- Ili River
Infobox River
river_name = Ili River
caption = Ili River
origin = Tekes and Kunges rivers
mouth =Lake Balkhash
basin_countries =Kazakhstan andChina
length = 1,001 km
elevation =
discharge =
watershed = 140,000 km²The Ili River ( _kk. Іле, "İle", _ru. Или; _zh. 伊犁河, Yili He) is ariver in northwesternChina (Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region) and southeastern Kazakhstan (theAlmaty 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 (orKünes ) 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 an immense delta with vast wetland regions of lakes, marshes and jungle-like vegetation.Chinese part
The city of
Yining (Kulja) is located on the northern side of the river some 100 km upstream from the international border. On the southern side, even closer to the border,Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County is located, which is home to many of the China'sXibe people.Kazakh part
The part of Kazakhstan drained by the Ili and its tributaries is known in Kazakh as
Zhetysu ('Seven Rivers') or in Russian asSemirechye (the same meaning).The
Kapchagai Hydroelectric power station was built from 1965 to 1970 [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] in the middle flow of Ili River, forming the Kapchagay Reservoir - a 110 km lake north of Almaty and Issyk Kol.Tamgaly , some 20 km downstream along Ili River is a site ofrock drawings . The name "Tamgaly" in Kazakh means "painted" or "marked place".Tributaries include
*
Kash River
*Charyn River , famous for its canyonHistorical connections
Ili river gave a name to
Ili river treaty of 638 CE, which formalized a division of theTurkic Kaganate (552-638 CE) intoWestern Turkic Kaganate andEastern Turkic Kaganate s, with the border between two states fixed along the Ili river. [Zuev Yu.L., "The strongest tribe", p. 55-56, Almaty, 2004 ]References
* "
Great Soviet Encyclopedia "
* [http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/007/043/43821.htm Или, река Семиречинской области] (The Ili River), inBrockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary
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