Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest and only closed sea on Earth by both area and volume and is considered a sea. Its name comes from the Caspi people which the Gilaks/Caspis Caspianis are the only decendent of and are the same as. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometres (143,000 square miles). Its volume is 78,200 cubic kilometres (18,800 cubic miles). The Caspian has for44% of the total lake waters of the world.[2] More than 89% of the seas area belongs to Iran.
| Caspian Sea | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Coordinates | 41°40′N 50°40′E / 41.667°N 50.667°ECoordinates: 41°40′N 50°40′E / 41.667°N 50.667°E |
| Lake type | Endorheic, Saline, Permanent, Natural |
| Primary inflows | Volga River, Ural River, Kura River, Terek River |
| Primary outflows | Evaporation |
| Catchment area | 3,626,000 km2 (1,400,000 sq mi)[1] |
| Basin countries | Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan |
| Max. length | 1,030 km (640 mi) |
| Max. width | 435 km (270 mi) |
| Surface area | 371,000 km2 (143,200 sq mi) |
| Average depth | 187 m (610 ft) |
| Max. depth | 1,025 m (3,360 ft) |
| Water volume | 69,400 km3 (16,600 cu mi) |
| Residence time | 250 years |
| Shore length1 | 7,000 km (4,300 mi) |
| Surface elevation | −28 m (−92 ft) |
| Islands | 26+ |
| Settlements | Baku (Azerbaijan), Rasht (Iran), Aktau (Kazakhstan), Makhachkala (Russia), Türkmenbaşy (Turkmenistan) |
| References | [1] |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
The Caspian sea is an endorheic body of water. It is bordered by Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It has a maximum depth of about 1,025 metres (3,363 ft). It is called a sea because when the Romans first arrived there, they tasted the water and found it to be salty. It has a salinity of approximately 1.2%, about a third the salinity of sea water.
Caspian Sea Media
Separation of the Paratethys Sea from open seas formed a megalake, the basis of the Caspian Sea and other bodies of water in vicinity, resulting in confinements of oceanic faunas such as cetaceans and pinnipeds.
Area around the Caspian Sea. Yellow area indicates the (approximate) drainage area.
Caspian Sea near Aktau, Mangystau Region, Kazakhstan
Area reductions arising from sea level decline scenarios for ecologically important areas in the Caspian Sea
Iran's northern Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests are maintained by moisture captured from the Caspian Sea by the Alborz Mountain Range.
Most tadpole gobies (Benthophilus) are found only in the Caspian Sea basin.
Illustration of two Caspian tigers, extinct in the region since the 1970s
A New and Accurate Map of the Caspian Sea by the Soskam Sabbus & Emanuel Bowen, 1747
Caspian Sea (Bahr ul-Khazar). 10th century map by Ibn Hawqal.
The 17th-century Cossack rebel and pirate Stenka Razin, on a raid in the Caspian (Vasily Surikov, 1906)
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 van der Leeden, Troise, and Todd, eds. 1990. The Water Encyclopedia. 2nd ed, Chelsea, MI: Lewis Publishers, p196
- ↑ "Caspian Sea". Iran Gazette. Archived from the original on 2009-01-22. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
Other websites
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 62: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).. |
- Caspian Sea Region
- Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea (2003)
- Target: Caspian Sea Oil Archived 2009-08-28 at the Wayback Machine John Robb, 2004
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