Ilek River

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Course of Ilek ( Илек ) in the catchment area ( yellow) of the Ural

The Ilek (Russian Илек; Kazakh Елек, Jelek or Елік, Jelik ) is a 623 km long left tributary of the Ural Mountains in Kazakhstan and Russia.

History and Hydrology

The Ilek arises in the westkasachichen steppe about 10 km north of the city Qandyaghasch (until 1997 Oktyabrsk ) from the river Karaganda ( Karaganda ) from the left and from the right Scharyk. In part, the Karaganda is already called from Qandyaghasch as Ilek. The Scharyk larger than the source rivers is about 75 km long, so that the total length of the Ilek with the Scharyk is about 700 km. The Ilek flows through the first area Aktobe in the north, past the administrative center of the city Aktobe. He gradually turns to the north-west to the west, crossing the border with Russia and flows through the southern part of the Orenburg Oblast, before he returned to the Russian- Kazakh border. Below the confluence of the only major tributary, the 225 km ( with source river Karachobda 363 km ) (also called Bolshaya Chobda, Large Chobda ) long, coming from the left (southeast) Chobda 184 km above the Ilek estuary follows the border for long stretches the river. The Kazakh side there is one already for the West Kazakhstan region. The Ilek finally empties into the Urals, which marks the border between Europe and Asia 1085 km from its mouth in the Caspian Sea. The mouth is slightly below the directory named after the river Ilek village, a few kilometers from the border with Kazakhstan, each about 130 km west of the Russian city of Orenburg and east of the Kazakh city Oral (Uralsk ).

The catchment area of the river comprises 41,300 km ². He freezes usually to between the second half of November and the second half of April. In the summer he leads very little water.

Traffic

The Ilek is not navigable.

Just as the train route following Highway Tashkent at some distance the river (south of Aktobe as A -27) - The entire upper and middle reaches of the river of sol- Ilezk until his emergence in Qandyaghasch follows the railway line Orenburg - Aktobe - Turkestan. Below the sol- Ilezk crosses the railway line Saratov - Oral - Sol - Ilezk the Ilek, as well as a few miles above the mouth of the road Orenburg - Oral, located in the course as Russian R335 and Kazakh A-30 on a river border crossing.