The Caspian Sea is one of the largest lakes in the world and is hardly inferior in area to the Black Sea. Six thousand kilometers of its coastline is located on the territory of Russia, the remaining thousand kilometers are divided among five Asian republics. The peculiarity of the Caspian Sea is that, despite its impressive size (water surface area is 371 sq. Km), it cannot be reckoned with the sea to the full, since it has no access to any ocean. The depth of the Caspian Sea varies depending on the topography of the seabed. The deepest part of it is the southern part, the water column in these places reaches 1025 meters.
And now a little history.
The Caspian Sea was first mentioned in the writings of ancient Roman and Greek scientists. Two thousand years BC the south-eastern and central parts of modern Transcaucasia were inhabited by the Caspian tribes, from which, in fact, the name of the lake-sea went. In the first millennium BC e. the lands adjacent to it were shaken by numerous tribal wars, as a result of which the Caspian Sea were forced out of their usual territory on the very coast of the sea. It was at that time that it was called Caspian. The history of the ancient people ends with the arrival of the Caucasian Albanian tribes on the shores of the Caspian Sea in the 2nd century BC. Today, no reliable data have been preserved about ancient civilization. Somewhat later, the northern shores of the sea-lake were inhabited by nomadic peoples, in particular, the Khazars, who were at war with the Russian princes. Their main city, Itil, was located at the mouth of the Volga River. The Caspian Sea played an important role in the foreign economic and trade policy of Ancient Russia. The most important trade routes and access to Uzbekistan, the Baltic and Black Seas passed through it. Over the many centuries of the existence of human civilization on the shores of the sea, it has repeatedly changed its name. The Caspian Sea was called the Khazar, Khvalynsky, Girkansky.
The first definition of the Caspian Sea as a reservoir isolated from all oceans is given in its works by the Greek historian Herodotus. Aristotle, who lived a century later, continued the work of the scientist and only confirmed his conclusion. The study of the Caspian is connected with the names of many famous scientists and famous travelers. Once upon a time, Greek astronomer Ptolemy, Italian Marco Polo, Russian officer of the time of Peter the Great Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky visited its shores.
The location of the Caspian Sea is of particular interest to geographers. With its many kilometers long (about 1 thousand km) from south to north there is a wide variety of climatic conditions. The northern part of the sea is characterized by a temperate continental climate. In winter, there is a significant decrease in temperature and heavy snowfall. The climate of its southern part is not much different from the Mediterranean subtropical. Summer in these places is dry and hot, winter is wet and mild.
The main feature of the flora and fauna of the Caspian Sea is the abundance of plankton. During periods of particularly rapid proliferation of algae, the surface of the water literally blooms in yellow-green. The coastal shallow water turns into real thickets. The magnificent nature of the Caspian coast annually attracts vacationers. Holidays in the Caspian are usually preferred by people who want to relax away from large noisy megacities. The most popular resorts are the Russian cities of Derbent, Makhachkala, Astrakhan, Kazakh Aktau, and the Azerbaijani capital Baku. Russian citizens, as a rule, choose a vacation in the Caucasus, combining not only visiting beaches and swimming in the sea, but treatment in numerous sanatoriums, traveling to the main interesting places of the region, national parks and reserves.