The Mongol autonomous prefecture of Bortala was founded from Bole, Jinghe and Wenquan, 3 counties of Ili Prefecture (伊犁专区) in July 1954. The Kazakh autonomous prefecture of Ili had 3 prefectures of Altay, Ili and Tacheng under its administration when it was established in November 1954. The Ili Prefecture (伊犁专区) firstly ceased to be as a separate prefecture in December 1955, its county-level administrative units were directly administered by the autonomous prefecture of Ili.