Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture

Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in northern Xinjiang, China. Its capital is Yining, also known as Ghulja or Kulja. Covering an area of 268,591 square kilometres (16.18 per cent of Xinjiang), Ili Prefecture shares a 2,019 kilometre-long border with Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia. There are nine ports of entry in Ili Prefecture at the national level, including Jeminay and Khorgas. Directly administered regions within the prefecture cover 56,622 square kilometres (21.08 per cent of Ili's total area) and have a population of 4,930,600 (63.95 per cent of Ili's registered population). Kazakhs in China are the second largest ethnicity in the prefecture after the Han, and make up a little over a quarter of the population. Ili is the only autonomous prefecture in China that has prefectures (Altay and Tacheng) under its administration. The term "sub-provincial autonomous prefecture" has often been applied to Ili, but it has no legal basis under Chinese law and is a misnomer. History