In December 1953, the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Region was approved to set up, it was an administrative division at prefecure-level and under the jurisdiction of Xinjiang Province, the 3 prefectures of Ili, Tacheng and Altay were under its administration. The Mongol autonomous prefecture of Bortala was founded from Bole, Jinghe and Wenquan, 3 counties of "Ili Prefecture" () in July 1954. "Ili Kazakh Autonomous Region" was renamed to "Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture" on February 5, 1955. The autonomous prefecture of Ili is located in the hinterland of Eurasia, the northwest of Xinjiang and north of Tianshan, between the north latitude of 40 degrees 14′16″ - 49 degrees 10′45″, the east longitude of 80 degrees 09′42″ - 91 degrees 01′45″. It covers a total area of 268,591 square kilometers, accounting for 16.18% of the total area of Xinjiang. The autonomous prefecture, which is bordered on the east by Mongolia, by Aksu Prefecture, Bayingolin Autonomous Prefecture, Changji Autonomous Prefecture, Ürümqi City and the provincial direct-administered county-level city of Shihezi to the south, by Bortala Autonomous Prefecture to the west, by the Republic of Kazakhstan to the northwest, by the Russian Federation to the north, the prefecture-level city of Karamay in the middle south, is located in the north west corner of China. Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe Railway, G218, G217 National Highways, and S316 Provincial Highway pass through its territory. With a boundary line of 2,019 kilometers, including Khorgas, Bakhty () and Jeminay, there are 9 ports of entry at the national level. With the unique location advantage, Ili has been an important commercial hub and international channel of opening up to the west. In the autonomous prefecture, there are four types of landforms, 83,632 square kilometres of mountains, 62,989 square kilometres of hills, 102,974 square kilometres of plains, 20,439 square kilometres of deserts. Three major mountain ranges of Altai, Dzungar () and Tianshan with year-round ice and snow stand from north to south. Located in Burqin County, the highest Friendship Peak of the Altai Range is 4,374 meters high, the snow line is 3,000 - 3,200 meters high, the glacier area is 293.2 square kilometers, and the glacier reserves are 16.4 billion cubic meters.