Ala-tau ('mottled'), a name given to a range of lofty mountains forming the boundary between
Turkestan and Mongolia, and the northern limit of the great tableland of Central Asia. It is made up of five sierra-like sub-ranges, the Zungarian, the Trans-Ilj, the Kungei, and the Terskei Alatau, the fifth, running west, having been re-named by the Russians the Alexander Range. These are all grouped round Lake Issik-Kul (elevation, 5300 feet) as a central point. The mountains, which are principally of granite formation, range generally in elevation from 10,000 to 15,000 feet, and the loftiest peak, Khan Tengri, is 24,000 feet above the sea.