Kezi River

The Kezi River (Chinese: 克孜河), also marked as Kirzl River (克孜勒河) and Kirzlesu River (克孜勒苏河) on the map of People's Republic of China, is a river in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region^[4] of China, located in Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture.^[5]

Map including K'o-tzu-le Ho (a name for the river; above 20⁴ on the map) (DMA, 1984)

Map including Kizilsu He (a name for the river; near 15⁰ on the map) (DMA, 1989)

Kezi River Kirzl River Kirzlesu River
Native name	克孜河 (Chinese)[1] 克孜勒河 (Chinese)[2] 克孜勒苏河 (Chinese)[3]
Location
Country	People's Republic of China
Physical characteristics
Length	900 kilometers (within China)

Kezi River originates from the Gora Kurumdy (Kurumdy I Summit) on the Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan border and enters Wuqia County in Xinjiang through the border at Simukhana Pass (斯木哈纳山口), which is the boundary between the Tianshan and Kunlun Mountains.^[6] The river flows 900 kilometers within China,^[7] with a drainage area of 15,100 square kilometers.

Kezi River is the largest river in the Kashgar water system.^[8] In China, the river flows from west to east through Wuqia County, Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture, Shufu County, Shule County, Kashgar City, Jiashi City, and Bachu County in Kashgar Prefecture,^[9] and finally meets the Yarkant River and joins the Tarim River basin.^[10]

The Kashi segment (Xinjiang) of Kezi River was badly polluted.^[11] In 2016, the control unit in the Kashgar Prefecture of the Kezi River was upgraded from worse than Grade V to Grade V.^[12]