Covering an area of 268,591 square kilometres (16.18 per cent of Xinjiang), Ili Prefecture shares a 2,019-kilometer (1,255 mi)-long border with Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia.

The term "sub-provincial autonomous prefecture" (副省级自治州) has often been applied to Ili, but it has no legal basis under Chinese law and is a misnomer.

[citation needed]The Dzungar Khanate controlled both Dzungaria and the Ili basin until 1755, when the region was conquered by the Manchu-led Qing dynasty under the Qianlong Emperor.

The Qing tradition, unbroken until the days of Zuo Zongtang in the 1870s, was to only appoint Manchus as officials in Xinjiang.

The Dungan rebels massacred most of the city's inhabitants; Governor General Mingsioi (Mingxu) assembled his family and staff in his mansion and blew it up, dying under its ruins.

Ten years later, part of the territory was returned to China in accordance with the 1881 Treaty of Saint Petersburg.

In October 1884, the Qing government officially approved the establishment of Xinjiang Province and the local political system in Ili consequently went through major reforms.

Under the leadership of Yang Zuanxu (楊纘緒), a general of the Ili New Army, an armed rebellion against the Qing broke out on 7 January 1912.

The rebels occupied Huiyuan Town and killed Zhi Rui (志銳), the Ili Garrison General.

Guang Fu (廣福), Zhi Rui's predecessor as Ili Garrison General, was appointed Xinjiang's first military governor.

The Defence Governor of Ili headquarters were established in Huiyuan Town, the Counsellor's (參贊) in Tacheng, and the Business Executive's (辦事長官) in Altay.

Yita Circuit (伊塔道) was retained to govern local civil affairs; it was placed under the administration of the Defence Governor.

The position of Ili Defence Governor became vacant after Guang Fu died of illness on 1 February 1914.

It was declared a prefecture-level division under the jurisdiction of Xinjiang Province, with the three prefectures of Ili, Tacheng, and Altay under its administration.

Chinese citizens, predominantly Kazakhs, left through the border port of Korgas, driven by deteriorating living conditions in Xinjiang and rumours of Soviet citizenship.

[12] To compensate for the loss in manpower brought about by the exodus, thousands of Bingtuan soldiers were relocated to northern Xinjiang from the region's interior.

[14] Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture is located in the hinterland of Eurasia, in the northwest of Xinjiang, north of the Tian Shan.

Three major mountain ranges – the Altai, Dzungarian Alatau, and Tian Shan – stand from the north to south, with year-round ice and snow.