At about 371,000 square kilometres, the largest enclosed body of water on Earth
Larger than the five North American Great Lakes combined
Geography · Records & extremes
The Caspian Sea
Central Asia — bordered by Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan
The largest enclosed body of water on Earth, about 371,000 square kilometres — bigger than Japan, and larger than all five North American Great Lakes put together. It has no outlet to the ocean, which makes it a lake by the usual definition, but it is salty, sits on oceanic crust, and its five littoral states spent decades arguing whether it was legally a sea, because the answer decides who owns the oil.
How to spot them
- ▸The largest lake in the world by area — though whether it is a lake at all was a diplomatic question
- ▸Quiz clue: 'endorheic', 'Volga', 'beluga', 'Baku', 'Karabogazköl'
- ▸Bordered by five countries, one of them Iran
- ▸Its sturgeon supply most of the world's caviar
Key facts
It has no outflow to any ocean, so by the usual definition it is a lake
Endorheic: the Volga brings in most of its water and only evaporation takes it out
Its five bordering states spent decades disputing whether it was legally a sea
Settled by the Aktau Convention of 2018, which gave it a special status of its own — the oil and gas rights turned on the answer
Its floor is oceanic crust, the remnant of a vanished ancient sea
A relic of the Paratethys, cut off from the world ocean several million years ago
Its sturgeon yield most of the world's caviar, and its beluga is the largest freshwater fish
Huso huso can exceed 1,000 kg; all the species are now critically endangered
It has its own endemic seal, one of very few landlocked anywhere
Pusa caspica, a relative of the Arctic ringed seal
Its surface is about 28 metres below sea level
The Caspian Depression around its northern shore is among the lowest land in Eurasia
Quick-fire facts
- •Surface area about 371,000 km², making it the largest lake in the world by area
- •It lies about 28 m below sea level, and reaches roughly 1,025 m deep in its southern basin
- •Its five littoral states are Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan
- •The Volga supplies around 80% of its inflow; it has no outlet
- •Its salinity is about a third that of the ocean — brackish, not fresh
- •The 2018 Aktau Convention gave it a bespoke legal status, neither sea nor lake, after decades of dispute
- •Karabogazköl, a vast evaporation bay on its eastern shore, is one of the saltiest water bodies on Earth
- •Common misconception: despite the name it is a lake, not a sea, and its 'largest lake' title is by area — Lake Baikal holds far more fresh water
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Sources
- Encyclopaedia Iranica — Caspian Sea i. Geography Standard reference on the Caspian's geography, level and hydrology
- Aleksey N. Kosarev and Andrey G. Kostianoy (eds) — The Caspian Sea Environment