The Emil (, ''Emıl''; ''Emel'') or Emin (), also spelled Emel, Imil, etc., is a river in China and Kazakhstan. It flows through Tacheng (Tarbagatay) Prefecture of China's

Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC: previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest of the country at the crossroads ...

and the

East Kazakhstan Province East Kazakhstan Region (; ) is a region of Kazakhstan. It occupies the easternmost part of Kazakhstan, and includes parts of the Irtysh River, Lake Markakol, and Lake Zaysan. Its administrative center is Öskemen (also known as Ust'-Kamenogorsk ...

of Kazakhstan, and is one of the principal affluents of

Lake Alakol Alakol Lake (, , from Turkic "motley lake") is a lake located in the Balkhash-Alakol Basin, part of the Abai Region, Abai and Jetisu Region, Jetisu regions, in east-central Kazakhstan. Its elevation is above sea level. The lake is the northwe ...

. The Emil River is the principal watercourse of the

Emin Valley The Emin Valley () is located on the China–Kazakhstan border, in Central Asia. It has an area of about . Its main waterway is the Emil River. Administratively, the Emin Valley occupies areas of Tacheng Prefecture in the Xinjiang Region of nor ...

, the plain bounded by the

Tarbagatai Mountains The Tarbagatai Mountains are a mountain range straddling the China–Kazakhstan border, located in northwestern Xinjiang, China, and the Abai Region of East Kazakhstan. The name of the mountain derived from the Mongolian word ''tarvaga'', m ...

in the north, the Barlyk Mountains () in the southeast and Lake Alakol in the west. The Emil's headwaters are two streams, the Sary Emil ("Yellow Emil") and Kara Emil ("Black Emil"), which rise near the Sino-Kazakh border in the Tarbagatai Mountains, near the Tarbagatai's junction with the Saur. The two Emils flow in a west-south-western direction, eventually joining together, across Dörbiljin County (which is called in Chinese as Emin County, after the river). The river continues its flow to the west, the border of

Tacheng TachengThe official spelling according to (), also known as Tarbagatay, Chuguchak or Qoqek, is a county-level city and the administrative seat of Tacheng Prefecture, in northern Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang. The Chinese name "Tach ...

City and

Yumin County Yumin County as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Mongolian as Qagantokay County, is a county situated in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Tacheng Prefecture, bordering Kazakhstan' ...

mostly following its course. The Emil crosses the Sino-Kazakh border at , and after a short stretch in Kazakhstan discharges into

, where it forms a small

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

. The total length of the

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...

ing river is estimated at , of which is China and in Kazakhstan. Emin Town, the county seat of Emin County, is situated in the Emil River valley. Similarly to the much larger and better known

Ili Ili, ILI, Illi may refer to: Abbreviations * Indian Law Institute * Influenza-like illness * Intelligent Land Investments * Intensive lifestyle intervention, a type of lifestyle medicine * International Law Institute, a non-profit organization ...

, the Emil receives most of its water from the mountains on the Chinese side of the border and is an essential for the water balance of a major lake in Kazakhstan (the Alakol in case of the Emil, the Balkhash for the Ili). Accordingly, the management of its water within China is also of concern for Kazakhstan, and is a subject of interaction between the authorities of the two countries.Казахстан и Китай решили совместо использовать трансграничные реки. Пока Иртыш не высох...
(Kazakhstan and China have decided to jointly use transborder rivers. While the Irtysh has not dried out...). 2003-02-25

Notes

Rivers of Xinjiang Rivers of Kazakhstan {{Kazakhstan-river-stub