It flows through Tacheng (Tarbagatay) Prefecture of China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and the East Kazakhstan Province of Kazakhstan, and is one of the principal affluents of Lake Alakol.
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Besides, the Ili is the main source of water for Kazakhstan's Lake Balkhash, and the smaller Emil River, also flowing from China, supplies water to Kazakhstan's Lake Alakol.
The streams of the southern slope, many of which merge into the Emil River, flow into the Emin Valley (the basin of the endorheic Lake Alakol); they are an important source of water for several counties of Tacheng (Tarbagatay) Prefecture in China.