars and minibusses crowding its streets. However, streets and sidewalks have fallen into disrepair since the 1990s. At the same time, Bishkek still preserves much of its former Soviet feel with Soviet-period buildings and gardens prevailing over newer structures. Bishkek is also the country’s financial center, with all of the country’s 21 commercial banks headquartered there. During the Soviet era, the city was home to many industrial plants, but most have been shut down since 1991 or now operate on a much-reduced scale. One of Bishkek’s largest employment centers today is the Dordoy Bazaar open market, where many of the Chinese goods imported to CIS countries are sold. (Credit: Sergey Korsakov, Roscosmos)
The local scenery on the ground is as follows.

Reference: Sergey Korsakov’s Tweet
See earthview photo gallery: LiVEARTH[:]