Zhetysu, Northern Tian Shan, Kazakhstan

This is a pretty old card in my collection, received back in 2009 from Jo, who was still living in Kazakhstan at the time but has since moved to Vietnam (not sure if she still lives there??). It's such a nice view, too!

Zhetysu is a historical name of a part of Central Asia, corresponding to the South-Eastern part of modern Kazakhstan. It owes its name, meaning "seven rivers" (literally "seven waters") in Kazakh, to the rivers which flow from the south-east into Lake Balkhash. When the region was incorporated into the Russian Empire in the 19th century, it became known in Russian (and, to an extent, in European languages) as Semirechye, which is a Russian calque of the Kazakh "Zhetysu". Zhetysu falls into today's Almaty Province, which is part of Kazakhstan. However, the Semirechye Oblast, as an administrative unit of the Russian Empire, included not only Zhetysu proper but also lands that now constitute parts of northern Kyrgyzstan and adjacent provinces of Kazakhstan as well.

The Tian Shan is a large system of mountain ranges located in Central Asia. The highest peak in the Tian Shan is Victory Peak (Jengish Chokusu), 7,439 metres.