Editing Bishkek (section)

===Independence era===
The early 1990s were a tumultuous time for Bishkek. In June 1990, a state of emergency was declared following severe ethnic riots in southern Kyrgyzstan that threatened to spread to the capital. The city was renamed Bishkek on 5 February 1991, and Kyrgyzstan achieved independence later that year during the [[breakup of the Soviet Union]]. Before independence, the majority of Bishkek's population were ethnic [[Russians]]. In 2004, Russians made up approximately 20% of the city's population, and about {{nowrap|7–8%}} in 2011.<ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3681/is_200407/ai_n9472919 Residential Real Estate Market in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan: Current Conditions and Prospects]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321113715/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3681/is_200407/ai_n9472919 |date=21 March 2009 }}</ref>

Bishkek is Kyrgyzstan's financial centre, 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 centres today is the [[Dordoy Bazaar]] open market, where many of the Chinese goods imported to [[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS]] countries are sold.