| Kezi River Kirzl River Kirzlesu River | |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | People's Republic of China |
| Length: | 900 kilometers (within China) |
The Kezi River, 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[1] of China, located in Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture.[2]
Kezi River originates from the Gora Kurumdy (Kurumdy I Summit) in 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.[3] The river flows 900 kilometers within China,[4] with a drainage area of 15,100 square kilometers.
Kezi River is the largest river in the Kashgar water system.[5] 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,[6] and finally meets the Yarkant River and joins the Tarim River basin.[7]
The Kashi segment (Xinjiang) of Kezi River was badly polluted.[8] In 2016, the control unit in the Kashgar Prefecture of the Kezi River was upgraded from worse than Grade V to Grade V.[9]