The Ilek is a left tributary of the
Ural. It is a
steppe river, flowing at the southern end of the
Ural Mountains. It rises just south of
Orsk, flows south a short distance and then flows westward south of and parallel to the river Ural, with many meanders and
oxbow lakes, and joins the Ural about west of
Orenburg. Two main cities lie on the banks of the Ilek River:
Sol-Iletsk and
Aqtöbe (alternate spelling: Aktöbe,
Aktyubinsk). The Ilek remains the
most polluted water body in the Ural-Caspian
basin. The content of
boron and
chromium in the river is caused by the tailing ponds of former chemical plants via ground water. The
pollution level varies from "polluted" to "very polluted". Tributaries of the Ilek include the
Bolshaya Khobda and the
Kargaly. ==Fauna==