Burqin

Burqin lies where the Burqin River joins the Irtysh below the Altai Mountains. The river gathers waters from the Kanas and Hemu valleys, descending southwest from forested uplands toward the broad Irtysh. Local Kazakh speakers called the confluence Kuygan, meaning a meeting of waters. After the Qing conquest of the Dzungars in the eighteenth century, the surrounding pastures were administered through the Khovd authorities and used by the Altai Uriankhai.