The Caspian Sea (Azerbaijani Azerbaijani or Azeri is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran. Azerbaijani is member of the Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages and is closely related to Turkish, Qashqai and Turkmen: Xəzər dənizi, Russian Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of three living members of the East Slavic languages. Written examples of Old East Slavonic are attested from the 10th: Каспийское море, Kazakh Kazakh is a Turkic language closely related to Kyrgyz and Karakalpak: Каспий теңізі, Turkmen Turkmen is the name of the national language of Turkmenistan. It is spoken by approximately 3,000,000 people in Turkmenistan, and by an additional approximately 380,000 in northwestern Afghanistan and 500,000 in northeastern Iran: Hazar deňzi, Persian Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Iraq, Bahrain, and Oman. New Persian, which usually is called also by the names of Farsi, Parsi, Dari or Parsi-ye-Dari (Dari Persian), can be classified linguistically: درياي مازندران يا درياي کاسپين) is the largest enclosed body of water A body of water or waterbody is any significant accumulation of water, usually covering the Earth or another planet. The term body of water most often refers to large accumulations of water, such as oceans, seas, and lakes, but it may also include smaller pools of water such as ponds, puddles or wetlands. Rivers, streams, canals, and other on Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets. It is sometimes referred to as the World, the Blue Planet,[note 6] or by its Latin name, Terra.[note 7] by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake Note: The area of some lakes can vary considerably over time, either seasonally or from year to year. This is especially true of salt lakes in arid climates. This list does not include reservoirs; if it did, Lake Volta would come in at number 18 or a full-fledged sea A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, the term refers to a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean. It is also used sometimes to describe a large saline lake that lacks a natural outlet, such as the Caspian Sea.[2][3] The sea has a surface area of 371,000 km2 (143,200 sq mi) (Not including Garabogazköl Aylagy) and a volume of 78,200 km3 (18,800 cu mi).[4] It is in an endorheic basin An endorheic basin is a closed drainage basin that retains water and allows no outflow to other bodies of water such as rivers or oceans. Normally, water that has accrued in a drainage basin eventually flows out through rivers or streams on Earth's surface or by underground diffusion through permeable rock, ultimately ending up in the oceans (it has no outflows) and is bounded by northern Iran Iran (Persian: ایران [ʔiˈɾɒn] ), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and formerly known as Persia, is a country in Central Eurasia and Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was widely known as Persia. Both Persia and Iran are, southern Russia Russia (pronounced /ˈrʌʃə/ ; Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya, pronounced [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, pronounced [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈraʦəjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal, western Kazakhstan Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is one of the six independent Turkic states. It is located in Eurasia and ranked as the ninth largest country in the world. It is also ranked the world's largest landlocked country, its territory of 2,727,300 km² is greater than Western Europe. It is neighbored clockwise from the north by Russia, and Turkmenistan The Republic of Turkmenistan , also known as Turkmenia (Russian: Туркмения) is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkmen SSR). Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states. It is bordered by Afghanistan to the, and eastern Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (pronounced /ˌæzərbaɪˈdʒɑːn/ az-ər-bye-JAHN; Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası), is one of the six independent Turkic states in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to.

The ancient inhabitants of its littoral The littoral zone refers to that part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. In coastal environments the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. It always includes this intertidal zone and is often used to mean the same as the intertidal zone perceived the Caspian as an ocean, probably because of its saltiness and seeming boundlessness. It has a salinity Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. It is a general term used to describe the levels of different salts such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates. Salinity in Australian English and North American English may also refer to the salt content of soil of approximately 1.2%, about a third the salinity of most seawater Seawater is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5%. This means that every kilogram, or every litre, of seawater has approximately 35 grams of dissolved salts (mostly, but not entirely, the ions of sodium chloride: Na+, Cl−). The average density of seawater at the ocean surface is 1.025. Caspian is called Qazvin Qazvin is the largest city and capital of the Province of Qazvin in Iran with an estimated population of 331,409 in 2005 (قزوين or بحر قزوين) on ancient maps. In Iran, it is sometimes referred to as Daryâ-ye Mâzandarân (دریای مازندران).

Contents

Geological history

Like the Black Sea The Black Sea is an inland sea bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects it to the Aegean Sea region of the Mediterranean. These waters, the Caspian Sea is a remnant of the ancient Paratethys Sea. The Caspian Sea became landlocked about 5.5 million years ago due to tectonic uplift Tectonic uplift is a geological process most often caused by plate tectonics which increases elevation. The opposite of uplift is subsidence, which results in a decrease in elevation. Uplift may be orogenic or isostatic and a fall in sea level Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface (such as the halfway point between the mean high tide and the mean low tide); used as a standard in reckoning land elevation. During warm and dry climatic periods, the landlocked sea has all but dried up, depositing evaporitic sediments Evaporites are water-soluble mineral sediments that result from the evaporation of bodies of surficial water. Evaporites are considered sedimentary rocks like halite Halite occurs in vast beds of sedimentary evaporite minerals that result from the drying up of enclosed lakes, playas, and seas. Salt beds may be up to hundreds of meters thick and underlie broad areas. In the United States and Canada extensive underground beds extend from the Appalachian basin of western New York through parts of Ontario and that have become covered by wind-blown deposits and were sealed off as an evaporite sink[5] when cool, wet climates refilled the basin.[6] Due to the current inflow of fresh water, the Caspian Sea is a fresh-water lake in its northern portions. It is more saline on the Iranian shore, where the catchment basin contributes little flow. Currently, the mean salinity of the Caspian is one third that of the Earth's oceans. The Garabogazköl The Garabogazköl Aylagy, alternatively the Kara-Bogaz-Gol is a shallow inundated depression in the northwestern corner of Turkmenistan. It forms a lagoon of the Caspian Sea with a surface area of about 18,000 km2 (6,900 sq mi). It is separated from the Caspian, which lies immediately to the west, by a narrow, rocky ridge having a very narrow embayment Headlands and bays are often found together on the same stretch of coastline. A bay is surrounded by land on three sides, whereas a headland is surrounded by water on three sides. Headlands are characterized by high, breaking waves, rocky shores, intense erosion, and steep sea cliffs. Bays generally have less wave activity than the water outside, which dried up when water flow from the main body of the Caspian was blocked in the 1980s but has since been restored, routinely exceeds oceanic salinity by a factor of 10.[7]

Geography

The Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water in the world and accounts for 40 to 44 percent of the total lacustrine A lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin (another type of landform or terrain feature; that is not global). Another definition is a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size that is surrounded by land. On Earth a body of water is considered a lake when it is inland, waters of the world.[8] The coastlines of the Caspian are shared by Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (pronounced /ˌæzərbaɪˈdʒɑːn/ az-ər-bye-JAHN; Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası), is one of the six independent Turkic states in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to, Iran Iran (Persian: ایران [ʔiˈɾɒn] ), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and formerly known as Persia, is a country in Central Eurasia and Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was widely known as Persia. Both Persia and Iran are, Kazakhstan Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is one of the six independent Turkic states. It is located in Eurasia and ranked as the ninth largest country in the world. It is also ranked the world's largest landlocked country, its territory of 2,727,300 km² is greater than Western Europe. It is neighbored clockwise from the north by Russia,, Russia Russia (pronounced /ˈrʌʃə/ ; Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya, pronounced [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, pronounced [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈraʦəjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal, and Turkmenistan The Republic of Turkmenistan , also known as Turkmenia (Russian: Туркмения) is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkmen SSR). Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states. It is bordered by Afghanistan to the. The Caspian is divided into three distinct physical regions: the Northern, Middle, and Southern Caspian.[9] The North-Middle boundary is the Mangyshlak threshold, which runs through Chechen Island and Cape Tiub-Karagan. The Middle-South boundary is the Apsheron threshold, a sill of tectonic origin[10] that runs through Zhiloi Island and Cape Kuuli.[11] The Garabogazköl The Garabogazköl Aylagy, alternatively the Kara-Bogaz-Gol is a shallow inundated depression in the northwestern corner of Turkmenistan. It forms a lagoon of the Caspian Sea with a surface area of about 18,000 km2 (6,900 sq mi). It is separated from the Caspian, which lies immediately to the west, by a narrow, rocky ridge having a very narrow bay is the saline eastern inlet of the Caspian, which is part of Turkmenistan and at times has been a lake in its own right due to the isthmus which cuts it off from the Caspian.

Divisions between the three regions are dramatic. The Northern Caspian only includes the Caspian shelf,[12] and is characterized as very shallow; it accounts for less than one percent of the total water volume with an average depth of only 5–6 metres (16–20 ft). The sea noticeably drops off towards the Middle Caspian, where the average depth is 190 metres (620 ft).[11] The Southern Caspian is the deepest, with a depth that reaches over 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). The Middle and Southern Caspian account for 33 percent and 66 percent of the total water volume, respectively.[9] 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 The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including its capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage basin. Some of the largest reservoirs in the world can being the largest. A second affluent, the Ural River The Ural , known as Yaik (Russian: Яик) before 1775, is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan. It arises in the southern Ural Mountains and ends at the Caspian Sea. Its total length is 1,511 mi (2,428 km). It forms part of the traditional boundary between Europe and Asia, flows in from the north, and the Kura River Kura is a river, also known from the Greek as the Cyrus in the Caucasus Mountains. Starting in north-eastern Turkey, it flows through Turkey to Georgia, then to Azerbaijan, where it receives the Aras River as a right tributary, and enters the Caspian Sea. The total length of the river is 1,515 kilometres (941 mi) flows into the sea from the west. In the past, the Amu Darya The Amu Darya , also called Oxus and Amu River, is a major river in Central Asia. It is formed by the junction of the Vakhsh and Panj rivers. In ancient times, the river was regarded as the boundary between Irān and Tūrān (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 The Syr Darya is a river in Central Asia, sometimes known as the Jaxartes or Yaxartes from its Ancient Greek name ὁ Ιαξάρτης. The Greek name is derived from Old Persian, Yakhsha Arta ("Great Pearly"), a reference to the color of the river's water. In medieval Islamic writings, the river is uniformly known as Sayhoun (سيحون) farther north. The Caspian also has several small islands; they are primarily located in the North and have a collective land area of roughly 2,000 km2 (770 sq mi). Adjacent to the North Caspian is the Caspian Depression Caspian Depression is a low-lying flatland region encompassing the northern part of the Caspian Sea, the largest enclosed body of water on Earth.. It is part of the wider Aral-Caspian Depression around the Aral and Caspian seas. Other translations include Pricaspian/Peri-Caspian Depression/Lowland, a low-lying region 27 metres (89 ft) below sea level Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface (such as the halfway point between the mean high tide and the mean low tide); used as a standard in reckoning land elevation. The Central Asian Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent steppes A steppe in physical geography refers to a biome region characterised by grassland plain without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. The prairie (especially the shortgrass and mixed prairie) is an example of a steppe, though it is not usually called such. It may be semi-desert, or covered with grass or shrubs or both, depending on the stretch across the northeast coast, while the Caucasus mountains Greater Caucasus , sometimes translated as "Caucasus Major", "Big Caucasus" or "Large Caucasus") is the major mountain range of the Caucasus Mountains hug the Western shore. The biomes Biome are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Biomes are defined by factors such as plant structures , leaf types (such as broadleaf and needleleaf), plant spacing (forest, woodland, savanna), and 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 A mountain range is a chain of mountains bordered by highlands or separated from other mountains by passes or valleys. Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geology, though they often do; they may be a mix of different orogeny, for example volcanoes, uplifted mountains or fold mountains and may,; the drastic changes in climate alongside the Caspian have led to a great deal of biodiversity Biodiversity is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or on the entire Earth. Biodiversity is often used as a measure of the health of biological systems. The biodiversity found on Earth today consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The year 2010 has been declared as the International Year of Biodiversity in the region.[7]

Fauna

An aerial view of the southern Caspian coast as viewed from atop the Alborz mountains Alborz ( listen Persian: البرز), also written as Alburz, Elburz or Elborz, is a mountain range in northern Iran stretching from the borders of Armenia in the northwest to the southern end of the Caspian Sea, and ending in the east at the borders of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. The tallest mountain in the Middle East, Mount Damavand, is in Mazandaran Mazandaran is a Caspian province in the north of Iran. Located on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, it is bordered clockwise by the Golestan, Semnan, Tehran, Qazvin, and GIlan provinces, Iran Iran (Persian: ایران [ʔiˈɾɒn] ), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and formerly known as Persia, is a country in Central Eurasia and Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was widely known as Persia. Both Persia and Iran are

The Caspian Sea holds great numbers of sturgeon Sturgeon is the common name used for some 26 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae, including the genera Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus. The term includes over 20 species commonly referred to as sturgeon and several closely related species that have distinct common names, notably sterlet, kaluga and beluga, which yield eggs that are processed into caviar. 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.[13] Caviar harvesting further endangers the fish stocks, since it targets reproductive females.

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 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.[13]

Environmental issues

The Volga River, the largest in Europe, drains 20% of the European land area and is the source of 80% of the Caspian’s freshwater inflow. Its lower reaches are heavily developed with numerous unregulated releases of chemical and biological pollutants. Although existing data are sparse and of questionable quality, there is ample evidence to suggest that the Volga is one of the principal sources of transboundary contaminants into the Caspian. The magnitude of oil and gas extraction and transport activity constitutes a risk to water quality. Underwater oil and gas pipelines have been constructed or proposed, increasing potential environmental threats.[14]

Hydrological characteristics

Iran's Northern Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests is created by the moisture captured from the Caspian sea and the Alborz mountain range of Iran, Gilan.

The Caspian has characteristics common to both seas and lakes. It is often listed as the world's largest lake, though it is not a freshwater lake. The Caspian became landlocked about 5.5 million years ago due to plate tectonics.[8] 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 1200s to the 1500s, 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 3 m (9.84 ft) from 1929 to 1977, followed by a rise of 3 m (9.84 ft) from 1977 until 1995. Since then smaller oscillations have taken place.[15]

Human history

The 17th Century cossak rebel and pirate Stenka Razin, on a raid in the Caspian (Vasily Surikov, 1906).

Discoveries in the Huto cave near the town of Behshahr, Mazandaran south of the Caspian in Iran, suggest human habitation of the area as early as 75,000 years ago.[16]

Etymology

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 (Persian مازندران). 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 بحر افزين Baḥr Qazvīn - the Caspian/Qazvin Sea. The word Caspian is derived from the name of the Caspi (Persian کاسپی), an ancient people that lived to the south west of the sea in Transcaucasia.[17] Strabo wrote that "to the country of the Albanians belongs also the territory called Caspiane, which was named after the Caspian tribe, as was also the sea; but the tribe has now disappeared".[18] Moreover, the Caspian Gates, which is the name of a region in Tehran province of Iran, is another possible piece of evidence that they migrated to the south of the sea. Also according to Greek historian Strabo, the name 'Caspian' is supposed to have been derived from the Sanskrit word 'Kashyapa' the name of an ancient Indian Sage, as is also believed by the Hindus from India.[19][20][21][22]

Cities near the Caspian Sea

Historic cities by the sea include

Modern cities

Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan is the largest city by the Caspian Sea. Caspian Sea shore, Türkmenbaşy, Turkmenistan.

Major cities by the Caspian Sea:

Caspian Sea shore, near Bandar Anzali, Iran Caspian Sea Babolsar, Iran

Islands

Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests, Northern Iran and Southern Azerbaijan

The Caspian Sea has numerous islands throughout. Ogurja Ada is the largest island. The island is 47 km long, with gazelles roaming freely in it.

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.

Hydrocarbon resources

Historical development

The Caspian area is rich in energy resources. Wells were being dug in the region as early as the 10th century.[23] By the 1500s, Europeans were aware of the rich oil and gas deposits around the area. English traders Thomas Bannister and Jeffrey Duckett described the area around Baku as “a strange thing to behold, for there issueth out of the ground a marvelous quantity of oil, which serveth all the country to burn in their houses. This oil is black and is called nefte. There is also by the town of Baku, another kind of oil which is white and very precious (i.e., petroleum)."[24]

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.[23]

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.

Current issues

The oil in the Caspian basin is estimated to be worth over US $12 trillion. The sudden collapse of the USSR and subsequent opening of the region has led to an intense investment and development scramble by international oil companies. In 1998 Dick Cheney commented that "I can't think of a time when we've had a region emerge as suddenly to become as strategically significant as the Caspian."[25]

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.[26] Recently both Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have expressed their support for the Trans-Caspian Pipeline.[27]

Existing and proposed canals

Although the Caspian Sea is endorheic, its main tributary, Volga, is connected by important shipping canals with the Don River (and thus the Black Sea) and with the Baltic Sea, with branch canals to Northern Dvina and to the White Sea.

Another Caspian tributary, the Kuma River, is connected by an irrigation canal with the Don basin as well.

Canals proposed in the past

The Main Turkmen Canal, construction of which was started in 1950, would run from Nukus on the Amu-Darya to Krasnovodsk on the Caspian Sea. It would be used not only for irrigation, but also for shipping, connecting the Amu-Darya and the Aral Sea with the Caspian. The project was abandoned soon after the death of Joseph Stalin, in favor of the Qaraqum Canal, which runs on a more southerly route and does not reach the Caspian.[28]

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.

Eurasia Canal

In June 2007, in order to boost his oil-rich country's access to markets, Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev proposed a 700 km link between the Caspian and Black seas. It is hoped that the "Eurasia Canal" (Manych Ship Canal) ) would transform the landlocked Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries into maritime states, enabling them to significantly increase trade volume. While the canal would traverse Russian territory, it would benefit Kazakhstan through its Caspian Sea ports. The most likely route for the canal, the officials at the Committee on Water Resources at Kazakhstan's Agriculture Ministry say, would follow the Kuma-Manych Depression, where currently a chain of rivers and lakes is already connected by an irrigation canal (Kuma-Manych Canal). Upgrading the Volga-Don Canal would be another option.[29]

International disputes

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Southern Caspian Energy Prospects (portion of Iran). Country Profile 2004.

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[30] is the key problem. There are three major issues regulated 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 issue 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 Russian), 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 Russian 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 recognizes 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.[citation needed]

Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan announced that they do not consider themselves parties to this treaty.

Later[clarification needed] followed some proposals for common agreement between all littoral states about the status of the sea:

Current situation

Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have agreed to a solution about their sectors. There are no problems between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, but the latter is not actively participating, so there is no agreement either. Azerbaijan is at odds with Iran over some oil fields that the both states claim. There have been occasions where Iranian patrol boats have opened fire at vessels sent by Azerbaijan for exploration into the disputed region. There are similar tensions between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan (the latter claims that the former has pumped more oil than agreed from a field, recognized by both parties as shared). Less acute are the issues between Turkmenistan and Iran. Regardless, the southern part of the sea remains disputed.

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.[citation needed]

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.[31]

Transportation

Several scheduled ferry services (including train ferries) operate on the Caspian Sea, including:

See also

Look up caspian sea in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Notes

  1. ^ a b van der Leeden, Troise, and Todd, eds., The Water Encyclopedia. Second Edition. Chelsea, MI: Lewis Publishers, 1990, page 196.
  2. ^ "Caspian Sea » General background". CaspianEnvironment.org. http://www.caspianenvironment.org/caspian.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  3. ^ "ESA: Observing the Earth - Earth from Space: The southern Caspian Sea". ESA.int. http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEM5GYTLWFE_index_0.html. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  4. ^ Lake Profile: Caspian Sea. LakeNet.
  5. ^ In system dynamics, a sink is a place where a flow of materials ends its journey, removed from the system.
  6. ^ Comparable evaporite beds underlie the Mediterranean.
  7. ^ a b "General background of the Caspian Sea". Caspian Environment Program. Retrieved 29-01-2008.
  8. ^ a b "Caspian Sea". Iran Gazette. http://www.irangazette.com/12.html. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  9. ^ a b Amirahmadi, Hooshang. The Caspian Region at a Crossroad: Challenges of a New Frontier of Energy and Development (Hardcover). Page 112. St. Martin's Press. Retrieved 28-01-2008.
  10. ^ Khain V. E. Gadjiev A. N. Kengerli T. N, "Tectonic origin of the Apsheron Threshold in the Caspian Sea" Doklady Earth Sciences 414.4 (June 2007:552-556).
  11. ^ a b Dumont, Henri J. et al. Aquatic Invasions in the Black, Caspian, and Mediterranean Seas (Nato Science Series). Kluwer Academic Publishers. Retrieved 28-01-2008.
  12. ^ Kostianoy, Andrey and Aleksey N. Kosarev. The Caspian Sea Environment (Hardcover). Springer. Retrieved 28-01-2008.
  13. ^ a b iran-daily.com
  14. ^ Caspian Environment Programme http://www.caspianenvironment.org/newsite/Caspian-EnvironmentalIssues.htm
  15. ^ "Welcome to the Caspian Sea Level Project Site". Caspage.citg.tudelft.nl. http://www.caspage.citg.tudelft.nl/project.html. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  16. ^ [1]
  17. ^ Caspian Sea. (2006). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved August 13, 2006, from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9110540
  18. ^ "Strabo. Geography. 11.3.1". Perseus.tufts.edu. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198;query=chapter%3D%2333;layout=;loc=11.3.1. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  19. ^ "Caspian Sea-The largest lake in the world". Buzzle.com. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/largest-lake-in-the-world.html. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  20. ^ "Indian History". Indiafirstfoundation.org. http://www.indiafirstfoundation.org/glimpses%20of%20indian%20history/Articles/Didyouknow_m.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  21. ^ "India-The mother of western civilisation". Organiser.org. http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=45&page=20. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  22. ^ "Article on Hinduism". Trsiyengar.com. http://www.trsiyengar.com/id94.shtml. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  23. ^ a b The Development of the Oil and Gas Industry in Azerbaijan SOCAR
  24. ^ Back to the Future: Britain, Baku Oil and the Cycle of History SOCAR
  25. ^ The Great Gas Game Christian Science Monitor (October 25, 2001)
  26. ^ Russia Tries to Scuttle Proposed Trans-Caspian Pipeline Eurasianet
  27. ^ Russia Seeking To Keep Kazakhstan Happy Eurasianet
  28. ^ Nikolaĭ Gavrilovich Kharin, "Vegetation Degradation in Central Asia Under the Impact of Human Activities". Pp. 56-58. Springer, 2002. ISBN 1402003978. On Google Books
  29. ^ Caspian Canal Could Boost Kazakh Trade Business Week, July 9, 2007.
  30. ^ "8.3 The Status of the Caspian Sea - Dividing Natural Resources Between Five Countries - Khoshbakht B.Yusifzade". Azer.com. http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/83_folder/83_articles/83_yusifzade.html. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  31. ^ Russia Gets Way In Caspian Meet

References

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