Eastern coast of the Caspian Sea. Caspian Sea: report. Samur: valley and its description

Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is one of the most amazing closed bodies of water on Earth.

Over the centuries, the sea has changed more than 70 names. The modern one came from the Caspians - tribes inhabiting the central and southeastern part of Transcaucasia 2 thousand years BC.
Geography of the Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is located at the junction of Europe and Asia and geographical location is divided into the Southern, Northern and Middle Caspian.
Average and Northern part The sea belongs to Russia, the south to Iran, the east to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, and the southwest to Azerbaijan.

For many years, the Caspian states have been dividing the Caspian waters among themselves, and quite sharply at that.

Caspian sea map

Lake or sea?

In fact, the Caspian Sea is the world's largest lake, but has a number of marine signs.
These include: a large water mass of the reservoir, strong storms with high waves, ebbs and flows.

But the Caspian does not have a natural connection with the World Ocean, which makes it impossible to call it a sea.
At the same time, thanks to the Volga and artificially created channels, such a connection appeared.

The salinity of the Caspian Sea is 3 times lower than the usual sea salinity, which does not allow the reservoir to be classified as a sea.

There were times when the Caspian Sea was truly part of the World Ocean.
Several tens of thousands of years ago the Caspian Sea was connected to the Sea of ​​Azov, and through it to the Black and Mediterranean.
As a result of long-term processes occurring in the earth's crust, Caucasus Mountains, which isolated the reservoir.
The connection between the Caspian and Black Seas was carried out for a long time through the strait (Kuma-Manych depression) and gradually ceased.

Physical quantities

Area, volume, depth

The area, volume and depth of the Caspian Sea are not constant and directly depend on the water level.
On average, the area of ​​the reservoir is 371,000 km², the volume is 78,648 km³ (44% of all world lake water reserves).

The depth of the Caspian Sea in comparison with lakes Baikal and Tanganyika

The average depth of the Caspian Sea is 208 m; the northern part of the sea is considered the shallowest. The maximum depth is 1025 m, noted in the South Caspian depression.
In terms of depth, the Caspian Sea is second only to Baikal and Tanganyika.

The length of the lake from north to south is about 1200 km, from west to east on average 315 km. Length coastline- 6600 km, with islands - about 7 thousand km.

Shores

Mostly, the coast of the Caspian Sea is low and smooth.
In the northern part- strongly indented by the river channels of the Urals and Volga. The swampy shores here are located very low.
Eastern Shores adjacent to semi-desert zones and deserts, covered with limestone deposits.
The most winding shores are in the west in the area of ​​the Absheron Peninsula, and in the east in the area of ​​the Kazakh Bay and Kara-Bogaz-Gol.

Sea water temperature

Temperature of the Caspian Sea in different time of the year

Average water temperature in winter in the Caspian Sea it ranges from 0 °C in the northern part to +10 °C in the southern part.
In Iranian waters, the temperature does not drop below +13 °C.
With the onset of cold weather, the shallow northern part of the lake is covered with ice, which lasts for 2-3 months. The thickness of the ice cover is 25-60 cm, and at especially low temperatures it can reach 130 cm. Late autumn and in winter, drifting ice floes can be observed in the north.

In summer average temperature The surface water temperature in the sea is + 24 °C.
In most parts the sea warms up to +25 °C…+30 °C.
Warm water and beautiful sandy, occasionally shell and pebble beaches create excellent conditions for a good beach holiday.
In the eastern part of the Caspian Sea, near the city of Begdash, it remains abnormally low water temperature.

Nature of the Caspian Sea

Islands, peninsulas, bays, rivers

The Caspian Sea includes about 50 large and medium-sized islands, total area of which is 350 km².
The largest of them are: Ashur-Ada, Garasu, Gum, Dash and Boyuk-Zira. The largest peninsulas are: Agrakhansky, Absheronsky, Buzachi, Mangyshlak, Miankale and Tyub-Karagan.

Tyuleniy Island in the Caspian Sea, part of the Dagestan Nature Reserve

To the largest bays of the Caspian Sea include: Agrakhansky, Kazakh, Kizlyarsky, Dead Kultuk and Mangyshlaksky.
In the east is salt Lake Kara-Bogaz-Gol, formerly a lagoon connected to the sea by a strait.
In 1980, a dam was built on it, through which water from the Caspian goes to Kara-Bogaz-Gol, where it then evaporates.

130 rivers flow into the Caspian Sea, located mainly in its northern part. The largest of them are: Volga, Terek, Sulak, Samur and Ural.
The average annual drainage of the Volga is 220 km³. 9 rivers have delta-shaped mouths.

Flora and fauna

The Caspian Sea is home to about 450 species of phytoplankton, including algae, aquatic and flowering plants. Of the 400 species of invertebrates, worms, crustaceans and molluscs predominate. There are a lot of small shrimp in the sea, which are the object of fishing.

More than 120 species of fish live in the Caspian Sea and delta. Fishing objects include sprat (“Kilkin fleet”), catfish, pike, bream, pike perch, kutum, mullet, roach, rudd, herring, white fish, pike perch, goby, grass carp, burbot, asp and pike perch. Stocks of sturgeon and salmon are currently depleted, however, the sea is the largest supplier of black caviar in the world.

Fishing in the Caspian Sea is allowed all year round except for the period from the end of April to the end of June. There are many fishing bases with all amenities on the coast. Fishing in the Caspian Sea is a great pleasure. In any part of it, including in large cities, the catch is unusually rich.

The lake is famous for its wide variety of waterfowl. Geese, ducks, loons, gulls, waders, eagles, geese, swans and many others fly to the Caspian Sea during the migration or nesting period.
The largest number of birds - over 600 thousand individuals - is observed at the mouths of the Volga and Ural, in the Turkmenbashi and Kyzylagach bays. Comes here during hunting season great amount fishermen not only from Russia, but also from countries near and far abroad.

Caspian seal

The Caspian Sea is home to the only mammal. This is the Caspian seal or seal. Until recently, seals swam close to the beaches, everyone could admire the amazing animal with round black eyes, and the seals behaved very friendly.
Now the seal is on the verge of extinction.

Cities on the Caspian Sea

The largest city on the Caspian Sea coast is Baku.
The number of one of the most the most beautiful cities the world is over 2.5 million people. Baku is located on the picturesque Absheron Peninsula and is surrounded on three sides by the waters of the warm and oil-rich Caspian Sea.
Less big cities: the capital of Dagestan is Makhachkala, the Kazakh Aktau, the Turkmen Turkmenbashi and the Iranian Bender-Anzeli.

Baku Bay, Baku - a city on the Caspian Sea

Interesting Facts

Scientists are still debating whether to call a body of water a sea or a lake.
The level of the Caspian Sea is gradually decreasing.
The Volga delivers most of the water to the Caspian Sea.
90% of black caviar is mined in the Caspian Sea. Among them, the most expensive is the albino beluga caviar “Almas” ($2 thousand per 100 g).

Companies from 21 countries are taking part in the development of oil fields in the Caspian Sea. According to Russian estimates, hydrocarbon reserves in the sea amount to 12 billion tons.

American scientists claim that a fifth of the world's hydrocarbon reserves are concentrated in the depths of the Caspian Sea. This is more than the combined reserves of oil-producing countries such as Kuwait and Iraq.

Looking through ancient maps, I constantly paid attention to how cartographers of that time depicted the Caspian Sea. On early maps it has an oval shape, slightly elongated in latitude, in contrast to its modern appearance, where the waters of the Caspian Sea extend from north to south.

Photos are clickable:

Caspian Sea on the map in modern form

And the size of the Caspian Sea is completely different. The pool area is larger than the modern one.
Let's look at some ancient maps and see for ourselves.

Here the Caspian Sea already has slightly different outlines, but it is still far from modern

All these maps show that the Caspian Sea has a system of deep rivers flowing into it along its entire perimeter. Now, the main river flowing into the Caspian Sea is the Volga. With so many rivers in the past, this must be a densely populated, fertile region. The ancient cartographers could not have made such a mistake in the geometric shapes of the reservoir and in the number of rivers flowing into it.
I note that not a single map has an image, not even a hint, of Lake Baikal (this will be useful to us later).
The Aral Sea is not on the maps - it is absorbed by the Caspian, it is one basin.
It is known that the Aral Sea is rapidly drying up, simply catastrophically quickly. About 25 years ago, the USSR even had projects to save this sea by diverting Siberian rivers. The coastline of the Aral Sea literally disappeared before our eyes over the years.

The official reason for such a catastrophic decrease in the water level in the Aral Lake-Sea is the huge withdrawal of water from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers for irrigation of cotton fields.
More details

Yes, this process takes place. But not that much. It seems to me that we have witnessed climate change that began long before excessive economic activity people in this region. Many deserts in this region, steppes are the bottom of the ancient Caspian Sea. But not all. Below I will try to explain why.

In the meantime, I’ll add information from official science confirming changes in the shape and area of ​​the Caspian basin:

The Russian scientist - academician P.S. Pallas, having visited the low-lying flat shores of the Northern Caspian, wrote that the Caspian steppes are still in such a state as if they had recently emerged from under the water. This thought comes by itself if you look at these leveled vast spaces, at this sandy-clay soil mixed with sea shells, and at countless salt marshes. What kind of sea could flood these steppes if not the adjacent Caspian Sea?

Pallas also found traces of a higher sea level on small hills scattered across the Caspian lowland like islands in the sea. He discovered ledges, or terraces, on the slopes of these hills. They could only be produced by sea waves acting for a long time.

Soviet scientists found that on the shores of the Caspian Sea, especially on the eastern ones (Mangyshlak and others), three coastal terraces are found at an altitude of 26, 16 and 11 m above the modern level of the Caspian Sea. They belong to the last stage of the Khvalynsk Sea, that is, to the period 10 - 20 thousand years ago. On the other hand, there is reliable information about underwater terraces at depths of 4, 8, 12 and 16 - 20 m below the modern level.

At a depth of 16 - 20 m, there is a sharp bend in the transverse profile of the underwater slope or, in other words, a flooded terrace. The period of such low sea level dates back to the post-Khvalyn time. Later, during the New Caspian period, which began 3 - 3.5 thousand years ago, the level of the Caspian Sea generally increased, reaching a maximum in 1805.

It turns out that in relatively recent geological times the level of the Caspian Sea experienced significant fluctuations with an amplitude reaching approximately 40 meters.

A large number of coastal ledges - terraces could have formed only during transgressions (the advance of the sea onto the land) and regressions (the retreat of the sea). During transgression, the sea level remained at a certain height for a long time, and the sea surf had time to process the shores, creating beaches and coastal ramparts.

Those. scientists do not deny that even in a very recent era by geological standards, the Caspian Sea was different.

Let’s read what some figures of the past wrote about the Caspian Sea:

The first information about the Caspian Sea and its shores was found in the writings of ancient Greek and Roman scientists. However, this information, which they received from merchants, participants in wars, and seafarers, was not accurate and often contradicted each other. For example, Strabo believed that the Syr Darya flows simultaneously in two branches into the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea. In the general geography of Claudius Ptolemy, which was a reference book for travelers until the 17th century, the Aral Sea is not mentioned at all.

The ancient maps of ancient geographers have also reached us. Distances between geographical points were then determined by the speed and time of movement of caravans and ships, and the direction of the journey - by the stars.

Herodotus (who lived around 484-425 BC) was the first to define the Caspian Sea as a sea isolated from the ocean with a width-to-length ratio of 1:6, which is very close to reality. Aristotle (384-322 BC) confirmed the conclusion of Herodotus. However, many of their contemporaries considered the Caspian Sea to be the northern bay of the ocean, which, according to their ideas, surrounded the entire then-known earth.

Ptolemy (90-168 AD), like Herodotus, considered the Caspian Sea closed, but depicted it incorrectly, in a shape approaching a circle.

Later, in 900-1200. AD Arab scientists, following Ptolemy, imagined the Caspian Sea as closed and round. You can go around the Caspian (Khazar) Sea, returning to the place from where you set off, and not encounter any obstacles except the rivers flowing into the sea, Istakhari wrote. The same was confirmed in 1280 by Marco Polo, the famous Venetian traveler who visited China. As we will see below, an incorrect idea about the shape of the Caspian Sea persisted in the Western scientific world until the beginning of the 18th century, until it was refuted by Russian hydrographers.
Source: http://stepnoy-sledopyt.narod.ru/geologia/kmore/geol.htm (B.A. Shlyamin. Caspian Sea. 1954. Geographgiz. 128 p.)

From all this, we can conclude that climatic conditions in this region were different, this indirectly proves this map of Africa:

The climate was different not only in Central Asia, but also in the largest desert on the planet - the Sahara. See a huge river crossing modern desert Africa from east to west and emptying into the Atlantic. Besides, huge number rivers flow into the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic - this indicates heavy rainfall in this region, and at least savannah vegetation. The Arabian Peninsula, too, is full of rivers and vegetation.
And this is the climate of the not so distant past, the past when people were making maps in full force.

What could have happened that changed Central Asia and northern Africa beyond recognition? Where did so much sand come from in the Karakum Desert and Sahara?

I will put forward a version based on these cards, which at first glance may not be clear:

It can be seen that the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea are connected into one basin and a huge water area flows into them from the northeast and in the center - a huge river flowing from somewhere in the north. There is a message from Persian Gulf.

Scientists also confirm these data:

It turned out that for a very long time, measured in millions of years, the Mediterranean, Black, Azov and Caspian seas constituted a huge sea ​​pool, connected to the World Ocean. This pool repeatedly changed its outline, area, depth, was split into separate parts and restored again.

The stages of development of this basin in historical sequence received various, purely conventional, names: the Miocene basin, or the sea that existed in the Miocene time, several million years ago, the Sarmatian, Meotic, Pontic, Akchagyl, Apsheron and the Khvalyn sea, which is closest to our time.

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on planet Earth, located on the continent of Eurasia - in the border territory of the states of Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan. In fact it is giant lake, left after the disappearance of the ancient Tethys Ocean. Nevertheless, there is every reason to consider it as an independent sea (this is indicated by the salinity, big square and a decent depth, a bottom made of oceanic crust and other signs). By maximum depth is the third among closed reservoirs - after lakes Baikal and Tanganyika. In the northern part of the Caspian Sea (a few kilometers from northern shore- parallel to it) runs geographical boundary between Europe and Asia.

Toponymy

• Other names: throughout the history of mankind, the Caspian Sea has had about 70 different names among different peoples. The most famous of them: Khvalynskoye or Khvalisskoye (took place during the Ancient Rus', arose from the name of the people praises, who lived in the Northern Caspian region and traded with the Russians), Hyrcanian or Djurdzhanian (descended from alternative names the city of Gorgan, located in Iran), Khazarskoye, Abeskunskoye (after the name of the island and city in the Kura delta - now flooded), Saraiskoye, Derbentskoye, Sikhay.
• Origin of name: according to one hypothesis, its modern and most ancient name, The Caspian Sea received from a tribe of nomadic horse breeders Caspian Sea, who lived in the 1st millennium BC on the southwestern coast.

Morphometry

• Catchment area: 3,626,000 km².
• Mirror area: 371,000 km².
• Coastline length: 7,000 km.
• Volume: 78,200 km³.
• Average depth: 208 m.
• Maximum depth: 1,025 m.

Hydrology

• Availability of permanent flow: no, drainless.
• Tributaries:, Ural, Emba, Atrek, Gorgan, Heraz, Sefidrud, Astarchay, Kura, Pirsagat, Kusarchay, Samur, Rubas, Darvagchay, Ulluchay, Shuraozen, Sulak, Terek, Kuma.
• Bottom: very diverse. At shallow depths, sandy soil with an admixture of shells is common; in deep-sea areas, it is silty. In the coastal strip there may be pebbly and rocky places (especially where mountain ranges adjoin the sea). In the estuarine areas, the underwater soil consists of river sediments. The Kara-Bogaz-Gol Bay is notable for the fact that its bottom is a thick layer of mineral salts.

Chemical composition

• Water: salty.
• Salinity: 13 g/l.
• Transparency: 15 m.

Geography

Rice. 1. Map of the Caspian Sea basin.

• Coordinates: 41°59′02″ n. latitude, 51°03′52″ e. d.
• Height above sea level:-28 m.
• Coastal landscape: due to the fact that the coastline of the Caspian Sea is very long, and it itself is located in different geographical areas— The coastal landscape is diverse. In the northern part of the reservoir, the banks are low, swampy, and in the deltas of large rivers, they are cut by numerous channels. Eastern Shores for the most part limestone - desert or semi-desert. Western and southern shore adjacent to mountain ranges. The greatest ruggedness of the coastline is observed in the west, in the area of ​​the Absheron Peninsula, and also in the east, in the area of ​​the Kazakh and Kara-Bogaz-Gol bays.
• Settlements on the banks:
  • Russia: Astrakhan, Derbent, Kaspiysk, Makhachkala, Olya.
  • Kazakhstan: Aktau, Atyrau, Kuryk, Sogandyk, Bautino.
  • Turkmenistan: Ekerem, Karabogaz, Turkmenbashi, Khazar.
  • Iran: Astara, Balboser, Bender-Torkemen, Bender-Anzeli, Neka, Chalus.
  • Azerbaijan: Alyat, Astara, Baku, Dubendi, Lankaran, Sangachali, Sumgayit.

Interactive map

Ecology

The ecological situation in the Caspian Sea is far from ideal. Almost all large rivers flowing into it are polluted by wastewater from industrial enterprises located upstream. This could not but affect the presence of pollutants in the waters and bottom sediments of the Caspian Sea - over the past half century, their concentration has increased significantly, and the content of some heavy metals has already exceeded permissible standards.

In addition, the waters of the Caspian Sea are constantly polluted by domestic wastewater from coastal cities, as well as during oil production on the continental shelf, and during its transportation.

Fishing on the Caspian Sea

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• Artificial settlement: not all of the above fish species in the Caspian Sea are native. About 4 dozen species arrived by accident (for example, through canals from the basins of the Black and Baltic Seas), or were intentionally populated by humans. As an example, it is worth citing mullets. Three Black Sea species of these fish - mullet, sharpnose and singil - were released in the first half of the 20th century. The mullet did not take root, but the sharpnose and the singil successfully acclimatized, and by now have settled virtually throughout the entire Caspian waters, forming several commercial herds. At the same time, the fish fatten up faster than in the Black Sea and reach larger sizes. In the second half of the last century (starting from 1962), attempts were also made to introduce such Far Eastern salmon fish as pink salmon and chum salmon into the Caspian Sea. In total, several billion fry of these fish were released into the sea over the course of 5 years. Pink salmon did not survive in the new habitat, chum salmon, on the contrary, successfully took root and even began to enter the rivers flowing into the sea to spawn. However, it was unable to reproduce in sufficient quantities and gradually disappeared. There are still no favorable conditions for its full natural reproduction (there are very few places where spawning and development of fry could successfully occur). To provide them, river reclamation is necessary, otherwise, without human help (artificial collection of eggs and their incubation), the fish will not be able to maintain their numbers.

Fishing spots

In fact, fishing is possible anywhere on the Caspian Sea coast, which can be reached by land or water. What types of fish will be caught depends on local conditions, but to a greater extent on whether the rivers flow here. As a rule, in places where estuaries and deltas are located (especially large watercourses), the water in the sea is greatly desalinated, so freshwater fish (carp, catfish, bream, etc.) usually predominate in the catches; species characteristic of the flowing rivers may also be found. rivers (usachi, shemaya). From marine species in desalinated areas, those for which salinity does not matter (mullet, some gobies) are caught. At certain periods of the year, semi-anadromous and anadromous species can be found here, feeding in the sea and entering rivers to spawn (sturgeon, some herrings, Caspian salmon). In places where there are no flowing rivers, freshwater species are found in slightly smaller numbers, but marine fish also appear, usually avoiding desalinated areas (for example, sea pike perch). Far from the coast, fish are caught that prefer salt water, and deep-sea species.

Conventionally, we can distinguish 9 places or areas that are interesting in terms of fishing:

1. North Shore (RF)- this site is located on the northern coast of the Russian Federation (from the Volga delta to the Kizlyar Bay). Its main features are low salinity of water (the lowest in the Caspian Sea), shallow depth, the presence of multiple shoals, islands, and highly developed aquatic vegetation. In addition to the Volga delta with its numerous channels, bays and eriks, it also includes the estuary coastal area, called the Caspian Peaks. These places are popular among Russian fishermen, and for good reason: the conditions for fish here are very favorable, and there is also a good food supply. The ichthyofauna in these parts may not shine with a wealth of species, but it is distinguished by its abundance, and some of its representatives reach quite considerable sizes. Typically, the bulk of the catches are freshwater fish characteristic of the Volga basin. Most often caught: perch, pike perch, roach (more precisely, its varieties called roach and ram), rudd, asp, sabrefish, bream, silver carp, carp, catfish, pike. Somewhat less common are black bream, silver bream, white-eye, and bluegill. Representatives of sturgeons (sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, beluga, etc.) and salmonids (nelma, brown trout - Caspian salmon) are also found in these places, but their fishing is prohibited.
2. Northwestern coast (RF)- this area covers West Coast Russian Federation(from Kizlyar Bay to Makhachkala). The rivers Kuma, Terek and Sulak flow here - they carry their waters both through natural channels and artificial canals. There are bays in this area, some of which are quite large (Kizlyarsky, Agrakhansky). The sea in these places is shallow. Freshwater fish predominate in the catches: pike, perch, carp, catfish, rudd, bream, barbel, etc., and marine species are also caught here, for example, herring (blackback, bellyfish).
3. West Bank (RF)- from Makhachkala to the border of the Russian Federation with Azerbaijan. An area where mountain ranges adjoin the sea. The salinity of the water here is slightly higher than in previous places, therefore, marine species are more common in fishermen’s catches (sea pike perch, mullet, herring). However, freshwater fish are by no means uncommon.
4. West Bank (Azerbaijan)- from the border of the Russian Federation with Azerbaijan along the Absheron Peninsula. Continuation of the area where mountain ranges adjoin the sea. Fishing here is even more similar to typical offshore fishing, with fish such as razorback and mullet and several species of gobies also caught here. In addition to them, there are kutum, herring, and some typically freshwater species, for example, carp.
5. Southwestern coast (Azerbaijan)- from the Absheron Peninsula to the border of Azerbaijan with Iran. Most of this area is occupied by the Kura River delta. The same types of fish that were listed in the previous paragraph are caught here, but freshwater ones are somewhat more common.
6. Northern coast (Kazakhstan)- this area covers north coast Kazakhstan. Here are the Ural delta and state reserve“Akzhaiyk”, therefore fishing directly in the river delta and in some adjacent water areas is prohibited. Fishing can only be done outside the reserve - upstream from the delta, or in the sea - at some distance from it. Fishing near the Ural delta has much in common with fishing at the confluence of the Volga - almost the same species of fish are found here.
7. Northeast coast (Kazakhstan)- from the mouth of the Emba to Cape Tyub-Karagan. Unlike the northern part of the sea, where the water is greatly diluted by the flowing large rivers, its salinity here increases slightly, so those species of fish appear that avoid desalinated areas, for example, sea pike perch, which is fished in Dead Kultuk Bay. Also, other representatives of marine fauna are often found in the catches.
8. Eastern coast (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan)- from Cape Tyub-Karagan to the border of Turkmenistan and Iran. It is distinguished by the almost complete absence of flowing rivers. The salinity of the water here is at its maximum. Of the fish in these places, marine species predominate; the bulk of the catches are mullet, sea pike perch and gobies.
9. South Bank (Iran)- covers South coast Caspian Sea. Along the entire length of this section, the sea is adjacent to mountain range Elborz. Many rivers flow here, most of which are small watercourses, there are also several medium-sized ones and one large river. Of the fish, in addition to marine species, there are also some freshwater, as well as semi-anadromous and anadromous species, for example, sturgeon.

Fishing Features

The most popular and catchy amateur tackle used on the Caspian coast is a heavy spinning rod, converted into a “sea bottom”. It is usually equipped with a durable reel on which a fairly thick fishing line (0.3 mm or more) is wound. The thickness of the fishing line is determined not so much by the size of the fish, but by the mass of a fairly heavy sinker, which is necessary for ultra-long casting (in the Caspian Sea it is widely believed that the farther from the shore the casting point is, the better). After the sinker comes a thinner line - with several leashes. The bait used is shrimp and amphipods that live in coastal algae thickets - if you plan to catch sea fish, or ordinary bait like a worm, chafer larvae and others - if there are freshwater species in the fishing area.

At the mouths of inflowing rivers, other gear can be used, such as a float rod, feeder and traditional spinning rod.

kasparova2 majorov2006 g2gg2g-61 .

Photo 8. Sunset in Aktau.

Is it correct to call the Caspian Sea a sea?

It is known that the sea is part of the World Ocean. From this geographically correct point of view, the Caspian Sea cannot in any way be considered a sea, since it is separated from the ocean by huge land masses. The shortest distance from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea, the closest of the seas included in the World Ocean system, is 500 kilometers. Therefore, it would be more correct to talk about the Caspian Sea as a lake. This largest lake in the world is often called simply the Caspian or lake-sea.

The Caspian Sea has a number of characteristics of a sea: its water is salty (however, there are other salty lakes), its area is not much inferior to the area of ​​such seas as the Black, Baltic, Red, Northern and even exceeds the area of ​​​​the Azov and some others (however, the Canadian Lake Superior also has a huge area , like the three Seas of Azov). In the Caspian Sea there are often fierce storm winds and huge waves (and this is not uncommon on Lake Baikal).

So, after all, the Caspian Sea is a lake? That's Wikipedia says it And the Great Soviet Encyclopedia answers that no one has yet been able to give an exact definition of this issue - “There is no generally accepted classification.”

Do you know why this is very important and fundamental? And here's why...

The lake belongs to internal waters - the sovereign territories of coastal states, to which the international regime does not apply (the UN principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of states). But the sea area is divided differently, and the rights of coastal states here are completely different.

Due to its geographical location, the Caspian Sea itself, unlike the land territories surrounding it, has not been the object of any targeted attention from the coastal states for many centuries. Only at the beginning of the 19th century. the first treaties were concluded between Russia and Persia: Gulistan (1813) 4 and Turkmanchay (1828), summing up the results of the Russian-Persian war, as a result of which Russia annexed a number of Transcaucasian territories and received the exclusive right to maintain a military fleet in the Caspian sea. Russian and Persian merchants were allowed to trade freely on the territory of both states and use the Caspian Sea to transport goods. The Turkmanchay Treaty confirmed all these provisions and became the basis for maintaining international relations between the parties until 1917.

After the October Revolution of 1917, in a note dated January 14, 1918, the new Russian government that came to power renounced its exclusive military presence in the Caspian Sea. The treaty between the RSFSR and Persia of February 26, 1921 declared invalid all agreements concluded before it by the tsarist government. The Caspian Sea became a body of water for the common use of the parties: both states were granted equal rights of free navigation, with the exception of cases when the crews of Iranian ships could include citizens of third countries using the service for unfriendly purposes (Article 7). The 1921 agreement did not provide for a maritime border between the parties.

In August 1935, the following agreement was signed, the parties to which were new subjects of international law - the Soviet Union and Iran, which acted under a new name. The parties confirmed the provisions of the 1921 agreement, but introduced into the agreement a new concept for the Caspian Sea - a 10-mile fishing zone, which limited the spatial limits of this fishery for its participants. This was done in order to control and preserve the living resources of the reservoir.

In the context of the outbreak of World War II, unleashed by Germany, an urgent need arose to conclude a new agreement between the USSR and Iran on trade and navigation in the Caspian Sea. The reason for this was the concern of the Soviet side, caused by Germany’s interest in intensifying its trade ties with Iran and the danger of using the Caspian Sea as one of the stages of the transit route. The agreement between the USSR and Iran 10 signed in 1940 protected the Caspian Sea from such a prospect: it repeated the main provisions of previous agreements, which provided for the presence of ships of only these two Caspian states in its waters. It also included a provision for its indefinite validity.

Camber Soviet Union radically changed the regional situation in the former Soviet space, in particular in the Caspian region. Among a large number of new problems, the problem of the Caspian Sea arose. Instead of two states - the USSR and Iran, which previously bilaterally resolved all emerging issues of maritime navigation, fishing and the use of other living and non-living resources, now there are five of them. Of the former, only Iran remained, Russia took the place of the USSR as successor, the other three are new states: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan. They had access to the Caspian Sea before, but only as republics of the USSR, and not as independent states. Now, having become independent and sovereign, they have the opportunity to participate on equal terms with Russia and Iran in discussions and decision-making in considering all the issues mentioned above. This was also reflected in the attitude of these states towards the Caspian Sea, since all five states that had access to it showed equal interest in using its living and non-living resources. And this is logical, and most importantly, justified: the Caspian Sea is rich in natural resources, both fish stocks and black gold - oil and blue fuel - gas. Exploration and production of the last two resources became the subject of the most heated and protracted negotiations for a long time. But not only them.

In addition to the presence of rich mineral resources, the waters of the Caspian Sea are home to about 120 species and subspecies of fish; here is the global gene pool of sturgeon, the catch of which until recently accounted for 90% of the total world catch.

Due to its location, the Caspian Sea has traditionally and long been widely used for shipping, acting as a kind of transport artery between the peoples of the coastal states. Along its banks there are such large sea ​​ports, like Russian Astrakhan, the capital of Azerbaijan Baku, Turkmen Turkmenbashi, Iranian Anzeli and Kazakh Aktau, between which routes for trade, cargo and passenger maritime transport have long been laid.

And yet, the main object of attention of the Caspian states is its mineral resources - oil and natural gas, which each of them can lay claim to within the boundaries that must be determined by them collectively on the basis of international law. And to do this, they will have to divide between themselves both the waters of the Caspian Sea and its bottom, in the depths of which its oil and gas are hidden, and develop rules for their extraction with minimal damage to a very fragile environment, especially the marine environment and its living inhabitants.

The main obstacle in resolving the issue of starting widespread mining of Caspian mineral resources for the Caspian states continues to be its international legal status: should it be considered a sea or a lake? The complexity of the issue lies in the fact that these states themselves must resolve it, and there is no agreement yet among them. But at the same time, each of them strives to quickly begin production of Caspian oil and natural gas and make their sale abroad a constant source of funds to form their budget.

Therefore, oil companies of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, without waiting for the end of the settlement of existing disagreements over the territorial division of the Caspian Sea, have already begun active production of its oil, in the hope of ceasing to be dependent on Russia, turning their countries into oil-producing countries and already in this capacity begin to build their own long-term trade relations with neighbors.

However, the issue of the status of the Caspian Sea remains unresolved. Regardless of whether the Caspian states agree to consider it a “sea” or a “lake”, they will have to apply the principles corresponding to the choice made to the territorial division of its water area and bottom or develop their own for this case.

Kazakhstan advocated recognition of the Caspian Sea by the sea. Such recognition will make it possible to apply the provisions of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on Internal Waters, the Territorial Sea, the Exclusive Economic Zone, and the Continental Shelf to the division of the Caspian Sea. This would allow coastal states to gain sovereignty over the subsoil of the territorial sea (Article 2) and exclusive rights to the exploration and development of resources on the continental shelf (Article 77). But the Caspian Sea cannot be called a sea from the standpoint of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, since this body of water is closed and has no natural connection with the world ocean.

In this case, the option of sharing its water area and bottom resources is also excluded.

In the agreements between the USSR and Iran, the Caspian Sea was considered as border lake. With the Caspian Sea being given the legal status of a “lake”, it is expected to be divided into sectors, as is done in relation to border lakes. But there is no norm in international law obliging states to do exactly this: division into sectors is an established practice.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly made statements that the Caspian Sea is a lake, and its waters and subsoil are the common property of the coastal states. Iran also, from a position enshrined in treaties with the USSR, considers the Caspian Sea to be a lake. The country's government believes that this status implies the creation of a consortium for unified management of the production and use of its resources by the Caspian states. Some authors also share this opinion, for example, R. Mamedov believes that with this status, the extraction of hydrocarbon resources in the Caspian Sea by these states should be carried out jointly.

In the literature, a proposal was made to give the Caspian Sea the status of a lake “sui generis”, and in this case we're talking about about the special international legal status of such a lake and its special regime. A regime implies the joint development by states of their own rules for the use of its resources.

Thus, recognition of the Caspian Sea as a lake does not require its obligatory division into sectors - each coastal state has its own part. In addition, in international law there are no rules at all on the division of lakes between states: this is their good will, behind which certain internal interests may be hidden.

Currently, all Caspian states recognize that the modern legal regime was established by the established practice of its use, but now the Caspian Sea is in actual common use not by two, but by five states. Even at a meeting of foreign ministers held in Ashgabat on November 12, 1996, the Caspian states confirmed that the status of the Caspian Sea can be changed only with the consent of all five coastal states. This was later also confirmed by Russia and Azerbaijan in a joint statement dated January 9, 2001 on the principles of cooperation, as well as in the Declaration on Cooperation in the Caspian Sea signed between Kazakhstan and Russia dated October 9, 2000.

But during numerous Caspian negotiations, conferences and four summits of the Caspian states (Ashgabat summit on April 23-24, 2002, Tehran summit on October 16, 2007, Baku summit on November 18, 2010 and Astrakhan on September 29, 2014) agreement was reached by the Caspian countries failed to achieve this.

So far, cooperation at the bilateral and trilateral level has proven to be more productive. Back in May 2003, Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan entered into an agreement on the junction point of the demarcation lines of adjacent sections of the Caspian Sea bottom, which was based on previous bilateral agreements. In the current situation, Russia, by its participation in these agreements, seemed to confirm that the agreements between the USSR and Iran are outdated and do not correspond to existing realities.

In the Agreement of July 6, 1998 between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan on the delimitation of the bottom of the northern part of the Caspian Sea in order to exercise sovereign rights to subsoil use, it was announced that the seabed would be delimited between adjacent and opposite parties along a modified median line based on the principle of fairness and agreement of the parties. At the bottom of the site, states have sovereign rights, but their common use of the water surface is preserved.

Iran perceived this agreement as separate and in violation of previous Treaties with the USSR in 1921 and 1940. However, it should be noted that in the preamble of the 1998 agreement, to which Russia and Kazakhstan were parties, the agreement was considered as a temporary measure pending the signing of the convention by all Caspian states.

Later, on July 19 of the same year, Iran and Russia made a joint statement in which they proposed three possible scenarios for the delimitation of the Caspian Sea. First: the sea should be shared on the basis of the condominium principle. The second scenario comes down to dividing the water area, waters, bottom and subsoil into national sectors. The third scenario, which is a compromise between the first and second options, involves dividing only the seabed between the coastal states, and water surface considered common and open to all riparian countries.

The existing options for delimiting the Caspian Sea, including those mentioned above, are possible only if there is good political will of the parties. Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have clearly expressed their position from the very beginning of the multilateral consultation process. Azerbaijan considers the Caspian Sea to be a lake and therefore should be divided. Kazakhstan proposes to consider the Caspian Sea a closed sea, citing the 1982 UN Convention (Articles 122, 123), and, accordingly, advocates its division in the spirit of the Convention. Turkmenistan has long supported the idea of ​​joint management and use of the Caspian Sea, but foreign companies already developing resources off the coast of Turkmenistan influenced the policies of its president, who began to object to the establishment of a condominium regime, supporting the position of dividing the sea.

The first of the Caspian states to begin to use the hydrocarbon riches of the Caspian Sea under new conditions was Azerbaijan. After the conclusion of the “Deal of the Century” in September 1994, Baku expressed a desire to declare the adjacent sector an integral part of its territory. This provision was enshrined in the Constitution of Azerbaijan, adopted in order to exercise sovereign rights to subsoil use, Moscow, July 6, 1998, at a referendum on November 12, 1995 (Article 11). But such a radical position from the very beginning did not correspond to the interests of all other coastal states, especially Russia, which has expressed fears that this would open access to the Caspian Sea to countries in other regions. Azerbaijan agreed to a compromise. The 2002 Agreement between the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan on the delimitation of adjacent areas of the Caspian Sea established a provision in which the division of the bottom was carried out using the median line, and the water area of ​​the reservoir remained in joint use.

Unlike Azerbaijan, which has expressed a desire to completely divide the Caspian Sea, Iran proposes to leave its subsoil and water for joint use, but does not object to the option of dividing the Caspian Sea into 5 equal parts. Accordingly, each member of the Caspian Five would be allocated 20 percent of the total territory of the reservoir.

Russia's point of view was changing. Moscow has long insisted on establishing a condominium, but wanting to build a long-term policy with its neighbors, who were not interested in considering the Caspian Sea as the property of five coastal states, it changed its position. This then prompted the states to begin a new stage of negotiations, at the end of which the above Agreement was signed in 1998, where Russia stated that it was “ripe” for the division of the Caspian Sea. Its main principle was the position “common water - divide the bottom.”

Taking into account the fact that some Caspian states, namely Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia, have reached agreements on the conditional delimitation of spaces in the Caspian Sea, we can conclude that they are actually satisfied with the already established regime with the division of its bottom along a modified median line and the joint use of the surface reservoir for navigation and fishing.

However, the lack of complete clarity and unity in the position of all coastal countries prevents the Caspian states themselves from developing oil production. And oil is of key importance to them. There is no clear data regarding their reserves in the Caspian Sea. According to the US Energy Information Agency in 2003, the Caspian Sea ranked second in oil reserves and third in gas reserves. The data from the Russian side is different: they speak of an artificial overestimation by Western experts of the energy resources of the Caspian Sea. Differences in assessments are due to the political and economic interests of regional and external players. The geopolitical significance of the region, which is associated with the foreign policy plans of the US and the EU, became a factor in the distortion of the data. Zbigniew Brzezinski expressed the opinion back in 1997 that this region is the “Eurasian Balkans”.

I was resting somehow in the camp. It's no secret that almost every day competitions are held there to entertain children and youth. So here it is. Was we have quiz. Question: “Which lake is the largest?” One guy of about fifteen was the first to raise his hand and answer: “Baikal.” The strangest thing was that his answer was counted as correct! How so? Isn't the Caspian Sea the most big lake? Now I'll explain to you.

How to distinguish a sea from a lake

I'll list several signs by which a body of water is identified as a sea.

1. Rivers can flow into the sea.

2. The outer sea has direct access to the ocean.

3. If the sea is internal, then it is connected by straits with other seas or directly with the ocean.

Does the Caspian Sea fit sea parameters?

Need to check, does the Caspian Sea have signs of a sea. into it really rivers flow in, but they flow into many bodies of water: seas, lakes, oceans, and other rivers. The Caspian Sea is surrounded from all sides by land. Is this really inland sea? Then it must connect with Black or Seas of Azov somehow strait. Strait Same No. Exactly due to the lack of access to the World Ocean, the Caspian Sea is considered a lake.

“But why was it called the sea then, if it is a lake?”- you ask. Answer very simple: because of his large size and salinity. Indeed, The Caspian Sea is several times larger than the Azov Sea and almost equal in size to the Baltic Sea.

Great! The problem with the quiz has been resolved. Judge to hell!!!

Well then, I told, that the Caspian Sea In fact - lake. Now I want to you provide small selection interesting facts about this lake.

1. The Caspian Sea is below sea level (-28 m), which once again proves that this is a lake.

2. BC near the lake area lived nomadic Caspian tribes,in honor of which he was nicknamed Caspian.

3. This the deepest enclosed body of water on the planet.

4. Many people think that the name of the group “Caspian Cargo” is related to the Caspian Sea. In some ways they are right ( No). In fact the expression “Caspian cargo” can mean any illegal cargo.

5.Caspian Sea Fine suitable for tourism. During the USSR it was built here a large number of sanatoriums. Today same here you can see many hotels, water parks and beaches.