SEMIRYETCHENSK, a province of Russian Turkestan, including the steppes south of Lake Balkash and parts of the Tian-Shan Mountains around Lake Issik-kul. It has an area of 155,300 square miles and is bounded by Semipalatinsk on the N., by China (Jugutchak, Kuldja, Aksu, and Kashgaria) on the E. and S., and by the Russian provinces of Ferganah, Syr-Daria, and Akmolinsk on the W. It owes its name (Jity-su, Semi-ryetchie, i.e., “ Seven Rivers ”) to the rivers which flow from the south-east into Lake Balkash. The Jungarian Ala-tau, which separates it from north-western Kuldja, penetrates into its central portions, extending south-west towards the river Ili, with an average height of 6000 feet above the sea, several isolated snow-clad peaks reaching about 12,000 feet. In the south Semiryetchensk embraces the intricate systems of the Transili Ala-tau and the Tian-Shan (see Turkestan). Two ranges of the former, connected about their middle by a single mountain-mass, extend east-north-eastwards along the northern shore of Lake Issik-kul, both ranging from 10,000 to about 15,000 feet and both partially snow-clad. To the south of the lake two immense ranges of the Tian-Shan, separated by the valley of the Naryn, stretch in the same direction, raising their icy peaks to above 15,000 and 16,000 feet; while westwards from the lake the vast walls of the Alexandrovskiy ridge, 9000 to 10,000 feet high, with peaks rising some 2000 feet higher, extend to the province of Syr-Daria. Another mountain complex of much lower elevation runs north-westwards from the Trans-Ilian Ala-tau towards the southern extremity of Lake Balkash. In the north, λvhere the province borders Semipalatinsk, it includes the western parts of the Tarbagatai range, the summits of which (10,000 feet) do not reach ...the limit of perpetual snow. The remainder of the province consists of a rich steppe in the north-east (Serghiopol), and vast uninhabitable sand-steppes on the south-east of Lake Balkash. Southwards from the last-named, however, at the foot of the mountains and at the entrance to the valleys, there are rich areas of fertile land, which are rapidly being colonized by Russian immigrants, who have also spread into the Tian-Shan, to the east of Lake Issik-kul. The climate is relatively temperate (average yearly temperature 44° Fahr. at Vyernyi, 2500 feet above the sea) and the vegetation rich.
The chief river is the Ili. which enters the province from Kuldja, makes its way through the spurs of the Trans-Ilian Ala-tau, flows north-west in a bed varying from 200 to 1000 yards in width, and waters the province for 250 miles before it enters Lake Balkash by several mouths forming a wide delta. Its tributaries from the left are the Naryn, the Tchilik, and the Kurtu; several others become lost in the sands. The Karatal, the Aksu, and the Lepsa likewise fall into Lake Balkash. The Tchu rises in the Tian-Shan Mountains and flows north-westwards to Lake Saumal-kul; and the Naryn flows south-westwards along a longitudinal valley of the Tian-Shan, and enters Ferganah to join the Syr-Daria. The province contains several important lakes. Lake Balkash, or Denghiz, in the north (8880 square miles), is crescent-shaped, 400 miles long and 55 wide in its broader part; but its area is much less than it formerly was, and it is rapidly drying up,—notably since 1853. Lake Ala-kul, which was connected with Balkash in the Post-Pliocene period, now stands some hundred feet higher, and is connected by a chain of smaller lakes with Sisik-kul. Lake Issik-kul (2260 square miles) is a deep mountain lake, 120 miles long and 37 wide, 5300 feet above the sea. The alpine lakes Son-kul (9400 feet) and Tchatyr-kul (11,100) lie south-west of Issik-kul.
The population, which was estimated at 748,800 by M. Kostenko in 1880 (139,660 being in the Kuldja region), has since increased, the latest official figures (1882) giving 685,950 for the province, exclusive of the Kuldja region. Of these Russians numbered, according to Kostenko, 44,585, 20,640 being Cossacks, who are very poor as compared with the free Russian emigrants. The majority of the population are Kirghiz (595,237); next come Tarantchis (36,265), Kalmucks (about 25,000), Mongols and Manchurians (22,000), and Dungans (19,657), these last two mostly in Kuldja; while Tatars and Sarts are each represented by some 3000 or 3500 (all the foregoing figures include those for Kuldja). The province is subdivided into five districts; Vyernyi (18,423 inhabitants in 1879, of whom 3586 were military), the chief town of the province, formerly Almaty, is situated at the foot of the Trans-Ilian Ala-tau, and has a mixed population of Russians, Tatars, Sarts, Kirghiz, Kalmucks, and Jews; its trade with Kuldja and Kashgar is increasing rapidly, and it has now two lyceums, for boys and girls, and several other schools. The other towns—Kopal (5450 inhabitants), Serghiopol (1045), Tokmak (1770), and Karakol (2780) —are merely administrative centres.
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