Determination and further development of Tekeli started in the 1920s when Dzhungar Survey Expedition revealed rich mineral deposits near the future town location.

Homes and industrial facilities were built not only by visiting builders, but also by Japanese prisoners of the Second World War.

In 1952, Tekeli was granted city status and was incorporated on January 29, 1952, by the decree of the Kazakh Soviet Republic Presidium.

The name of the city comes from the species of animals that once lived in abundance in the gorges of these rivers: Teke - mountain goat, skiff - a small antelope.

[2] Tekeli will host one of the three campuses of the University of Central Asia (UCA) founded in 2000 by the governments of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, and His Highness the Aga Khan.

Tekeli has a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfb),[6] characterized by cold winters and warm summers.

"The Burhan Bulak" is the largest waterfall in Kazakhstan, located in the upper part of the Kora River, near Tekeli.