The Caspian Sea is one of a handful of ancient lakes on earth. This lake is the largest in the world by volume also the largest by area in Asia with an area of 68,000 square kilometers. The volume of water in this lake is 78,200 km3 which is more saline than the normal seawater. Not only in the continent of Asia, this is the largest lake in the world. Caspian sea is a sea as well as a lake and this is because it encompasses large area. Its shoreline covers five countries of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan. The Caspian Lake is a unique body of water containing about 90 percent of the world population of sturgeon species.

Out of 130 rivers which provide inflow to the Caspian sea, Volga river is the largest and the major source of water inflow. Volga is also the largest river of Europe and its catchment area comprises of 20% of the total land area of Europe. 800% of the fresh water of this largest lake in Asia comes solely from Volga River. Ural River, Kura River and Oxus river are some of the other rivers which provide water to Caspian Sea.

 

 

September 3, 2010 | Mohsin Ali | No Comments | 280 views