I. A Province Of The Russian Government General Of Turkistan

I. A Province Of The Russian Government General Of Turkistan, in central Asia; area, 27,500 sq. m.; pop. in 1871, 114,337. After the expulsion of the Chinese from the basin of the Ili, this region was for a time ruled by the sultan of the Taranji, who resided in the town of Kulja. Hostile demonstrations of the sultan against the Russian frontier led, in May, 1871, to a Russian expedition, which on July 3 ended with the submission of the sultan. The country was organized as a Russian province, and provisionally divided into four circles.

II. A Town

II. A Town, also called Ili, capital of the province, formerly the capital of Dzungaria, the northwesternmost dependency of China, but since 1871 occupied by and annexed to Russia; pop. about 30,000. It is situated on the Hi, about 350 m. E. of its mouth in Lake Balkash, and has long been one of the centres of the transit trade of central Asia.