FRUNZE, the chief town of the Kirghiz A.S.S.R., situated on the Chu river in lat. 42° 45' N. long. 45' E., formerly PISHPEK. Its chief industries are brewing and the manufacture of tobacco (makhorka). A branch line from the Orenburg Tashkent railway, passing through Chimkent and Aulie-ata, reaches the town. In 1928 a line to the densely peopled Tokmak region, north west of Lake Issyk-kul, was commenced, and lines which will link Frunze and Semipalatinsk are under construction. This will open up the corn growing region round Lake Balkhash, and, it is hoped, will enable the Central Asiatic republics to de pend on imported, instead of homegrown, grain and thus to in crease the area under cotton.