The Aksu ( kk, Ақсу, ''Aqsu''; russian: Аксу) is a river of the

Balkhash-Alakol Basin The Balkhash-Alakol Basin or Balkhash-Alakol Depression( kk, Балқаш-Алакөл ойысы; rus, Балхаш-Алакольская котловина), is a flat structural basin in southeastern Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. It originates in the

Dzungarian Alatau The Dzungarian Alatau ( mn, Зүүнгарын Алатау, ''Züüngaryn Alatau''; ; kk, Жетісу Алатауы, ''Jetısu Alatauy''; russian: Джунгарский Алатау, ''Dzhungarskiy Alatau'') is a mountain range that lies on t ...

Mountains near the border with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and flows into

Lake Balkhash Lake Balkhash ( kk, Балқаш көлі, ''Balqaş kóli'', ; russian: озеро Балхаш, ozero Balkhash) is a lake in southeastern Kazakhstan, one of the largest lakes in Asia and the 15th largest in the world. It is located in the ea ...

. In

Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turkic languag ...

, the name ' ak+ su' literally means "clean/white water". The Aksu is one of the main rivers of the historic region of

Zhetysu Zhetysu, or Jeti-Suu ( kk, , Жетісу, pronounced ; ky, ''Jeti-Suu'', (), meaning "seven rivers"; also transcribed ''Zhetisu'', ''Jetisuw'', ''Jetysu'', ''Jeti-su'', ''Jity-su'', ''Жетысу'',, United States National Geospatial-I ...

. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .Аксу (река в Казах. ССР)

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...

Course

The river flows north from the border with China before turning north-westward passing by Matay and then northward when it reaches the

Saryesik-Atyrau Desert The Saryesik Atyrau Desert ( kk, Сарыесікатырау, ''Saryesıkatyrau'') is a desert in the Balkhash-Alakol Basin,Lepsy River The Lepsy ( kk, Лепсі, ''Lepsı''; russian: Лепсы) also known as the Lepsa River or the Lepsi River, is a river of the Balkhash-Alakol Basin, south-eastern Kazakhstan. It originates in the Dzungarian Alatau Mountains north of the border ...

on its southern side. Aksu freezes in December and stays icebound until March. Because of irrigation, the river's flow into Lake Balkash is limited.

References

Rivers of Kazakhstan Tributaries of Lake Balkhash {{Kazakhstan-river-stub