Altay Prefecture is located in northern Xinjiang, People's Republic of China. It has an area of 118,015 km2 and a population of 561,667. It is a part of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. At the 2000 census, Altay was the only major subdivision of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture with an ethnic Kazakh majority. In 2007 it had a GDP of RMB 9.9 billion with a 12% growth rate. It is also shares international border with the neighboring Altai Republic, Russia.