Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea (Azerbaijani: Xəzər Dənizi, Russian: Каспийское море, Persian: دریای مازندران یا دریای خزر (Daryâ-ye Mâzandarân)) is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area. It is variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea.

The Caspian Sea has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometres (143,244 sq mi) and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometres (18,761 cu mi). It is in an endorheic basin (it has no outflows) and is bounded by northern Iran, southern Russia, western Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, and eastern Azerbaijan. It has a maximum depth of about 1,025 metres (3,363 ft).

The ancient inhabitants of its littoral perceived the Caspian as an ocean, probably because of its saltiness and seeming boundlessness. It has a salinity of approximately 1.2%, about a third the salinity of most seawater. Caspian is called Qazvin (قزوين or بحر قزوين) on ancient maps.

There are a five countries adjoining the Caspian Sea, in clockwise order:

• Azerbaijan
• Russia
• Kazakhstan
• Turkmenistan
• Iran

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