TOKMAK

formerly (until 1963) Bolshoy Tokmak, city, northern Kyrgyzstan, on the Chu River. Originally an early 19th-century fort, it became a district town after capture by the Russians in 1867, a status it lost to Pishpek (now Bishkek) in 1878. It was made a town again in 1927, and industrial development followed the construction of the railway in 1938. Pop. (1991 est.) 71,200.