Ili River

Ili River
Ili River
Map of the Lake Balkhash drainage basin showing the Ili River and its tributaries, the Kash mistranscribed as 'Kax'
Location
CountryKazakhstan and China
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationTekes and Künes rivers
 • elevationTian Shan
Mouth 
 • location
Lake Balkhash
Length1,439 km (894 mi)
Basin size140,000 km2 (54,000 sq mi)
Discharge 
 • average480 m3/s (17,000 cu ft/s)
Official nameIli River Delta and South Lake Balkhash
Designated1 January 2012
Reference no.2020[1]

The Ili River (Uyghur: ئىلى دەرياسى, Или Дәряси, Ili Dəryasi; Kazakh: Ile; Russian: Или; Chinese: 伊犁河, Yīlí Hé; Dungan: Йили хә, اِلِ حْ; Mongolian: Или мөрөн, Ili Mörön) is a river in Northwest China and Southeastern Kazakhstan. It flows from the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to the Almaty Region in Kazakhstan.

It is 1,439 kilometres (894 mi) long (including its source river the Tekes),[2] 815 kilometres (506 mi) of which is in Kazakhstan. The river originates from the Tekes and Künes rivers in Eastern Tian Shan. The Ili drains the basin between the Tian Shan and the Borohoro Mountains. Flowing into Lake Balkhash, the Ili forms a large delta with vast wetland regions of lakes, marshes and vegetation.[3][4]

  1. ^ "Ili River Delta and South Lake Balkhash". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  2. ^ Или, Great Soviet Encyclopedia
  3. ^ Ili River
  4. ^ Ili river Kazakhstan