Ili River - Chinese Region

Chinese Region

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.