Ili River

Welcome to our website. It is generaly simplier version of wikipedia. You will find there selected articles. Enjoy!

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 (894 mi) long, 815 km (506 mi) of which is 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 thicket vegetation.

1 Chinese region
2 Kazakh region
3 Tributaries include
4 Historical connections
5 References

Chinese region

The map of Qing bases in the Ili region, ca. 1809. It is upside down, i.e. the north is at the bottom, and the east is on the left

The upper Ili Valley is separated from the Dzungarian Basin in the north by the Borohoro Mountains, and from the Tarim Basin in the south by the main range of the Tian Shan. This region was the stronghold of the Qing administration in Xinjiang in the late 18th and 19th centuries; it was occupied by Russia from 1871 to 1881, that is, from the Yaqub Beg rebellion until the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1881).

Presently, the region forms part of Xinjiang's Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. The main city of the region, Yining (Kulja), is located on the northern side of the river some 100 km (62 mi) 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 international border, Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County is located, which is home to many of the China's Xibe people, who were resettled to this borderland in the 18th century as part of the Manchu garrison.

Kazakh region

On the Kapchagay Reservoir

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 Kapshagay Hydroelectric Power Plant was constructed between 1965 to 1970 near Kapchagay in the middle flow of the Ili River, forming the Kapchagay Reservoir—a 110 km (68 mi) large artificial lake north of Almaty.

Tamgaly-Tas, some 20 km (12 mi) 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

The "singing dune" at Altyn-Emel National Park

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.

References

^ Kezer K, Matsuyama H 2006:Decrease of river runoff in the Lake Balkhash basin in Central Asia. Hydrological Processes Vol. 20 Is. 6 Pp 1407-1423
^ Zuev Yu.L., The strongest tribe, p. 55-56, Almaty, 2004