



































| Coordinates | 42°33′″N0°33′″N |
|---|---|
| lake name | Caspian Sea |
| image lake | Caspian Sea from orbit.jpg |
| caption lake | As captured by the MODIS on the orbiting Terra satellite |
| caption bathymetry | l |
| coords | |
| type | Endorheic, Saline, Permanent, Natural |
| inflow | Volga River, Ural River, Kura River, Terek River |
| outflow | Evaporation |
| catchment | |
| basin countries | Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan |
| length | |
| width | |
| area | |
| depth | |
| max-depth | |
| volume | |
| residence time | 250 years |
| shore | |
| elevation | |
| islands | 26+ (''see Island below'') |
| islands category | Islands of the Caspian Sea |
| cities | Baku (Azerbaijan), Rasht (Iran), Aktau (Kazakhstan), Makhachkala (Russia), Türkmenbaşy (Turkmenistan) (''see article'') |
| reference | }} |
The ancient inhabitants of its littoral perceived the Caspian Sea as an ocean, probably because of its saltiness and seeming boundlessness. It has a salinity of approximately 1.2%, about a third the salinity of most seawater. The Caspian Sea has been called Gilan (گیلان or دریای گیلان) on ancient maps. In Iran, it is referred to as ''Daryâ-ye Mazandaran'' (دریای مازندران), meaning "the Sea of Mazandaran" in Persian, and sometimes also as Daryâ-ye Khazar.
Divisions between the three regions are dramatic. The Northern Caspian only includes the Caspian shelf, and is very shallow; it accounts for less than one percent of the total water volume with an average depth of only . The sea noticeably drops off towards the Middle Caspian, where the average depth is . The Southern Caspian is the deepest, with oceanic depths of over . The Middle and Southern Caspian account for 33 percent and 66 percent of the total water volume, respectively. The northern portion of the Caspian Sea typically freezes in the winter, and in the coldest winters, ice will form in the south.
Over 130 rivers provide inflow to the Caspian, with the Volga River being the largest. A second affluent, the Ural River, flows in from the north, and the Kura River flows into the sea from the west. In the past, the Amu Darya (Oxus) of Central Asia in the east often changed course to empty into the Caspian through a now-desiccated riverbed called the Uzboy River, as did the Syr Darya farther north. The Caspian also has several small islands; they are primarily located in the North and have a collective land area of roughly . Adjacent to the North Caspian is the Caspian Depression, a low-lying region below sea level. The Central Asian steppes stretch across the northeast coast, while the Caucasus mountains hug the Western shore. The biomes to both the north and east are characterized by cold, continental deserts. Conversely, the climate to the southwest and south are generally warm with uneven elevation due to a mix of highlands and mountain ranges; the drastic changes in climate alongside the Caspian have led to a great deal of biodiversity in the region.
The Caspian Sea holds great numbers of sturgeon, which yield eggs that are processed into caviar. Overfishing has depleted a number of the historic fisheries including the economic exhaustion of the tuna fishery. In recent years overfishing has threatened the sturgeon population to the point that environmentalists advocate banning sturgeon fishing completely until the population recovers. However, the high price of sturgeon caviar allows fisherman to afford bribes to ensure the authorities look the other way, making regulations in many locations ineffective. Caviar harvesting further endangers the fish stocks, since it targets reproductive females. The Caspian Sea along with the Black Sea is also home to the native Zebra mussel, which has been accidentally introduced and become an invasive species in many countries. The native range of the Common Carp extends to the Caspian Sea as well as the Black Sea and Aral Sea. Like the Zebra mussel it also has become an invasive species where it has been introduced.
The Caspian seal (''Phoca caspica'', ''Pusa caspica'' in some sources), which is endemic to the Caspian Sea, is one of very few seal species that live in inland waters (see also Baikal seal, Saimaa Ringed Seal). The area has given its name to several species of birds, including the Caspian gull and the Caspian tern. There are several species and subspecies of fish endemic to the Caspian Sea, including the kutum (also known as Caspian white fish), Caspian Marine Shad, Caspian roach, Caspian bream (some report that the Bream occurring in the Aral Sea is the same subspecies), and a Caspian "salmon" (a subspecies of trout, ''Salmo trutta caspiensis''). The "Caspian salmon" is critically endangered.
The Caspian has characteristics common to both seas and lakes. It is often listed as the world's largest lake, although it is not a freshwater lake. The Caspian became landlocked about 5.5 million years ago due to plate tectonics. The Volga River (about 80% of the inflow) and the Ural River discharge into the Caspian Sea, but it has no natural outflow other than by evaporation. Thus the Caspian ecosystem is a closed basin, with its own sea level history that is independent of the eustatic level of the world's oceans. The level of the Caspian has fallen and risen, often rapidly, many times over the centuries. Some Russian historians claim that a medieval rising of the Caspian, perhaps caused by the Amu Darya changing its inflow to the Caspian from the 13th century to the 16th century, caused the coastal towns of Khazaria, such as Atil, to flood. In 2004, the water level was -28 metres, or 28 metres (92 ft) below sea level.
Over the centuries, Caspian Sea levels have changed in synchronicity with the estimated discharge of the Volga, which in turn depends on rainfall levels in its vast catchment basin. Precipitation is related to variations in the amount of North Atlantic depressions that reach the interior, and they in turn are affected by cycles of the North Atlantic Oscillation. Thus levels in the Caspian sea relate to atmospheric conditions in the North Atlantic thousands of miles to the north and west. These factors make the Caspian Sea a valuable place to study the causes and effects of global climate change.
The last short-term sea-level cycle started with a sea-level fall of from 1929 to 1977, followed by a rise of from 1977 until 1995. Since then smaller oscillations have taken place.
The earliest human remains around Caspian are from Dmanisi dating back to around 1.8 ma and yielded a number of skeletal remains of Homo erectus or ergaster. More later evidence for human occupation of the region come from a number of caves in Georgia and Azerbaijan such as Kudaro and Azykh Caves. There new evidence for Lower Paleolithic human occupation at south of Caspian from western Alburz. These are Ganj Par and Darband Cave sites. Neanderthal remains also have discovered at a cave site in Georgia. Discoveries in the Huto cave and the adjacent Kamarband cave, near the town of Behshahr, Mazandaran south of the Caspian in Iran, suggest human habitation of the area as early as 11,000 years ago.
According to Indian Hindu belief, the name 'Caspian' is supposed to have been derived from the Sanskrit word 'Kashyapa' the name of an ancient Indian Sage.
In classical antiquity among Greeks and Persians it was called the ''Hyrcanian Ocean''. In Persian antiquity, as well as in modern Iran, it is known as the ''mazandaran sea'' (). Among Indians it was called ''Kashyap Sagar''. In Turkic speaking countries it is known as the ''Khazar Sea''. Old Russian sources call it the ''Khvalyn (Khvalynian) Sea'' (Хвалынское море /Хвалисское море) after the Khvalis, inhabitants of Khwarezmia. Ancient Arabic sources refer to as ''Baḥr Gilan'' ( - the ''Caspian/Gilan Sea'').
Turkic languages use a consistent nomenclature that is different from the Indo-European languages above. For instance, in Turkmen, the name is ''Hazar deňzi'', in Azeri, it's ''Xəzər dənizi'', and in modern Turkish, it's ''Hazar denizi''. In all these cases, the second word simply means "sea", and the first word refers to the historical Khazars who had a large empire based to the North of the Caspian Sea between the 7th and 10th centuries.
Modern cities
Major cities by the Caspian Sea:
In the North Caspian, the majority of the islands are small and uninhabited, like the Tyuleniy Archipelago, an Important Bird Area (IBA), although some of them do have human settlers.
Many of the islands nearby the Azerbaijan coast hold significant geopolitical and economic importance due to their oil reserves. Bulla Island is off the coast of Azerbaijan, and holds tremendous oil reserves. Pirallahı Island, off the Azerbaijani coast as well, also possesses oil reserves; it was one of the first places in Azerbaijan found to have oil, and was the first place in the Caspian Sea to have sectional drilling done. Nargin was used as a former Soviet base and is the largest island in the Baku bay. Ashuradeh is situated on the easternmost end of Miankaleh peninsula to the north east of Gorgan Bay, near the Iranian coast. It was separated from the peninsula after islanders created a channel.
Various islands, particularly around Azerbaijan, have suffered extensive environmental damage due to oil production. Vulf, for example, suffered severe ecological damage from oil production in the neighboring islands, although Caspian seals and various species of marine birds continue to be found.
The world’s first offshore wells and machine-drilled wells were made in Bibi-Heybat Bay, near Baku, Azerbaijan. In 1873, exploration and development of oil began in some of the largest fields known to exist in the world at that time on the Absheron peninsula near the villages of Balakhanli, Sabunchi, Ramana and Bibi Heybat. Total recoverable reserves were more than 500 million tons. By 1900, Baku had more than 3,000 oil wells, 2,000 of which were producing at industrial levels. By the end of the 19th century, Baku became known as the "black gold capital", and many skilled workers and specialists flocked to the city.
By the turn of the 20th century, Baku was the center of international oil industry. In 1920, when the Bolsheviks captured Azerbaijan, all private property - including oil wells and factories - was confiscated. Afterwards, the republic's entire oil industry came under the control of the Soviet Union. By 1941, Azerbaijan was producing a record 23.5 million tons of oil, and the Baku region supplied nearly 72% of all oil extracted in the entire USSR.
In 1994, the "Contract of the Century" was signed, signaling the start of major international development of the Baku oil fields. The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline, a major pipeline allowing Azerbaijan oil to flow straight to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, opened in 2006.
A key problem to further development in the region is the status of the Caspian Sea and the establishment of the water boundaries among the five littoral states (see below). The current disputes along Azerbaijan's maritime borders with Turkmenistan and Iran could potentially affect future development plans.
Much controversy currently exists over the proposed Trans-Caspian oil and gas pipelines. These projects would allow western markets easier access to Kazakh oil, and potentially Uzbek and Turkmen gas as well. The United States has given its support for the pipelines. Russia officially opposes the project on environmental grounds. Analysts note that the pipelines would bypass Russia completely, thereby denying the country valuable transit fees, as well as destroying its current monopoly on westward-bound hydrocarbon exports from the region. Recently both Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have expressed their support for the Trans-Caspian Pipeline.
Another Caspian tributary, the Kuma River, is connected by an irrigation canal with the Don basin as well.
Since the 1930s through the 1980s, the projects for a Pechora-Kama Canal were widely discussed, and some construction experiments using nuclear explosions were conducted in 1971. For this project, shipping was a secondary consideration; the main goal was to redirect some of the water of the Pechora River (which flows into the Arctic Ocean) via the Kama into the Volga. The goals were both irrigation and stabilizing the water level in the Caspian, which was thought to be falling dangerously fast at the time.
Negotiations related to the demarcation of the Caspian Sea have been going on for nearly a decade among the states bordering the Caspian - Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran.
The status of the Caspian Sea is the key problem. There are three major considerations affected by the Caspian Sea status: access to mineral resources (oil and natural gas), access for fishing and access to international waters (through Russia's Volga river and the canals connecting it to the Black Sea and Baltic Sea). Access to the Volga River is particularly important for the landlocked states of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. This matter is of course sensitive to Russia, because this potential traffic will move through its territory (albeit onto the inland waterways). If a body of water is labeled as Sea then there would be some precedents and international treaties obliging the granting of access permits to foreign vessels. If a body of water is labeled merely as lake then there are no such obligations. Environmental issues are also somewhat connected to the status and borders issue.
It should be mentioned that Russia got the bulk of the former Soviet Caspian military fleet (and also currently has the most powerful military presence in the Caspian Sea). Some assets were assigned to Azerbaijan. Kazakhstan and especially Turkmenistan got a very small share because they lack major port cities.
According to a treaty signed between Iran (Persia) and the Soviet Union, the Caspian Sea is technically a lake and it is to be divided into two sectors (Persian and Soviet), but the resources (then mainly fish) would be commonly shared. The line between the two sectors was to be seen as an international border in a common lake, like Lake Albert. Also the Soviet sector was sub-divided into administrative sectors of the four littoral republics.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union not all of the newly independent states assumed continuation of the old treaty. At first Russia and Iran announced that they would continue to adhere to the old treaty.
After the old Soviet Union split into fifteen nations, including Caspian Sea neighbors Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, Iran has called for an equal division of the Caspian Sea among the five countries: Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Russia. If this division does not come to pass, then Iran intends to recognize only its old treaty (between Iran and Russia) and will challenge Russia to divide its 50% share among the three littoral states - Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan - over a more friendly position toward the West and the U.S, such as opening of U.S interest section in Tehran.
Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan announced that they do not consider themselves parties to this treaty.
Later followed some proposals for common agreement between all littoral states about the status of the sea:
After Russia adopted the median line sectoral division and the three treaties already signed between some littoral states this is looking like the realistic method for regulating the Caspian borders. The Russian sector is fully defined. The Kazakhstan sector is not fully defined, but is not disputed either. Azerbaijan's, Turkmenistan's and Iran's sectors are not fully defined. It is not clear if the issue of Volga-access to vessels from Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan is covered by their agreements with Russia and also what the conditions are for Volga-access for vessels from Turkmenistan and Iran.
The Caspian littoral States meeting in 2007 signed an agreement that bars any ship not flying the national flag of a littoral state from entering Caspian waters.
* Category:Lowest points Category:Azerbaijan–Iran border Category:Iran–Turkmenistan border Category:Kazakhstan–Turkmenistan border Category:Kazakhstan–Russia border Category:Azerbaijan–Russia border Category:Iran – Soviet Union relations Category:International lakes of Asia Category:International lakes of Europe Category:Disputed territories in Asia Category:Border tripoints
af:Kaspiese See ang:Caspia ar:بحر قزوين an:Mar Caspia arc:ܝܡܐ ܐܚܪܝܐ ast:Mar Caspiu av:Каспий az:Xəzər dənizi bn:কাস্পিয়ান সাগর ba:Каспий диңгеҙе be:Каспійскае мора be-x-old:Касьпійскае мора bs:Kaspijsko jezero br:Mor Kaspia bg:Каспийско море ca:Mar Càspia cv:Каспи тинĕсĕ cs:Kaspické moře cy:Môr Caspia da:Kaspiske Hav de:Kaspisches Meer et:Kaspia meri el:Κασπία Θάλασσα es:Mar Caspio eo:Kaspio eu:Kaspiar itsasoa fa:دریای خزر hif:Caspian Sea fr:Mer Caspienne fy:Kaspyske See ga:Muir Chaisp gv:Yn Vooir Chaspagh gd:Muir Caspach gl:Mar Caspio gan:裡海 glk:کاسپینˇ دریا gu:કેસ્પિયન સમુદ્ર ko:카스피 해 hy:Կասպից ծով hi:कैस्पियन सागर hsb:Kaspiske morjo hr:Kaspijsko jezero io:Kaspia id:Laut Kaspia os:Къаспы денджыз is:Kaspíahaf it:Mar Caspio he:הים הכספי jv:Segara Kaspia kn:ಕ್ಯಾಸ್ಪಿಯನ್ ಸಮುದ್ರ(Caspian Sea) ka:კასპიის ზღვა kk:Каспий теңізі sw:Bahari ya Kaspi ku:Deryaya Mazenderan lbe:Каспи хьхьири la:Mare Caspium lv:Kaspijas jūra lb:Kaspescht Mier lt:Kaspijos jūra lmo:Mar Caspi hu:Kaszpi-tenger mk:Касписко Море ml:കാസ്പിയൻ കടൽ mr:कॅस्पियन समुद्र arz:بحر قزوين mzn:مازرون دریا ms:Laut Kaspia mwl:Mar Cáspio mn:Каспийн тэнгис nl:Kaspische Zee new:क्यास्पियन सागर ja:カスピ海 no:Det kaspiske hav nn:Kaspihavet oc:Mar Caspiana mhr:Каспий теҥыз pnb:بحیرہ کیسپیئن km:សមុទ្រ កាសព្យែន nds:Kaspische See pl:Morze Kaspijskie pt:Mar Cáspio ro:Marea Caspică rm:Mar Caspica qu:Kaspi hatun qucha rue:Каспіцьке море ru:Каспийское море sah:Каспий байҕала stq:Kaspiske See sq:Liqeni Kaspik scn:Mar Caspiu simple:Caspian Sea sk:Kaspické more sl:Kaspijsko jezero szl:Kaspijske Morze so:Bada Qaswiin ckb:زەریای خەزەر sr:Каспијско језеро sh:Kaspijsko more fi:Kaspianmeri sv:Kaspiska havet tl:Dagat Kaspiyo ta:காசுப்பியன் கடல் roa-tara:Mar Caspio tt:Каспий диңгезе te:కాస్పియన్ సముద్రము th:ทะเลแคสเปียน tg:Баҳри Каспий tr:Hazar Denizi tk:Hazar deňzi uk:Каспійське море ur:بحیرہ قزوین vec:Mar Caspio vi:Biển Caspi war:Dagat Caspio wuu:里海 yi:קאספישער ים zh-yue:裏海 diq:Deryaê Xezeri bat-smg:Kaspėjės jūra zh:裏海
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
The World News (WN) Network, has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to user privacy. The following discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for wn.com, as well as e-mail newsletters.
We do not collect personally identifiable information about you, except when you provide it to us. For example, if you submit an inquiry to us or sign up for our newsletter, you may be asked to provide certain information such as your contact details (name, e-mail address, mailing address, etc.).
When you submit your personally identifiable information through wn.com, you are giving your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information as set forth in this Privacy Policy. If you would prefer that we not collect any personally identifiable information from you, please do not provide us with any such information. We will not sell or rent your personally identifiable information to third parties without your consent, except as otherwise disclosed in this Privacy Policy.
Except as otherwise disclosed in this Privacy Policy, we will use the information you provide us only for the purpose of responding to your inquiry or in connection with the service for which you provided such information. We may forward your contact information and inquiry to our affiliates and other divisions of our company that we feel can best address your inquiry or provide you with the requested service. We may also use the information you provide in aggregate form for internal business purposes, such as generating statistics and developing marketing plans. We may share or transfer such non-personally identifiable information with or to our affiliates, licensees, agents and partners.
We may retain other companies and individuals to perform functions on our behalf. Such third parties may be provided with access to personally identifiable information needed to perform their functions, but may not use such information for any other purpose.
In addition, we may disclose any information, including personally identifiable information, we deem necessary, in our sole discretion, to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal proceeding or governmental request.
We do not want you to receive unwanted e-mail from us. We try to make it easy to opt-out of any service you have asked to receive. If you sign-up to our e-mail newsletters we do not sell, exchange or give your e-mail address to a third party.
E-mail addresses are collected via the wn.com web site. Users have to physically opt-in to receive the wn.com newsletter and a verification e-mail is sent. wn.com is clearly and conspicuously named at the point of
collection.If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter and promotional communications, you may opt-out of receiving them by following the instructions included in each newsletter or communication or by e-mailing us at michaelw(at)wn.com
The security of your personal information is important to us. We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during registration and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100 percent secure, however. Therefore, though we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
If we decide to change our e-mail practices, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we think appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.
If we make material changes to our e-mail practices, we will notify you here, by e-mail, and by means of a notice on our home page.
The advertising banners and other forms of advertising appearing on this Web site are sometimes delivered to you, on our behalf, by a third party. In the course of serving advertisements to this site, the third party may place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser. For more information on cookies, you can visit www.cookiecentral.com.
As we continue to develop our business, we might sell certain aspects of our entities or assets. In such transactions, user information, including personally identifiable information, generally is one of the transferred business assets, and by submitting your personal information on Wn.com you agree that your data may be transferred to such parties in these circumstances.