Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest lake on Earth by both area and volume. 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 for 40 to 44% of the total lake waters of the world.[2]
| 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
Area around the Caspian Sea. Yellow area indicates the (approximate) drainage area.
Caspian Sea near Aktau, Mangystau Region, Kazakhstan
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)
Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, is the largest city by the Caspian Sea.
Makhachkala, the capital of the Russian republic of Dagestan, is the third-largest city on the Caspian Sea.
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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
- 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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