Zhetysu

Zhetysu (Jetısu, ʑjɪtɪsəw; meaning "seven rivers" or more literally, "seven waters") or Jeti-Suu (Jeti-Suu, dʒetisuː), also transcribed Zhetisu, Jetisuw, Jetysu, Jeti-su or Jity-su, is a historical name of a part of Central Asia corresponding to the southeastern part of modern Kazakhstan. Word comes from "seven rivers" in Kazakh language but meant "abounding in water", in contrast to the dry steppes of the eastern Balkhash area. It owes its name to the rivers that flow from the southeast into Lake Balkhash. Zhetysu falls into today's Almaty Region and other South-Eastern parts of Kazakhstan and some parts of Northern Kyrgyzstan. 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 river Ili, 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, Auliye-ata and Turkestan).