Which is more black or the Caspian Sea. Importance of the Caspian Sea. The Caspian Sea - the lake is located in the south of the European part, to the east of. In the north, it washes the coast of the Caspian lowland. The sea - the lake washes the coast of Russia, Kazakhstan, Tur

The largest lake on the planet is the Caspian Sea. Its area is almost 400 square kilometers. There are still disputes about it: is it a sea or a lake. And this is no coincidence. So is it a sea or a lake?

First you need to understand these concepts. The lake is essentially a body of water that has no boundaries with the world's oceans. The sea, on the contrary, has these boundaries. So, the Caspian by its nature today is the largest closed body of water on Earth.

But if you delve into the history of the Caspian Sea, you can find out the following. It was formed from the Sarmatian Sea that existed 70 million years ago, which was divided into two parts: the Caspian and the Black. It is for this reason that the Caspian has retained the name of the sea, but is practically a lake.

It is interesting that many representatives of the Caspian fauna live in the Sea of ​​Azov. Therefore, most likely, once these two reservoirs were one.

There is a theory that in the first millennium BC, ancient tribes of Caspian horse breeders lived on the coast of the Caspian Sea. Hence the name known to us today.

In general, for the entire centuries-old history, the Caspian Sea had about 70 names, including Hyrkan, Saray, Derbent. And in Azerbaijan and Iran it is still called Khazar.

The area of ​​the Caspian Sea is approximately 371,000 square kilometers, which is practically the whole of Japan. Max Depth lakes 1025 meters.

The Caspian is located at the junction of Europe and Asia, its length from north to south is approximately 1200 kilometers, and from west to east an average of 310-320 kilometers.

The lake washes the shores of 5 countries: Kazakhstan, Russia, Iran, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.

130 rivers flow into the largest closed reservoir, and about 50 islands with a total area of ​​350 square kilometers are located on its surface.

The Caspian Sea is also famous for the fact that it contains the main world stock of sturgeon. In addition, a mammal living in the seas, the Caspian seal, lives here.

The lake is also rich in minerals: there are large deposits of oil and gas. Limestone, stone, clay, salt and sand are mined on the coast.

On the Caspian Sea there is a holiday for every taste. There are excellent beaches, the opportunity to fish and hunt. And, of course, go on a trip to the largest lake in the world and see real sea seals.

Well, for those who are especially curious, you need to talk about the rest of the big lakes in the world. The second place in terms of area is Lake Superior, it is four and a half times smaller than the Caspian Sea and occupies 82,414 square kilometers. The lake is located in North America on the Canada-US border.

And African Victoria closes the top three, spread over an area of ​​69,485 sq. km. The lake borders Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.

The lake is internal reservoir a continent that is not connected to the World Ocean by straits and does not have a current. Lakes are small and gigantic, comparable in size to the seas. And what is the most big lake in the world?

The largest lake in the world

The largest lake in the world is the Caspian Sea. The area of ​​its mirror is 376 thousand square kilometers, but it is not a constant value. The depth of the Caspian Sea at the very deep place over a kilometer.

The Caspian Sea is located on the Eurasian continent, is endorheic, and the great Russian river Volga flows into it. Once the Caspian Sea was part of the World Ocean, then, as a result of tectonic shifts in the earth's crust, it separated, but the water in it remained salty.

Other large lakes of the world

Here is a list of the other nine large lakes world located on different continents:
- Lake Superior, located in North America, the area of ​​​​its mirror is 82,413 square kilometers;
- Lake Victoria in East Africa, its area is 68,800 square kilometers;
- Lakes Huron and Michigan, located in North America, have an area of ​​​​60,700 and 58,020 square kilometers, respectively);
- Aral Sea on the territory Central Asia. its area is 33,640 square kilometers, but the lake is constantly shallowing;
- African lake Tanganyika, mirror area 32,900 square kilometers;
- Big Bear Lake, located in North America, covers an area of ​​31,790 square kilometers;
- one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world - Baikal, located in Siberia, the mirror area is 31,500 square kilometers;
- Lake Nyasa, located in East Africa, covers an area of ​​29,600 square kilometers.

The largest storage of fresh water on planet Earth

Lake Baikal is not only the most voluminous lake. It is the deepest and one of the most ancient. Baikal is located in the deepest cleft on the surface of the planet. This cleft is the most complex and least understood fault zone in the earth's crust. The depth of the lake is on average 745 meters, and the most deep point reaches a mark of 1637 meters. The lake stretches for 636 km, and its width reaches 80 km. The surface of the lake is 31,000 km2.

This ancient lake arose 20-30 million years ago as a result of tectonic shifts. fresh and pure water in the lake is preserved due to two factors. Firstly, the endemic Baikal epishura lives in it - a microscopic crustacean that filters a huge amount of algae and bacteria. In addition, most of the watershed of Lake Baikal is supported by rocks. Thus, the inflow of water on the way to the lake almost does not come into contact with sediments and minerals. This is an oligotrophic lake, and the water in it has excellent drinking qualities.

365 rivers flow into Baikal, among which the Yenisei is the most major river Siberia. The lake contains 20% of the reserve fresh water on the surface of the earth. The volume of fresh water in the lake is 26,000 cubic kilometers. The ancient reservoir is considered one of the cleanest in the world. Water extracted from the depths of the lake can be drunk without pre-treatment. In winter, the lake freezes and is covered with ice.

The most oligotrophic lake in the world

Lake Superior related to the system freshwater lakes in North America, is the largest by water surface area freshwater lake peace. Its surface occupies 82,170 km2. It contains as much water as all the Great Lakes combined: 11,600 cubic kilometers. The fresh water reserve of the lake is 10% of the total supply on the surface of the planet Earth. Rare is associated with Lake Superior a natural phenomenon- snow lake effect when winter cold air above the warm surface of the water, it is saturated with steam, turns into clouds, and then precipitation falls in the form of snow.

The amount of water in the lake is enough to flood the Northern and South America to a depth of 30 cm. The deepest mark in the lake is 400 m. More than 300 rivers and streams flow into Lake Superior.

If the shoreline of the lake were stretched in a straight line, then it could connect Bahamas and Duluth, a city in Minnesota, USA.

On average, the transparency of the water in the lake reaches 8 meters in depth. This is the cleanest and most transparent of the Great Lakes and the most oligotrophic lake in the world. The lake is 563 km long and 257 km wide. In summer the sun is on west bank the lake sets 35 minutes later than on its southeastern shore. The largest lake in the world is the Caspian Sea. But it is not freshwater. The salinity of the water in it is approximately one third of the salinity of the water in the seas of the planet.

Lake Superior is one of the youngest lakes in the world. He is only 10,000 years old.

Standing on the shores of Lake Turkana, it may seem to you that you are on the seashore. However, this is not at all the case. This lake is located in the desert area of ​​​​Northern Kenya and borders on Ethiopia. His second name is Rudolf.

Lake Turkana is located on the territory of the Great rift valley and has as many as three islands: South, Central and North.

Sources: novosti-n.org, www.vseznayem.ru, www.kakprosto.ru, www.liveinternet.ru, www.bolshoyvopros.ru

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The Caspian Sea is simultaneously located on the territory of 5 countries, including not only Russia and Kazakhstan, but also Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan. This is the world's largest closed reservoir, which has long been characteristic and known to everyone as the sea. But the question is, why is the Caspian Sea called the sea, because in reality it is a lake? And in this situation, we will understand today.

Why is the Caspian Sea called a sea

Despite the fact that this body of water is a lake, it is often called the sea. A significant part of people do not even know that this is a lake. This can be explained very simply, because even at one glance at this reservoir, depicted on the maps, its scale, which is mainly characteristic of the seas, catches the eye. A lake that washes the borders of five countries at once is something unthinkable.

Yes, this is something unthinkable, but it is true, because it is the largest, the largest drainless lake worldwide. And its dimensions are a brief and first reason why it is often called the sea. Moreover, in favor of this lake can be called a sea, the facts also play that there are a little more than 50 islands on its territory. It is noteworthy that some of them are not just medium scale, but truly large dimensions, whose area, imagine, reaches 350 square kilometers.

Why is the Caspian Sea called a lake?

As for the true name of this reservoir, it refers to lakes for a number of reasons. They can be summarized below:

• The bed of the lake is set out by the earth's crust, which has an oceanic type;
• Despite its size and similarity to full-fledged seas, the lake has almost fresh, slightly salty water;
• Almost any sea is part of the world's oceans, and the Caspian Lake, by virtue of its geographical location, has no access to the open ocean.

It is also noteworthy that the status of a lake near the Caspian Sea is also confirmed by the fact that its waters are not covered by the UN international regime, and the water area of ​​the lake is divided between the states adjacent to it in a different way than in the case of the seas.

Interestingly, the Caspian Lake is often called not only the Caspian Sea, but also the Caspian. And now, after reading the text of this article, you will surely know that, despite its similarity to the sea, the presence of many properties and characteristics inherent only to the seas, the Caspian is still a lake, and this is a fact.

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

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

Geography of the Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is located at the junction of Europe with Asia and geographic location is divided into the South, North 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 water area among themselves, and quite sharply at that.

Lake or sea?

In fact, the Caspian Sea is the world's largest lake, but it has a number of marine features. These include: a large water mass of the reservoir, severe storms with high waves, ebbs and flows. But the Caspian has no 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 level, which does not allow classifying the reservoir as a sea.

There were times when the Caspian Sea was indeed part of the World Ocean. Several tens of thousands of years ago, the Caspian 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, the Caucasus Mountains formed, which isolated the reservoir. Communication between the Caspian and Black Seas for a long time was carried out through the strait (Kumo-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 ​​\u200b\u200bthe reservoir is 371,000 km², the volume is 78,648 km³ (44% of all world lake water reserves).

(Depth of the Caspian Sea in comparison with lakes Baikal and Tanganyika)

The average depth of the Caspian 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 depth, the Caspian is second only to Baikal and Tanganyika.

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

coast

Basically, the coast of the Caspian Sea is low-lying and smooth. In the northern part, it is heavily indented by the river channels of the Urals and the Volga. The swampy local shores are located very low. The eastern shores are adjacent to semi-desert zones and deserts, covered with limestone deposits. The most winding coasts are in the west in the region Absheron Peninsula, and in the east - in the area of ​​the Kazakh Gulf and Kara-Bogaz-Gol.

sea ​​water temperature

(The temperature of the Caspian Sea in different time of the year)

The average water temperature in the Caspian in winter ranges from 0 °C in the northern part to +10 °C in the south. In the waters of Iran, the temperature does not fall 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, 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 of the water in the sea is + 24 °C. Most of the sea warms up to +25 °C ... +30 °C. warm water and beautiful sandy, occasionally shell and pebble beaches create excellent conditions for a full-fledged beach holiday. In the eastern part of the Caspian Sea near the town of Begdash, an abnormal low temperature water.

Nature of the Caspian Sea

Islands, peninsulas, bays, rivers

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

(Tyuleniy Island in the Caspian Sea, part of the Dagestan Reserve)

TO largest bays The Caspian includes: Agrakhan, Kazakh, Kizlyar, Dead Kultuk and Mangyshlak. In the east is salt Lake Kara-Bogaz-Gol, previously 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: Volga, Terek, Sulak, Samur and Ural. The average annual runoff of the Volga is 220 km³. 9 rivers have a delta-shaped mouth.

Flora and fauna

About 450 species of phytoplankton live in the Caspian Sea, including algae, aquatic and flowering plants. Of the 400 species of invertebrates, worms, crustaceans and mollusks predominate. There are a lot of small shrimp in the sea, which is an object of fishing.

More than 120 species of fish live in the Caspian and the delta. Fishing objects are sprat (“Kilkin fleet”), catfish, pike, bream, pike perch, kutum, mullet, vobla, 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 late April to late June. On the coast there are many fishing bases with all amenities. Fishing in the Caspian is a great pleasure. In any part of it, including in large cities, the catch is unusually rich.

The lake is famous for its large variety of waterfowl. Geese, ducks, loons, gulls, waders, sea eagles, geese, swans and many others come to the Caspian during migration or nesting. The largest number of birds - over 600 thousand individuals is observed in the mouths of the Volga and the Urals, in the bays of Turkmenbashi and Kyzylagach. During the hunting season, a huge number of fishermen come here not only from Russia, but also from countries near and far abroad.

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

Cities on the Caspian Sea

Baku is the largest city on the coast of the Caspian Sea. The number of one of the most most beautiful cities of the world is over 2.5 million people. Baku is spread out on the most 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, Kazakh Aktau, Turkmen Turkmenbashi and Iranian Bender-Anzeli.

(Baku Bay, Baku - a city on the Caspian Sea)

Interesting Facts

Scientists are still arguing about whether to call a reservoir a sea or a lake. The level of the Caspian Sea is gradually decreasing. Most The Volga delivers water to the Caspian. 90% of black caviar is mined in the Caspian Sea. Among them, the most expensive is Almas beluga caviar ($2,000 per 100 g).

Companies from 21 countries are participating 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 one fifth of the world's hydrocarbon reserves are concentrated in the depths of the Caspian Sea. This is more than the combined reserves of such oil-producing countries as Kuwait and Iraq.

This is how the Mediterranean Sea was formed, which then included the current Azov, Black and Caspian Sea. On the site of the modern Caspian, a huge Caspian lowland was formed, the surface of which was almost 30 meters below the water level in the World Ocean. When the next rise of land began to take place at the place of formation Caucasus mountains, the Caspian Sea was finally cut off from the ocean, and in its place a closed drainless reservoir was formed, which today is considered the largest inland sea on the planet. However, some scientists call this sea a giant lake.
A feature of the Caspian Sea is the constant fluctuation of the level of salinity of its water. Even in different areas This sea water has a different salinity. This was the reason for the predominance of fish and crustaceans in the Caspian Sea, which more easily tolerate fluctuations in water salinity.

Since the Caspian is completely isolated from the ocean, its inhabitants are endermics, i.e. always live in its water area.

The fauna of the Caspian Sea can be conditionally divided into four groups.

The first group of animals includes the descendants of ancient organisms that inhabited Tethys about 70 million years ago. These animals include Caspian gobies (golovach, Knipovich, Berg, bubyr, pugolovka, Baer) and herring (Kessler, Brazhnikov, Volga, brazil, etc.), some mollusks and most crustaceans (long-sexed crayfish, orthemia crustacean, etc.). Some fish, mainly herring, periodically enter the rivers flowing into the Caspian to spawn, many never leave the sea. Gobies prefer to live in coastal waters, often found in estuaries.
The second group of animals of the Caspian Sea is represented by arctic species. penetrated into the Caspian Sea from the north in the postglacial period. These are such animals as the Caspian seal (Caspian seal), fish - Caspian trout, white salmon, nelma. Of the crustaceans, this group is represented by mysid crustaceans, similar to small shrimps, tiny sea cockroaches, and some others.
The third group of animals inhabiting the Caspian includes species that independently or with the help of humans moved here from mediterranean sea. These are molluscs mitisyaster and abra, crustaceans - amphipods, shrimp, Black Sea and Atlantic crabs and some types of fish: golden mullet (sharp nose), needle fish and Black Sea kalk (flounder).

And, finally, the fourth group - freshwater fish that penetrated into the Caspian Sea from fresh rivers and turned into marine or anadromous, i.e. periodically rising into the rivers. Some of the typically freshwater fish also occasionally enter the Caspian. Among the fish of the fourth group are catfish, pike perch, barbel, red-lipped asp, Caspian fish, Russian and Persian sturgeon, beluga, stellate sturgeon. It should be noted that the Caspian Sea basin is the main habitat of sturgeons on the planet. Almost 80% of all sturgeons in the world live here. Barbels and fish are also valuable commercial fish.

As for sharks and other fish that are predatory and dangerous to humans, they do not live in the Caspian Sea-Lake.

It is known that the sea is part of the oceans. From this geographically correct point of view, the Caspian cannot be considered a sea, because it is separated from the ocean by huge land masses. Most short distance from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea, the closest of the seas included in the system of the World Ocean, is 500 kilometers. Therefore, it would be more correct to speak of the Caspian as a lake. This is the world's largest lake, often referred to simply as the Caspian or lake-sea.

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

So, after all, the Caspian Sea is a lake? That's Wikipedia says it Yes and big Soviet Encyclopedia replies that no one has yet been able to give a precise definition of this issue - "A generally accepted classification does not exist."

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

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

In terms of its geographical position, the Caspian itself, in contrast to 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 XIX century. between Russia and Persia, the first treaties were concluded: Gulistan (1813) 4 and Turkmanchaisky (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 navy in the Caspian Sea. Russian and Persian merchants were allowed to freely trade 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, by the new Russian government that came to power, it renounced its exclusive military presence in the Caspian Sea. The agreement 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 common use by the parties: both states were granted equal rights of free navigation, except in cases where the crews of Iranian ships could include citizens of third countries using the service for unfriendly purposes (Article 7). Treaty of 1921 maritime border between the parties did not provide.

In August 1935, the following treaty was signed, the parties to which were new subjects of international law - the Soviet Union and Iran, which acted under the new name. The parties reaffirmed the provisions of the 1921 agreement, but introduced into the agreement a new concept for the Caspian - a 10-mile fishing zone, which limited the spatial limits of this fishery for its participants. This was done in order to control and conserve 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 treaty between the USSR and Iran on trade and navigation in the Caspian. The reason for this was anxiety Soviet side, caused by Germany's interest in intensifying its trade relations with Iran and the danger of using the Caspian Sea as one of the stages transit route. The treaty signed between the USSR and Iran in 1940 10 protected the Caspian Sea from such a prospect: it repeated the main provisions of the previous agreements, which provided for the stay in its waters of the ships of only these two Caspian states. It also included a provision for its indefinite validity.

collapse Soviet Union radically changed the regional situation in the former Soviet space, in particular in the Caspian region. Among a large number new problems arose and the problem of the Caspian Sea. Instead of two states - the USSR and Iran, which previously bilaterally resolved all emerging issues of maritime navigation, fishing and the use of its 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 on the rights of succession, the remaining three are new states: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan. They used to have access to the Caspian, but only as republics USSR, not independent states. Now, having become independent and sovereign, they have the opportunity to participate on an equal footing with Russia and Iran in the discussion and decision-making in the consideration of all the above issues. This was also reflected in the attitude of these states to the Caspian, since all five states that had access to it showed equal interest in the use of 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 have long been the subject of the most heated and protracted negotiations. But not only them.

In addition to the presence of rich mineral resources, about 120 species and subspecies of fish live in the waters of the Caspian Sea, here is the world gene pool of sturgeons, the extraction of which, until recently, accounted for 90% of their total world catch.

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

And yet, the main object of attention of the Caspian states is its mineral resources - oil and natural gas, to which each of them can claim within the limits that should be determined by them collectively on the basis of international law. And for this, they will have to divide between themselves both 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 the beginning of a wide extraction of the mineral resources of the Caspian Sea 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 solve it, and so far no agreement has been observed in their ranks. But at the same time, each of them seeks to start extracting Caspian oil and natural gas as soon as possible and make their sale abroad a permanent source of funds to form their budget.

Therefore, the oil companies of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, without waiting for the end of the settlement of existing disagreements on the territorial division of the Caspian, 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 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 or develop their own for this case to the territorial division of its water area and bottom.

Kazakhstan was in favor of recognizing the Caspian as a sea. Such recognition will make it possible to apply to the division of the Caspian 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. This would allow the coastal states to gain sovereignty over the subsoil of the territorial sea (Article 2) and exclusive rights to explore and develop the resources of the continental shelf (Article 77). But the Caspian cannot be called a sea from the standpoint of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of ​​1982, since this body of water is closed and has no natural connection with the oceans.

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

In the treaties between the USSR and Iran, the Caspian Sea was considered as a border lake. With the legal status of a "lake" given to the Caspian Sea, it is supposed to be divided into sectors, as is done with respect to border lakes. But in international law there is no rule obliging states to do just that: division into sectors is an established practice.

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

In the literature, there has been a proposal to give the Caspian Sea the status of a “sui generis” lake, and in this case we are talking about a special international legal status of such a lake and its special regime. Under the regime, it is assumed that the states jointly develop their own rules for the use of its resources.

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

At present, all the Caspian states recognize that the modern legal regime was established by the established practice of its use, but now the Caspian is in actual common use not by two, but by five states. Even at the meeting of foreign ministers held in Ashgabat on November 12, 1996, the Caspian states confirmed that the status of the Caspian Sea could be changed only with the consent of all five coastal states. Later, this was 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 in the course of numerous Caspian negotiations, conferences and four summits of the Caspian states (Ash-Khabad summit on April 23-24, 2002, Tehran summit on October 16, 2007, Baku summit on November 18, 2010 and Astrakhan summit on September 29, 2014 d.) the Caspian countries failed to reach agreement.

More productive so far is cooperation at the bilateral and trilateral levels. Back in May 2003, Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the junction of the lines of delimitation of adjacent sections of the bottom of the Caspian Sea, 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 the 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, the delimitation of the seabed between adjacent and opposite sides along a modified median line based on the principle of fairness was announced. - Livosti and agreements of the parties. At the bottom of the section, the states have sovereign rights, but their common use of the water surface is preserved.

Iran perceived this agreement as separate and violating the previous Treaties with the USSR of 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 the 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 boils 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, suggests dividing only the bottom between the coastal states, and considers the water surface to be common and open to all coastal countries.

The existing options for the delimitation of the Caspian Sea, including those mentioned above, are possible only if there is good political will on the part of the parties. Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have clearly expressed their position from the very beginning of the process of multilateral consultations. Azerbaijan considers the Caspian Sea to be a lake and, therefore, it should be divided. Kazakhstan proposes to consider the Caspian as a closed sea, referring to 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, but foreign companies already developing resources off the coast of Turkmenistan influenced the policy of its president, who began to object to the establishment of a condominium regime, supporting the position of dividing the sea.

Azerbaijan was the first of the Caspian states to start using the hydrocarbon resources of the Caspian under the new conditions. After the conclusion of the “Deal of the Century” in September 1994, Baku expressed a desire to declare the sector adjacent to it integral part its territory. This provision was also 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 expresses fears that this will open access to the Caspian Sea to countries in other regions. Azerbaijan agreed to a compromise. In the Agreement between the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan on the delimitation of adjacent sections of the Caspian Sea in 2002, a provision was fixed 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 expressed a desire to completely divide the Caspian, Iran proposes to leave its bowels and water for joint use, but does not object to the option of dividing the Caspian 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. For a long time Moscow insisted on the establishment of a condominium, but wishing to build a long-term policy with its neighbors, which did not benefit from considering the Caspian as the property of five coastal states, it changed its position. This then prompted the states to start new stage negotiations, at the end of which, in 1998, the above Agreement was signed, where Russia declared that it was "ripe" for the division of the Caspian. Its main principle was the position "the water is common - we divide the bottom."

Taking into account the fact that agreements have been reached between some of the Caspian states, namely Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia, on the conditional delimitation of spaces in the Caspian, 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 sharing the surface of the reservoir for navigation and fishing.

However, the lack of complete clarity and unity in the position of all countries of the coast prevents the Caspian states themselves from developing oil production. And oil is of key importance to them. There are no unequivocal data regarding their reserves in the Caspian Sea. According to the US Energy Information Agency in 2003, the Caspian was ranked second in oil reserves and third in gas reserves. The data of 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 data distortion factor was the geopolitical significance of the region, with which the foreign policy plans of the US and the EU are connected. Zbigniew Brzezinski back in 1997 expressed the opinion that this region is the "Eurasian Balkans".