The Lepsy ( kk, Лепсі, ''Lepsı''; russian: Лепсы) also known as the Lepsa River or the Lepsi River, is a river of the

Balkhash-Alakol Basin The Balkhash-Alakol Basin or Balkhash-Alakol Depression( kk, Балқаш-Алакөл ойысы; rus, Балхаш-Алакольская котловина), is a flat structural basin in southeastern Kazakhstan.

, south-eastern

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. It originates in the Dzungarian Alatau Mountains north of the border with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

and flows into Lake Balkhash. The river is long and has a basin area of . The Lepsy is the easternmost of the two small rivers that flow into the eastern Balkhash on the south bank, the other being the Aksu. The Lepsy is one of the main rivers of the historic region of

Zhetysu Zhetysu, or Jeti-Suu ( kk, , Жетісу, pronounced ; ky, ''Jeti-Suu'', (), meaning "seven rivers"; also transcribed ''Zhetisu'', ''Jetisuw'', ''Jetysu'', ''Jeti-su'', ''Jity-su'', ''Жетысу'',, National Geospatial-Intelligence Age ...

Course

The river flows north from the border with China before turning north-westward north of Sarkand and then west before turning north northward when it reaches the Saryesik-Atyrau Desert, a large sand desert south of Lake Balkhash. The river empties into Lake Balkhash just east of the Aksu River on its southern side. Lepsy freezes up in December and stays icebound until March. Because of the amount of water taken for irrigation, the river's flow into Lake Balkash is limited. Lakebalkhashbasinmap

References

Rivers of Kazakhstan Tributaries of Lake Balkhash {{Kazakhstan-river-stub