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 ILETSK, formerly Fort Iletskaya Zashchita, a town of Russia, in the government of Orenburg, 48 m. S. of the town of Orenburg by the railway to Tashkent, near the Ilek river, a tributary of the Ural. Pop. 11,802 in 1897. A thick bed of excellent rock-salt is worked here to the extent of about 100,000 tons annually. The place is resorted to for its salt, mud and brine baths, and its koumiss cures.

ILFELD, a town in Germany, in the Prussian province of Hanover, situated at the south foot of the Harz, at the entrance to the Bährethal, 8 m. N. from Nordhausen by the railway to Wernigerode. Pop. 1600. It contains an Evangelical church, a celebrated gymnasium, once a monasterial school, with a fine library, and manufactures of parquet-flooring, paper and plaster of Paris, while another industry in the town is brewing. It is also of some repute as a health resort.

Ilfeld, as a town, dates from the 14th century, when it sprang up round a Benedictine monastery. Founded about 1190 this latter was reformed in 1545, and a year later converted into the school mentioned above, which under the rectorship of Michael Neander (1525–1595) enjoyed a reputation for scholarship which it has maintained until to-day.

See Förstemann, Monumenta rerum Ilfeldensium (Nordhausen, 1843); M. Neander, Bericht vom Kloster Ilfeld, edited by Bouterwek (Göttingen, 1873); and K. Meyer, Geschichte des Klosters Ilfeld (Leipzig, 1897).

 ILFORD [], an urban district in the Romford parliamentary division of Essex, England, on the Roding, 7 m. E.N.E. of London by the Great Eastern railway. Pop. (1891) 10,913, (1901) 41,234. A portion of Hainault Forest lies within the parish. The hospital of St Mary and St Thomas, founded in the 12th century as a leper hospital, now contains almshouses and a chapel, and belongs to the marquess of Salisbury, who as “Master” is required to maintain a chaplain and six aged inmates. The chapel appears to be of the date of this foundation. Claybury Hall is a lunatic asylum (1893) of the London County Council. There are large photographic material works and paper mills. is a parish on the opposite (west) side of the Roding. The church of St Mary retains Norman portions, and has a curious monumental brass commemorating a boy in school-going clothes (1517). Pop. (1901) 17,915.

 ILFRACOMBE, a seaport and watering-place in the Barnstaple parliamentary division of Devonshire, England, on the Bristol Channel, 225 m. W. by S. of London by the London & South-Western railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 8557. The picturesque old town, built on the cliffs above its harbour, consists of one street stretching for about a mile through a network of lanes. Behind it rise the terraces of a more modern town, commanding a fine view across the Channel. With its beautiful scenery and temperate climate, Ilfracombe is frequented by visitors both in summer and winter. Grand rugged cliffs line the coast; while, inland, the country is celebrated for the rich colouring of its woods and glens. Wooded heights form a semicircle round the town, which is protected from sea winds by Capstone Hill. Along the inner face of this rock has been cut the Victoria Promenade, a long walk roofed with glass and used for concerts. The restored church of Holy Trinity dates originally from the 12th century. Sea-bathing is insecure, and is confined to a few small coves, approached by tunnels hewn through the rock. The harbour, a natural recess among the cliffs, is sheltered on the east by Hilsborough Head, where there are some alleged Celtic remains; on the west by Lantern Hill, where the ancient chapel of St Nicholas has been transformed into a lighthouse. In summer, passenger steamers run to and from Ilfracombe pier; but the shipping trade generally has declined, though herring fisheries are carried on with success. In the latter part of the 13th century Ilfracombe obtained a grant for holding a fair and market, and in the reign of Edward III. it was a place of such importance as to supply him with six ships and ninety-six men for his armament against Calais. During the Civil War, being garrisoned for the Roundheads, it was in 1644 captured by the Royalists, but in 1646 it fell into the hands of Fairfax.

 ILHAVO, a seaport in the district of Aveiro, formerly included in the province of Beira, Portugal, 3 m. S.W. of Aveiro (q.v.), on the lagoon of Aveiro, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. Pop. (1900) 12,617. Ilhavo is inhabited chiefly by fishermen, but has a celebrated manufactory of glass and porcelain, the Vista-Alegre, at which the art of glass-cutting has reached a high degree of perfection. Salt is largely exported. Ilhavo is celebrated for the beauty of its women. It is said to have been founded by Greek colonists about 400, but this tradition is of doubtful validity.

ILI, one of the principal rivers of Central Asia, in the Russian province of Semiryechensk. The head-stream, called the Tekez, rises at an altitude of 11,600 ft. E. of Lake Issyk-kul, in 82° 25′ E. and 43° 23′ N., on the W. slopes of mount Kash-katur. At first it flows eastward and north-eastward, until, after emerging from the mountains, it meets the Kungez, and then, assuming the name of Ili, it turns westwards and flows between the Trans-Ili Ala-tau mountains on the south and the Boro-khoro and Talki ranges on the north for about 300 m. to Iliysk. The valley between 79° 30′ and 82° E. is 50 m. wide, and the portion above the town of Kulja (Old Kulja) is fertile and populous, Taranchi villages following each other in rapid succession, and the pastures being well stocked with sheep and cattle and horses. At Iliysk the river turns north-west, and after traversing a region of desert and marsh falls by at least seven mouths into the Balkash Lake, the first bifurcation of the delta taking place about 115 m. up the river. But it is only the southern arm of the delta that permanently carries water. The total length of the river is over 900 m. From Old Kulja to New Kulja the Ili is navigable for at most only two and a half months in the year, and even then considerable difficulty is occasioned by the shoals and sandbanks. From New Kulja to Iliysk (280 m.) navigation is easy when the water is high, and practicable even at its lowest for small boats. At Iliysk there is a ferry on the road from Kopal to Vyernyi. The principal tributaries of the Ili are the Kash, Chilik and Charyn. A vast number of streams flow towards it from the mountains on both sides, but most of them are used up by the irrigation canals and never reach their goal. The wealth of coal in the valley is said to be great, and when the Chinese owned the country they worked gold and silver with profit. Fort Ili or Iliysk, a modern Russian establishment, must not be confounded with Ili, the old capital of the Chinese province of the same name. The latter, otherwise known as Hoi-yuan-chen, New Kulja (Gulja), or Manchu Kulja, was formerly a city of 70,000 inhabitants, but now lies completely deserted. Old Kulja, Tatar Kulja or Nin-yuan, is now the principal town of the district. The Chinese district of Ili formerly included the whole of the valley of the Ili river as far as Issyk-kul, but now only its upper part. Its present area is about 27,000 sq. m. and its population probably 70,000. It belongs administratively to the province of Sin-kiang or East Turkestan. (See .)

ILION, a village of Herkimer county, New York, U.S.A., about 12 m. S.E. of Utica, on the S. bank of the Mohawk river. Pop. (1890) 4057; (1900) 5138 (755 foreign-born); (1905, state census) 5924; (1910) 6588. It is served by the New York Central & Hudson river, and the West Shore railways, by the Utica & Mohawk Valley Electric railroad, and by the Erie canal. It has a public library (1868) of about 13,500 volumes, a public hospital and a village hall. The village owns its water-works and its electric-lighting plant. Its principal manufactures are Remington typewriters and Remington fire-arms (notably the Remington rifle); other manufactures are filing cabinets and cases and library and office furniture (the Clark & Baker Co.), knit goods, carriages and harness, and store fixtures. In 1828 Eliphalet Remington (1793–1861) established here a small factory for the manufacture of rifles. He invented, and, with the assistance of his sons, Philo (1816–1889), Samuel and Eliphalet, improved the famous Remington rifle, which was adopted by several European governments, and was supplied in large numbers to the United States army. In 1856 the company added the manufacture of farming tools, in 1870 sewing-machines,