Ili river.html



Ili River
Ili River
Origin	Tekes and Kunges rivers
Mouth	Lake Balkhash
Basin countries	Kazakhstan and China
Length	1,001 km
Basin area	140,000 km²

Map of the Lake Balkhash drainage basin showing the Ili River and its tributaries

The Ili River (Kazakh: Іле, İle, Russian: Или; Chinese: 伊犁河, Yili He) is a river in northwestern China (Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region) and southeastern Kazakhstan (the Almaty Province).

It is 1,439 km (870 miles) long, 815 km of which in Kazakhstan. It takes its beginning in eastern Tian Shan from the Tekes and Kunges (or Künes) rivers. The Ili River drains the basin between the Tian Shan the Borohoro (P'o-lo-k'o-nu) Mountains to the north.

Flowing into Lake Balkhash it forms a large delta with vast wetland regions of lakes, marshes and jungle-like vegetation.

Chinese part

The upper Ili Valley is separated from the Dzungarian Basin by the Borohoro Mountains. The city of Yining (Kulja) is located on the northern side of the river some 100 km upstream from the international border. Until the early 1900s, the city was commonly known under the same name as the river, 伊犁 (Pinyin: Yili; Wade-Giles: Ili).

On the southern side, even closer to the border, Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County is located, which is home to many of the China's Xibe people. The upper Ili was occupied by Russia from 1871 to 1881, that is, from the Yaqub Beg rebellion to the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1881).

Kazakh part

The part of Kazakhstan drained by the Ili and its tributaries is known in Kazakh as Zhetysu ('Seven Rivers') or in Russian as Semirechye (the same meaning).

The Kapchagai Hydroelectric power station was built from 1965 to 1970¹ in the middle flow of the Ili River, forming the Kapchagay Reservoir - a 110 km lake north of Almaty.

Tamgaly-Tas, some 20 km downstream along Ili River is a site of rock drawings. The name Tamgaly in Kazakh means painted or marked place, Tas - stone.

Ili River

Buddhist rock drawings at Ili River

Ili River

Tributaries include

• Charyn River, famous for its canyon
• Kash River

Historical connections

Ili river gave a name to Ili river treaty of 638 CE, which formalized a division of the Turkic Kaganate (552-638 CE) into Western Turkic Kaganate and Eastern Turkic Kaganates, with the border between two states fixed along the Ili river. ²

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ili River

• Great Soviet Encyclopedia
• Или, река Семиречинской области (The Ili River), in Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary

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Coordinates: 45°24′N 74°08′E / 45.4, 74.133