, 1985) The lands of the 19th-century
Semirechye Oblast included the
steppes south of
Lake Balkhash and parts of the
Tian Shan Mountains around Lake
Issyk-Kul. The province had an area of 147,300 km², and was bounded by the province of
Semipalatinsk on the north, by
China (
Xinjiang) on the east and south, and by the former Russian provinces of
Fergana,
Syr-Darya, and
Akmolinsk on the west. The
Dzungarian Alatau Mountains, which separated it from the Chinese region of
Kulja, extend south-west towards the
Ili River, with an average height of 2,700 m (9,000 ft) above the sea, several isolated snow-clad peaks reaching 3,400 to 4,300 m (11,000 to 14,000 ft). In the south, the region embraces the intricate systems of the
Ala-Tau and the Tian Shan. Two ranges of the former, the Trans-Ili Ala-tau and the Terskey Ala-tau, stretch along the north shore of Lake Issyk Kul, both ranging from 3,000 to 4,600 m (10,000 to 15,000 ft) and both partially snow-clad. South of the lake, two ranges of the Tian Shan, separated by the valley of the
Naryn, stretch in the same direction, lifting up their icy peaks to 1,800 and 2,400 m (6,000 and 8,000 ft); while westwards from the lake the precipitous slopes of the Alexander chain, 2,700 to 3,000 m (9,000 to 10,000 ft) high, with peaks rising 900 to 1,200 m (3,000 to 4,000 ft) higher, extend into the former province of Syr-darya (containing the southern Kazakh cities of
Chimkent,
Taraz and
Turkistan). Another mountain complex of much lower elevation runs north-westwards from the Trans-Ili Ala-tau towards the southern extremity of Lake Balkhash. In the north, where the province bordered Semipalatinsk, it included the western parts of the Tarbagatai range, the summits of which (3,000 m or 10,000 ft) do not reach the limit of perpetual snow. The remainder of the province consisted of a fertile steppe in the north-east (
Sergiopol), and vast uninhabitable sand-steppes on the south of Lake Balkhash. Southwards from these at the foot of the mountains and at the entrance to the valleys, there are rich areas of fertile land.
Climate The climate in Jetisu is thoroughly continental. In the Balkhash steppes the winter is very cold. The lake freezes every year, with temperatures falling to −11 °C (13 °F). In the Ala-kul steppes the winds blow away the snow. The passage from winter to spring is very abrupt, and the steppes are rapidly clothed with vegetation, which, however, is soon scorched by the sun. Average temperatures at
Almaty (733 m, 2,405 ft high) are: for the year , for January −8 °C (17 °F), for July 23 °C (74 °F). At
Przhevalsk (1,660 m, 5,450 ft): for the year 2.5 °C (36.5 °F), for January −5 °C (23 °F), for July 17 °C (63 °F); still higher in the mountains, at
Naryn (2,100 m, 6,900 ft), the average temperature for the year is only 6.5 °C (43.7 °F), for January −17 °C (1.4 °F), for July 18 °C (64.4 °F).
Bodies of water and
Almaty The most important river is the
Ili, which enters Jetisu from the Tian Shan mountains of China's
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in northern
Xinjiang, and drains it for 250 km before it enters Lake Balkhash. The
Chu River also rises in the Tian Shan mountains and flows north-westwards through the former Akmolinsk province of the
Governor-Generalship of the Steppes. The
Naryn River flows south-westwards along a
longitudinal valley of the Tian Shan, and enters the
Fergana Valley to join the
Syr Darya. The major lakes of the area include Lake Balkhas (or Denghiz) and Lake Ala Kul, which was connected with Balkash in the post-Pliocene period but now stands some hundred feet higher, connected by a chain of smaller lakes with Sissyk Kul, Lake
Issyk-Kul, and the alpine lakes of
Son-Kul and
Chatyr-Kul. ==Population==