Ili River

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; pinyin: Yīlí Hé; Mongolian: Ил, literally "Bareness") 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 and 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.

Etymology

Earlier mentions of Ili river is in Mahmud al-Kashgari's dictionary of Turkic languages, the Dīwānu l-Luġat al-Turk, written in 1072-1074. In the book, author defines: Ili, name of a river. Turkic tribes of Yaghma, Tokhsi and Chiglig live on its banks. Turkish countries regard the river as their Jayhoun (Amu Darya) . The name is possibly originated from Uyghur word Il, means hook in English, resembling the river's geographical shape.

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: Yīlí; 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 region of Kazakhstan drained by the Ili and its tributaries is known in Kazakh as Zhetysu ('Seven Rivers') and in Russian as Semirechye (meaning the same).

The Kapshagay Hydroelectric Power Plant was constructed between 1965 and 1970 near Kapchagay in the middle reaches of the Ili River, forming the Kapchagay Reservoir—an artificial 110 km (68 mi) long lake north of Almaty.

Tamgaly-Tas, some 20 km (12 mi) downstream along Ili River is the 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

The Ili River gave its name to the Ili River treaty of 638 AD, which formalized the division of the Western Turkic Kaganate (552-638 AD) into the Nushibi and the Dulu, and established the Ili River as the border between the two states.

References

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