Describe the Caspian Sea. Caspian Sea. Where is it located, photos, characteristics, area, holiday resorts. Sulak - water stream of Dagestan

The territory of Russia is washed by twelve seas belonging to the basins of three oceans. But one of these seas - the Caspian - is often called a lake, which sometimes confuses people who have little understanding of geography.

Meanwhile, it is really more correct to call the Caspian a lake rather than a sea. Why? Let's figure it out.

A little geography. Where is the Caspian Sea located?

Occupying an area that exceeds 370,000 square kilometers, the Caspian Sea stretches from north to south, dividing the spaces of Europe and Asia with its water surface. Its coastline belongs to five different countries: Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iran. Geographers conventionally divide its water area into three parts: the Northern (25% of the area), the Middle (36% of the area) and the Southern Caspian (39% of the area), which differ in climate, geological conditions and natural features. The coastline is predominantly flat, indented by river channels, covered with vegetation, and in the northern part, where the Volga flows into the Caspian Sea, it is also swampy.

The Caspian Sea has about 50 large and small islands, about one and a half dozen bays and six large peninsulas. In addition to the Volga, approximately 130 rivers flow into it, and nine rivers form fairly wide and branched deltas. The annual drainage of the Volga is about 120 cubic kilometers. Together with other large rivers - Terek, Ural, Emba and Sulak - this accounts for up to 90% of the total annual flow into the Caspian Sea.

Why is the Caspian called a lake?

The main feature of any sea is the presence of straits connecting it to the ocean. The Caspian Sea is a closed or drainless body of water that receives river water, but is not connected to any ocean.

Its water contains a very small amount of salt compared to other seas (about 0.05%) and is considered slightly salty. Due to the absence of at least one strait connecting to the ocean, the Caspian Sea is often called the largest lake in the world, since the lake is a completely enclosed body of water that is fed only by river water.

The waters of the Caspian Sea are not subject to international maritime laws, and its water area is divided between all countries that are adjacent to it, in proportion coastline.

Why is the Caspian called a sea?

Despite all of the above, most often in geography, as well as in international and internal documents, the name “Caspian Sea” is used, and not “ Caspian lake" First of all, this is explained by the size of the reservoir, which is much more typical for the sea than for the lake. Even, which is much smaller in area than the Caspian Sea, is often called a sea by local residents. There are no other lakes in the world whose shores belong simultaneously to five different countries.

In addition, you should pay attention to the structure of the bottom, which near the Caspian Sea has a pronounced oceanic type. Once upon a time, the Caspian Sea most likely connected with the Mediterranean, but tectonic processes and drying out separated it from the World Ocean. There are more than fifty islands in the Caspian Sea, and the area of some of them is quite large, even by international standards they are considered large. All this allows us to call the Caspian a sea, and not a lake.

origin of name

Why is this sea (or lake) called the Caspian? The origin of any name is often associated with ancient history terrain. Different peoples who lived on the shores of the Caspian called it differently. More than seventy names of this reservoir have been preserved in history - it was called the Hyrcanian, Derbent, Sarai Sea, etc.

Iranians and Azerbaijanis still call it the Khazar Sea. It began to be called Caspian after the name of the ancient tribe of nomadic horse breeders who lived in the steppes adjacent to its coast - the numerous Caspian tribe. They gave it its name large lake on our planet - the Caspian Sea.

Many geographical names, can mislead people who are not keen on geography. Could it be that an object designated as a sea on all maps is actually a lake? Let's figure it out.

The history of the appearance of the Caspian Sea?

14,000,000 years ago, the Sarmatian Sea existed on the planet. It included the modern Black, Caspian and Azov seas. About 6,000,000 years ago, due to the rise of the Caucasus Mountains and the decrease in water levels in the Mediterranean Sea, it divided, forming four different seas.

The Caspian is inhabited by many representatives of the fauna of Azov, which once again confirms that these reservoirs were once one whole. This is one of the reasons why the Caspian Sea is considered a lake.

The name of the sea comes from the ancient tribes of the Caspian Sea. They inhabited its shores in the first millennia BC and were engaged in horse breeding. But over the many hundreds of years of its existence, this sea has had many names. It was called Derbentsky, Saraisky, Girkansky, Sigai, Kukkuz. Even in our time, for residents of Iran and Azerbaijan, this lake is called Khazar.

Geographical location

Two parts of the world - Europe and Asia - are washed by the waters of the Caspian Sea. The coastline covers the following countries:

Turkmenistan
Russia
Azerbaijan
Kazakhstan

The length from north to south is about one thousand two hundred kilometers, the width from west to east is about three hundred kilometers. The average depth is about two hundred meters, the greatest depth is about a thousand kilometers. The total area of the reservoir is more than 370,000 square kilometers and is divided into three climatic and geographical zones:

Northern
Average
Southern Caspian

The water area includes six large peninsulas and about fifty islands. Their total area is four hundred square kilometers. The most large islands– Dzhambaisky, Ogurchinsky, Chechen, Tyuleniy, Konevsky, Zyudev and Absheron Islands. About one hundred and thirty rivers flow into the Caspian Sea, including the Volga, Ural, Atrek, Sefirud, Terek, Kura and many others.

Sea or lake?

The official name used in documentation and cartography is the Caspian Sea. But is this true?

In order to have the right to be called a sea, any body of water must be connected to the world's oceans. In the case of the Caspian Sea, this is not reality. The Caspian Sea is separated by almost 500 km of land from the nearest sea, the Black Sea. This is a completely enclosed body of water. The main differences between the seas:

The seas can be fed by waterways - rivers.
The external seas are directly connected to the ocean, that is, they have access to it.
Inland seas are connected to other seas or oceans by straits.

The Caspian received the right to be called a sea primarily because of its impressive size, which is more typical of seas rather than lakes. In area it surpasses even Azov. Also no small role was played by the fact that not a single lake washes the shores of five states at once.

It is worth noting that the structure of the Caspian Sea bottom is of the oceanic type. This happened due to the fact that it was once part of the ancient World Ocean.

Compared to other seas, the percentage of salt saturation in it is very weak and does not exceed 0.05%. The Caspian Sea is fed only by rivers flowing into it, like all lakes on the globe.

Like many seas, the Caspian is famous for its powerful storms. The height of the waves can reach eleven meters. Storms can occur at any time of the year, but they are most dangerous in autumn and winter.

In fact, the Caspian Sea is the most big lake in the world. Its waters are not subject to international maritime laws. The territory of waters is divided between countries on the basis of laws adopted for lakes, and not for seas.

The Caspian Sea has rich mineral resources such as oil and gas. Its waters are inhabited by more than one hundred and twenty species of fish. Among them are the most valuable sturgeons, such as stellate sturgeon, sturgeon, sterlet, beluga, and thorn. 90% of the world's sturgeon catch comes from the Caspian Sea.

Interesting features:

Scientists around the world have not yet come to a clear conclusion as to why the Caspian Sea is considered a lake. Some experts even suggest considering it a “lake-sea” or an “inland” sea, like the Dead Sea in Israel;
The most deep point Caspian Sea - more than one kilometer;
Historically, it is known that the total water level in the reservoir has changed more than once. The exact reasons for this are still not understood;
It is the only body of water separating Asia and Europe;
The largest water artery feeding the lake is the Volga River. It is this that carries the bulk of the water;
Thousands of years ago the Caspian Sea was part of the Black Sea;
In terms of the number of fish species, the Caspian Sea is inferior to some rivers;
The Caspian Sea is the main supplier of the most expensive delicacy - black caviar;
The water in the lake is completely renewed every two hundred and fifty years;
Japanese territory less area Caspian Sea.

Ecological situation

Intervention into the ecology of the Caspian Sea regularly occurs due to the extraction of oil and natural resources. There are also interventions in the fauna of the reservoir, cases of poaching and illegal fishing of valuable fish species are frequent.

The water level in the Caspian Sea is falling every year. This is due to global warming, due to the influence of which the water temperature on the surface of the reservoir increased by one degree and the sea began to actively evaporate.

It is estimated that water levels have fallen by seven centimeters since 1996. By 2015, the level of the fall was about one and a half meters, and the water continues to fall.

If this continues, in a century the shallowest part of the lake may simply disappear. This will be the part that washes the borders of Russia and Kazakhstan. If global warming intensifies, the process may accelerate and this will happen much earlier.

It is known that long before the onset of global warming, the water level in the Caspian Sea underwent changes. The water kept rising and then falling. Scientists still cannot say exactly why this happened.

The Caspian Lake is one of the the most unique places on the ground. It keeps many secrets related to the history of the development of our planet.

Position on physical map

The Caspian Sea is an internal drainage salt Lake. The geographical location of the Caspian Lake is the continent of Eurasia at the junction of parts of the world (Europe and Asia).

The length of the lake shoreline ranges from 6500 km to 6700 km. Taking into account the islands, the length increases to 7000 km.

The coastal areas of the Caspian Lake are mostly low-lying. Their northern part is cut by the channels of the Volga and Ural. The river delta is rich in islands. The surface of the water in these areas is covered with thickets. Large areas of land are swampy.

The eastern coast of the Caspian Sea adjoins the On the shores of the lake there are significant deposits of limestone. The western and part of the eastern coasts are characterized by a winding coastline.

The Caspian Lake is represented on the map by its considerable size. The entire territory adjacent to it was called the Caspian region.

Some characteristics

The Caspian Lake has no equal on Earth in terms of its area and volume of water. It stretches from north to south for 1049 kilometers, and its longest length from west to east is 435 kilometers.

If we take into account the depth of the reservoirs, their area and volume of water, then the lake is comparable to the Yellow, Baltic and Black Seas. According to the same parameters, the Caspian Sea surpasses the Tyrrhenian, Aegean, Adriatic and other seas.

The volume of water available in the Caspian Lake is 44% of the supply of all lake waters on the planet.

Lake or sea?

Why is the Caspian Lake called a sea? Was it really the impressive size of the reservoir that became the reason for assigning such a “status”? More precisely, this became one of these reasons.

Others include the huge mass of water in the lake, the presence of large waves during stormy winds. All this is typical for real seas. It becomes clear why the Caspian Lake is called a sea.

But one of the main conditions that must exist in order for geographers to classify a body of water as a sea is not mentioned here. We are talking about a direct connection between the lake and the World Ocean. Exactly this condition The Caspian does not correspond.

Where the Caspian Lake is located, a depression was formed in the earth’s crust several tens of thousands of years ago. Today it is filled with the waters of the Caspian Sea. According to scientists, at the end of the 20th century, the water level in the Caspian Sea was 28 meters below the level of the World Ocean. The direct connection between the waters of the lake and the ocean ceased to exist approximately 6 thousand years ago. The conclusion from the above is that the Caspian Sea is a lake.

There is one more feature that distinguishes the Caspian Sea from the sea - the salinity of its water is almost 3 times lower than the salinity of the World Ocean. The explanation for this is that about 130 large and small rivers carry fresh water to the Caspian Sea. The Volga makes the most significant contribution to this work - it “gives” up to 80% of all water to the lake.

The river played another important role in the life of the Caspian Sea. It is she who will help find the answer to the question of why the Caspian Lake is called a sea. Now that man has built many canals, it has become a fact that the Volga connects the lake with the World Ocean.

History of the lake

Modern look and geographical position The Caspian Lake is caused by continuous processes occurring on the surface of the Earth and in its interior. There were times when the Caspian Sea was connected to Sea of Azov, and through it with the Mediterranean and Black. That is, tens of thousands of years ago the Caspian Lake was part of the World Ocean.

As a result of processes associated with the rise and fall of the earth's crust, mountains appeared that are located on the site of the modern Caucasus. They isolated a body of water that was part of a huge ancient ocean. Tens of thousands of years passed before the basins of the Black and Caspian Seas separated. But for a long time the connection between their waters was carried out through the strait, which was on the site of the Kuma-Manych depression.

Periodically, the narrow strait was either dried up or filled with water again. This happened due to fluctuations in the level of the World Ocean and changes in the appearance of the land.

In a word, the origin of the Caspian Lake is closely connected with general history formation of the Earth's surface.

The lake received its modern name because of the Caspian tribes that inhabited the eastern parts of the Caucasus and the steppe zones of the Caspian territories. Throughout the history of its existence, the lake has had 70 different names.

Territorial division of the lake-sea

The depth of the Caspian Lake is very different in different places. Based on this, the entire water area of the lake-sea was conditionally divided into three parts: the Northern Caspian, the Middle and the Southern.

Shallow water is Northern part lakes. The average depth of these places is 4.4 meters. The highest level is 27 meters. And on 20% of the entire area of the Northern Caspian the depth is only about a meter. It is clear that this part of the lake is of little use for navigation.

The Middle Caspian has the greatest depth of 788 meters. The deep-water part is occupied by lakes. The average depth here is 345 meters, and the greatest is 1026 meters.

Seasonal changes at sea

Due to the large length of the reservoir from north to south climatic conditions Lakes on the coast are not the same. Seasonal changes in the areas adjacent to the reservoir also depend on this.

In winter on south coast lakes in Iran, the water temperature does not fall below 13 degrees. During the same period, in the northern part of the lake off the coast of Russia, the water temperature does not exceed 0 degrees. The Northern Caspian is covered with ice for 2-3 months of the year.

In summer, almost everywhere the Caspian Lake warms up to 25-30 degrees. Warm water, excellent sandy beaches, sunny weather creates excellent conditions for people to relax.

Caspian Sea on the political map of the world

There are five states on the shores of the Caspian Lake - Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

The western regions of the Northern and Middle Caspian Sea belong to the territory of Russia. Iran is located on southern shores sea, it owns 15% of the entire coastline. The eastern coastline is shared by Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Azerbaijan is located in the southwestern territories of the Caspian region.

The issue of dividing the lake’s waters between the Caspian states has been the most pressing for many years. The heads of five states are trying to find a solution that would satisfy everyone's needs and requirements.

Natural resources of the lake

Caspian Sea since ancient times for local residents served as a water transport route.

The lake is famous for valuable fish species, in particular sturgeon. Their reserves account for up to 80% of the world's resources. The issue of preserving the sturgeon population is of international importance; it is being resolved at the government level with Caspian states.

The Caspian seal is another mystery of the unique sea-lake. Scientists have still not fully unraveled the mystery of the appearance of this animal in the waters of the Caspian Sea, as well as other species of animals of northern latitudes.

In total, the Caspian Sea is home to 1,809 species of different groups of animals. There are 728 species of plants. Most of them are “indigenous inhabitants” of the lake. But there is a small group of plants that were brought here intentionally by humans.

Of the mineral resources, the main wealth of the Caspian Sea is oil and gas. Some information sources compare the oil reserves of the Caspian Lake fields with those of Kuwait. Industrial sea mining of black gold is carried out on the lake with late XIX century. The first well appeared on the Absheron shelf in 1820.

Today, governments unanimously believe that the region cannot be viewed only as a source of oil and gas, while leaving the ecology of the Caspian Sea without attention.

Except oil fields, in the Caspian region there are deposits of salt, stone, limestone, clay and sand. Their production also could not but affect the ecological situation of the region.

Sea level fluctuations

The water level in the Caspian Lake is not constant. This is evidenced by evidence dating back to the 4th century BC. The ancient Greeks, who explored the sea, discovered big bay at the confluence of the Volga. The existence of a shallow strait between the Caspian and the Sea of Azov was also discovered by them.

There are other data on the water level in the Caspian Lake. The facts suggest that the level was much lower than what exists now. The ancients are proof architectural structures, discovered on the seabed. The buildings date back to the 7th-13th centuries. Now the depth of their flooding ranges from 2 to 7 meters.

In 1930, the water level in the lake began to decline catastrophically. The process continued for almost fifty years. This caused great concern among people, since all economic activity in the Caspian region is adapted to the previously established water level.

From 1978 the level began to rise again. Today he has become more than 2 meters higher. This is also an undesirable phenomenon for people living on the coast of the lake-sea.

The main reason affecting fluctuations in the lake is climate change. This entails an increase in the volume of river water entering the Caspian Sea, the amount of precipitation, and a decrease in the intensity of water evaporation.

However, it cannot be said that this is the only opinion that explains the fluctuation in water level in the Caspian Lake. There are others, no less plausible.

Human activities and environmental issues

The area of the Caspian Lake's drainage basin is 10 times larger than the surface of the reservoir itself. Therefore, all changes occurring in such a vast territory in one way or another affect the ecology of the Caspian Sea.

Human activity plays an important role in changing the environmental situation in the Caspian Lake region. For example, pollution of a reservoir with harmful and dangerous substances occurs along with the influx of fresh water. This is directly related to industrial production, mining and other economic activity people in the drainage basin.

The state of the environment of the Caspian Sea and adjacent territories is of general concern to the governments of the countries located here. Therefore, discussion of measures aimed at preserving unique lake, its flora and fauna, has become traditional.

Each state has an understanding that only through joint efforts can the ecology of the Caspian Sea be improved.

The Caspian Sea is the largest closed body of water. And although the water in it is salty, and the bed is lined with rocks of the oceanic type, it is located at a distance from the world ocean and is a giant endorheic lake.

The Caspian Sea is located in two parts of the world at once. Its western shore washes the European part of the continent, and the eastern shore is part of Asia. Its length from north to south is 1030 km, and from west to east 435 km at its maximum. Sea coordinates: 36°34’–47°13’ north latitude and 46°–56° east longitude.

You can get to the Caspian Sea from anywhere in Russia. One of the main destinations for Russians will be Astrakhan and the region, from which from the capital and other major cities There are both air and train flights all year round. It is not so easy to get from remote cities, since often train stations do not offer direct flights to Astrakhan.

Another popular route runs through Dagestan and leads to Makhachkala, Kaspiysk or Derbent - the main cities for tourists. Airplanes from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Krasnoyarsk fly to the capital of the republic all year round. It is also possible to get there by train, but in the summer they are usually crowded.

Historical facts

The lake was formed from the Sarmatian Sea tens of millions of years ago, when Caucasus Mountains did not divide it into Black and Caspian Sea. The Sarmatian Sea itself finally lost direct access to the ocean more than 70 million years ago.

Some of the first written mentions of the Caspian Sea were found on clay tablets dating back to the 9th century. BC e. They were found during excavations in Assyria, the territory of which mainly belongs to modern Iraq and Syria. Later, the Caspian was mentioned by Herodotus, Aristotle and the “father of geography” Hecataeus of Miletus. Their knowledge was generalized and expanded by Arab scientists in the 9th - 10th centuries.

How the Caspian Sea was formed

With the development of medieval trade relations, information about the Caspian Sea spread to Europe and Turkey. Famous navigator and the traveler Marco Polo described it in the 13th century. With the further passage of time, knowledge about the lake only expanded, more detailed and truthful maps were created.

As for the name, over the thousands of years of its existence on it, people have given the lake more than 70 names. Thus, the ancient peoples called it Hyrcanian, and the Arabs called it Khazar. The Chinese gave it the name Sihai, the Iranians - Kolzum, the Turks - Küçük-Deniz.

The Russians called it the “Blue Sea”, Khvalynsky or Khozemsky. The name also changed depending on the adjacent states. At one time it was called Sarai, Turkmen, Avar, Persian and many other names. It took its modern name from the ancient nomadic cattle-breeding tribes - the Caspians, who lived on its right bank around the 2nd millennium BC.

Characteristic

Of all the characteristics of the Caspian Sea, the most interesting are its unique flora and fauna, which have collected many rare species of plants and animals, the determination of its origin and problems associated with the ecology and pollution of the reservoir.

Bottom topography and depth

The Caspian Sea is divided into three geographical zones: North, Middle and South. The north is a sea plume with an average depth of no more than 5 m. It accounts for the smallest amount of lake water - about 1%. The second largest was the Middle Caspian, where the bottom at its maximum point goes 780 m. It contains more than 30% of water reserves.

South part equal to the Average in area, but is deeper and contains more than 60% of the water mass.

It is here that the deepest point of the lake is located today - 1025 meters under water.

The boundaries between the parts are quite arbitrary, but they exist.

Between the North and the Middle the border became the island of Chechen and Cape Tyub-Karagansky, and between the Middle and the South - the island of Zhiloy and Cape Gan-Gulu.

The topography of the lake bottom is quite uniform, but varies in different zones.

In Severnaya it is flat shallow water with small alluvial areas. The middle one goes deep and is covered with silt or shells. The southern one, being the deepest, is also covered with silt, and in some places with bedrock ledges.

Area and length

The surface area of the lake is approximately 370,000 square meters. km. The water level is subject to cyclical changes: it sometimes falls, sometimes it rises. Scientists have found that over the last millennium, the water level in the lake has fluctuated within ten meters. This is a very large indicator.

It is associated primarily with human activity, as well as geological factors that constantly affect the reservoir. According to confirmed data, the water level is only rising. The South, Middle and North each account for 40, 35, 25% of the area, respectively.

The length of the coastline is 6,700 km, and taking into account the island territories - about 7,000. The coasts themselves are quite smooth, without large hills. In the north, the lowland coast is represented by channels and islands formed by the Volga.

The area here is swampy and covered with dense thickets of reeds. The eastern coastal areas are adjacent to deserts and consist of limestone or shells. The most “mountainous” were the coasts of the Absheron Peninsula and the Kazakh Gulf.

The Caspian Sea is located in an area where there are many islands and peninsulas. The largest and most significant peninsulas are: the Agrakhan Peninsula, the Absheron Peninsula, on which Baku is located, the Mangyshlak Peninsula, which has the Kazakh city of Aktau, the Buzachi, Miankale and Tyub-Karagan peninsulas.

There are about 50 large and medium-sized islands in the lake. Their total area is 350 sq. km. The most famous of them are: Chechen, Gum, Dash, Zyanbil, Seal Islands, Chygyl, Garasu and Ashur-Ada.

Water composition

The composition of water is different from that observed in the seas and oceans. This is due not only to the fact that the Caspian Sea is closed, but is also subject to significant influence of continental runoff waters. This greatly reduces the content of chlorides and salts in the water, but increases the amount of calcium, carbonates and sulfates inherent in river water.

In the Azov Sea, for example, there are two times less calcium cations than in the Caspian Sea. Despite this, the water in the lake is salty - from 0.05 ppm at the confluence of the Volga to 11-13 ppm in the southern part.

	Carbonates (CaCO3)	Sulfates CaSO4, MgSO4	Chlorides NaCl, KCl, MgCl2	Average water salinity ‰
Ocean	0,21	10,34	89,45	35
Caspian Sea	1,24	30,54	67,90	12,9

The sea basin and its relationship with the World Ocean

The Caspian Sea basin is 3.1 million square meters. km. It includes such rivers as the Volga, Kuma, Uluchai, Samug, Sudak, Terek. The Volga is the largest and deepest river flowing into the lake. More than two hundred large rivers flow into it, and the number of its tributaries totals more than 5,000.

From Astrakhan region its delta begins, which is the largest in Europe. The Volga receives the bulk of its water from melting snow, rain and springs. In addition to these rivers, more than 100 rivers flow into the Caspian Sea.

Today, the Caspian Sea does not have a direct connection with the ocean, but an indirect connection is provided through the Volga-Don Canal. Through it, ships and fleets can get from the Caspian and Volga to the Don, Azov and Black Sea.

Climate

The Caspian Sea is located in several climatic zones, and the climate depends on its parts. In the northern part it is continental with temperatures from -10 °C in winter and up to +25 °C in summer. In the southern part the climate becomes subtropical. The temperature there ranges from +8 °C in winter to +27 °C in summer.

The middle part of the Caspian Sea is located in a temperate climate with average temperatures. The highest temperature recorded was east coast and amounted to +44 °C.

Water temperature is also subject to significant changes and depends on latitude. During the cold season in the northern part, the water can freeze or cool to 0 - 1 °C, and in the south the temperature does not drop below 10 °C. In summer, the water warms up from +20 °C to +27 °C depending on the region.

As for precipitation, the average annual norm is 200 mm. Again, it all depends on the climate and varies from 100 mm in the eastern part to 1700 mm in the southern subtropics. The best time to visit the Caspian Sea is in the summer at the end of July or August. Ideal resorts would be Baku, Makhachkala and Astrakhan.

Flora and fauna

The fauna of the Caspian Sea is diverse and rich. It somewhat replicates other bodies of water, but is unique in its own way. Ancient sturgeon and salmon species of fish live here, as well as several species of herring, carp, pike perch, carp, sprat, mullet, bream, pike, and roach. There are about 100 species of fish in total.

The volume of sturgeon accounts for 90% of all world reserves. The only and unique species of mammal living in this area is the Caspian seal, which is the smallest of all seals. Many of the species are protected by three reserves: Astrakhan, Caspian and Gizylagaj.

The vegetation includes more than 700 species. The most significant for maintaining favorable conditions for animals are blue-green, red, brown and diatoms. The flora is mostly Neogene period ancient Caspian Sea, however, some species were brought into the sea specifically or accidentally due to shipping.

Ecological situation

The current environmental situation in the Caspian Sea is not the best. The main polluting factor was oil and its processing. As you know, it began to be mined here 150 years ago in Azerbaijan.

In this regard, the development of finoplankton and blue-green algae began to be suppressed, the oxygen concentration in the water decreased, which affected the reproduction of sturgeon fish, waterfowl and other living organisms.

The mass reproduction of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis, which penetrated into the Caspian Sea from the Black and Azov Seas through the Volga-Don Canal, also brought a lot of troubles. The ctenophore feeds on the same plankton as Caspian fish.

This reduced their food supply and brought sturgeon to the brink of extinction. The number of valuable sturgeon fish has decreased due to poaching, which, according to unofficial data, accounts for more than half of the catch.

The unique biological and hydrocarbon riches of the Caspian Sea are also destroyed by phenols and heavy metals that enter it with wastewater from industrial enterprises located near the reservoir.

Countries bordering the Caspian Sea

The waters of the sea wash the territories of modern:

The main cities located on the coast are Astrakhan, Baku, Aktau, Bender-Anzeli, Makhachkala and Turkmenbashi.

Tourist infrastructure on the Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is located around developed countries and its tourism infrastructure is presented big amount coastal resort towns with many recreation centers and hotels. Tourists have at their disposal not only active recreation in the form of fishing or water parks, but also beaches where for little money you can relax from morning until late evening, renting sun loungers, hammocks or gazebos.

Resorts on the Caspian Sea

One of the most prestigious resorts became Baku. The capital of Azerbaijan, with a population of 2.5 million people, provides the opportunity not only to relax on the beach, but also to visit many attractions, some of which are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

It’s still better to go to the beaches in the suburbs of Baku, where Shikhovo, Mardakan or Zagulba are located. Resort infrastructure The Caspian Sea is located on high level. The beaches are clean and well-groomed, hotel complexes provide a wide range of accommodation close to the shore. IN

All this is located 30 minutes drive from Baku. Sumgait should not be written off either. It is located 30 km from Baku, but has more extensive shell-type beaches. It has less city bustle, but the service and service are not inferior to the capital.

Kazakhstan also has several resorts in major cities. The most popular were Aktau and Atyrau. Despite the fact that Aktau is located in the desert and began to recreate the tourism infrastructure relatively recently, it has new hotel complexes with decent quality of service.

Atyrau has ceased to be in demand, since the Caspian Sea in these places has become shallow and the beaches have ceased to exist. In general, Kazakh resorts are in little demand among foreign and Russian holidaymakers.

The Caspian Sea washes several large Turkmen cities, including Turkmenbashi and Avaza. The second city is in tourist demand. Here, the construction of hotels and complexes also began relatively recently, but the resort has already managed to find its adherents.

One of its features are sand and shell beaches, stretching for kilometers. The resorts of Turkmenistan also cannot be called popular among foreigners, since there is a rather complicated visa system for entering the country.

In Russia, the two most popular resorts are Astrakhan and Dagestan, represented by Astrakhan itself, Makhachkala, Derbent, Kaspiisky and a couple of other small cities. One of the most picturesque is Derbent. Thanks to its landscapes and ancient buildings, included in the UNESCO heritage, the city has become popular not only among tourists from Russia, but also among foreigners.

Beaches on the Caspian Sea

Most interesting beaches Russian resorts became Jami, Goryanka, Laguna and the beach of the Caspian sanatorium, located on the territory of Dagestan. Unfortunately, according to reviews of tourists in Astrakhan, there are few good beaches, and most coastal areas are located in reed thickets.

Jami Beach, like the Caspian Sea, belongs to hotel and sanatorium apartments located on the shore. That is why they are well equipped in terms of recreation and service. Goryanka Beach is different in that only women and boys under 6 years old can enter its territory.

Among the beaches of Kazakhstan, the beaches of Manila, Nur Plaza, Dostar, and Marakesh deserve the greatest attention. The beaches of Manila and new Marrakesh are very popular, as entry is free and they are open until late in the evening.

Nur Plaza and Dostar are paid. Entrance costs from 35 to 80 rubles. This price already includes umbrellas, sun loungers and other amenities. It is possible to cheaply rent gazebos, barbecues and park cars.

The beaches of Turkmen Avaza stretch for 30 km and have good infrastructure and huge hotel complexes. But not everything is so good. Many note the many shortcomings of hotels and service for fairly high ticket prices. Among them: cold water in the sea, low population, smells from oil refineries that are located near the Caspian Sea.

The beaches of Azerbaijan are rightfully considered the most developed. There are a huge variety of them here for every taste and budget. Almost the entire coastal zone of Baku is built up with hotel complexes, recreation centers and beaches.

The most famous is the beach of the Shikhovo water park. It has everything for active rest not only adults, but also children. Waterslides and the attractions will not make you bored, and a large number of sun loungers will accommodate everyone who wants to just lie in the sun. But don’t forget about beaches such as Nabran, Sumgaiti, Novkhani and other places.

Sights of the Caspian Sea

There are many attractions in Russia that are worth visiting when you come to the resort. In Astrakhan they were the Astrakhan Kremlin, the Bridge of Lovers, and the “Wedding Waltz” fountain. In Makhachkala you can visit the Juma Mosque, many museums and theaters, and in Derbent the ancient Naryn-Kala fortress and the 150-year-old Derbent lighthouse are often visited.

Azerbaijan has unique architectural objects of its kind. In the suburbs of Baku there is the Maiden Tower and a whole complex of walls with the palace of the Shirvanshahs, the Gobustan landscape with ancient rock paintings. There is something to see in the city center. There are modern hotels, galleries and museums here. For example, the Carpet Museum, TV Tower, Cultural Center Heydar Aliyev.

There are not many attractions in Turkmen Avaza. Among them are several yacht clubs, a park, a Congress center and a water park with attractions. In Kazakh Aktau there are no special attractions, nor any streets. The entire city is divided into districts.

Entertainment and active recreation on the Caspian Sea

For people who love active recreation, there are special fishing tours to Astrakhan. Prices start from 20,000 rubles. and include accommodation, boat rentals, and facilities for freezing and cooking fish.

In Kazakhstan, for lovers of active recreation, there are bases with fitness centers, shady courts and much more. Among them, the Kenderli base stands out. Its only drawback: it is located 300 km from the coast.

The Azerbaijani coast has everything for a good time. Water parks Shikhov and Resort will not let children and adults who love active entertainment get bored. Like the Turkmen water park in Avaza.

Prices for hotels in the Caspian Sea

Resort prices in Russia are the cheapest. Accommodation in apartments in Astrakhan will cost 600-700 rubles, and in hotels from 1200 to 3600 rubles. per day. The hotels in greatest demand are Corvette, Bonotel, and Novomoskovsky. In Dagestan, the average price for a hotel will be 1,500 rubles. Coastal hotels: Argo, Pegasus, Assorted, Sharhistan, Versailles.

In the Kazakh Aktau there are hotels Rakhat, Aktau, Victoria. Prices depend on the quality of services, but on average they start from 2,000 thousand rubles. Apartment rental starts from 600 rubles.

Baku hotels provide the most Better conditions and service, however, the prices here are by no means the highest. average price is 2000 rubles. Popular hotels include Consul, Bosfor, and Safran. It is also possible to rent apartments and individual rooms.

But Turkmen hotels are the most expensive. Prices here start from $70. Despite this, many complain that for the money the service leaves much to be desired.

The Caspian Sea is a unique body of water with its own unique flora and fauna. There are 5 states on its shores, most of which provide good tourism infrastructure and service by reasonable prices. In coastal cities there are ancient attractions that are world heritage UNESCO.

Article format: Mila Friedan

Video about the Caspian Sea

Review of holidays on the Caspian Sea:

On Sunday, August 12, in Aktau, Kazakhstan, the presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan signed the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea. Previously, its status was regulated by Soviet-Iranian treaties, in which the Caspian Sea was defined as a closed (inland) sea, and each Caspian state had sovereign rights to a 10-mile zone and equal rights to the rest of the sea.

Now, according to the new convention, each country is assigned its own territorial waters (zones 15 miles wide). In addition, the provisions of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea will not apply to the Caspian Sea, the seabed will be delimited into sectors, as is done by neighboring seas, and sovereignty over the water column will be established on the basis of the principle that it is a lake.

Why is the Caspian considered neither a lake nor a sea?

To be considered a sea, the Caspian Sea must have access to the ocean; this is one of the most important conditions for which a body of water can be called a sea. But the Caspian Sea has no access to the ocean, so it is considered a closed body of water not connected to the World Ocean.

The second feature that distinguishes sea waters from lake waters is their high salinity. The water in the Caspian Sea is indeed salty, but in its salt composition it occupies an intermediate position between the river and the ocean. In addition, in the Caspian Sea, salinity increases towards the south. The Volga delta contains 0.3‰ salts, and in the eastern regions of the Southern and Middle Caspian Sea the salinity reaches 13-14‰. And if we talk about the salinity of the World Ocean, it averages 34.7 ‰.

Due to its specific geographical and hydrological characteristics, the reservoir received a special legal status. The summit participants decided that the Caspian Sea is an inland body of water that does not have a direct connection with the World Ocean, and therefore cannot be considered a sea, and at the same time, due to its size, water composition and bottom features, cannot be considered a lake.

What has been achieved since the signing of the Convention?

The new treaty expands opportunities for cooperation between countries and also involves limiting any military presence of third countries. According to political scientist, director of the Institute newest states Alexey Martynov, the main achievement of the last summit is that its participants managed to stop any talk about the possible construction of military bases and NATO infrastructure facilities in the Caspian Sea.

“The most important thing that was achieved was to fix that the Caspian Sea will be demilitarized for all Caspian states. There will be no other military personnel there except those representing the countries that signed the Caspian Agreement. This is fundamental and main question, which was important to record. Everything else, what is divided proportionally into zones of influence, zones of extraction of biological resources, zones of extraction of shelf resources, was not so important. As we remember, in the last twenty years the military has been actively seeking to enter the region. The USA even wanted to build their own there military base", says Martynov.

In addition to the distribution of each country's shares in the oil and gas fields of the Caspian basin, the Convention also provides for the construction of pipelines. As stated in the document, the rules for laying them provide for the consent of only neighboring countries, and not all countries of the Caspian Sea. After signing the agreement, Turkmenistan, in particular, stated that it was ready to lay pipelines along the bottom of the Caspian Sea, which would allow it to export its gas through Azerbaijan to Europe. The consent of Russia, which previously insisted that the project could only be implemented with the permission of all five Caspian states, is now no longer required. They plan to subsequently connect the gas pipeline to the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline, through which natural gas will flow through the territory of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to Greece.

“Turkmenistan is not a foreign country to us, but our partner, a country that we consider very important for us in the post-Soviet space. We cannot be against them receiving an additional impetus for development through such pipeline projects. Gas has long been coming from Turkmenistan and other countries through another pipeline system, somewhere it is even mixed with Russian gas, and there is nothing wrong with that. If this project works, everyone will benefit, including Russia. Under no circumstances should the project be considered as some kind of competition. The European market is so large and insatiable, I mean the energy market, that there is enough room for everyone,” says Martynov.

Today, almost all Turkmen gas is supplied to China, where Russia also intends to supply blue fuel. For this purpose, in particular, a large-scale project for the construction of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline is being implemented. Thus, the geography of gas supplies for both countries can expand - Turkmenistan will gain access to the European market, and Russia will be able to increase its gas supplies to China.

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