World's Largest Lake: Caspian Sea, is it really a 'sea' or a 'lake'?

The Caspian Sea is the largest lake in the world, with an area of ​​about 386,000 square kilometers, while the second largest lake in the world, Lake Superior (one of the Great Lakes in North America), covers an area of ​​just 82,000 square kilometers. The Caspian Sea is 4.5 times the size of Lake Superior.

The lake water reserves of the Caspian Sea are also very large, accounting for 40% of all lakes in the world. There are also sea creatures like seals that live in the Caspian Sea. Based on those characteristics, many people have given this lake a special name - the Caspian Sea.

The Caspian Sea covers an area of ​​about 386,000 square kilometers.

The Caspian Sea lies at the intersection of Central Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, and its strategic location is very important. The Caspian coast and its seabed are rich in oil and gas resources.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, with the decline of Russian influence in the Caspian Sea, the neighboring countries of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan demanded the division of the Caspian Sea to compete for oil and gas resources.

After 1991, major countries disputed the sovereignty of the Caspian Sea

However, the distribution of oil and gas resources along the coast of the Caspian Sea is uneven, and five countries are arguing over the Caspian Sea's identification as a "sea" or "lake". If it is a lake, the resources of the sea will be divided among five countries, if it is a sea, it must be divided according to the provisions of the International Convention on the Sea.

So is the Caspian Sea a lake or a sea? What other factors influence states' sovereignty disputes around the Caspian Sea?

The Caspian Sea was once part of the ancient Mediterranean. About 11,000 years ago, crustal motion separated the Caspian Sea from the Mediterranean and Black Seas, and became a saltwater lake surrounded by continents on all sides. The Caspian Sea has many sources of water, including the longest internal flow in the world, the Volga River. To facilitate the transportation of goods, the Soviet Union built the Volga-Don canal in 1948, connecting the Caspian Sea with the Sea of ​​Azov and the Black Sea.

The Caspian Sea was once part of the ancient Mediterranean.

From ancient times until the early 16th century, the peoples around the Caspian Sea were mainly Persians and Turks. It was not until the mid-16th century that Tsarist Russia extended to the northwest shore of the Caspian Sea.

To confront Persia south of the Caspian Sea, the tsar created the Caspian Sea Fleet. In the early 19th century, the Tsar first gained a large area on the west coast of the Caspian Sea, including Azerbaijan, through a war with Persia (Iran). The tsar then occupied Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and other places east of the Caspian Sea through wars with the Turks.

The Persians eventually left with only a small portion of the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. In the mid-19th century, Persia was invaded by the British and became a semi-colonial country.

The Caspian coast and its seabed are rich in oil and gas resources.

After occupying Azerbaijan to the west of the Caspian Sea, the Tsar discovered that there were many hand-dug oil wells in the local city of Baku that had been operating for hundreds of years. By the beginning of the 20th century, the Baku oil field had become the center of oil and gas exploration in Russia and the world.

In 1917, after the Russian October Revolution, the Soviet Union was established. At this time, Persia (Iran) was invaded by Western countries such as Britain, still in a state of semi-feudal and semi-colonial.

In 1921, the Soviet Union and Persia (Iran) signed the "Russian-Persian Pact". Both sides agreed that the Soviet Union and Persia had equal maritime rights in the Caspian Sea, but the treaty did not divide the waters of the Caspian Sea. To protect the interests of the two countries, the two countries also reiterated that third countries are not allowed to enter the Caspian Sea area.

Since the Soviet Union and Iran signed the first treaty on the Caspian Sea, the two countries signed several treaties over the next 20 years. Especially in 1940, the two countries clearly stated: 'The Caspian Sea is the inland sea between the Soviet Union and Iran'.

In 1940, the two countries clearly stated: 'The Caspian Sea is the inland sea between the Soviet Union and Iran'.

In 1991, the sudden dissolution of the Soviet Union affected the calm situation of the Caspian Sea. Caspian coastal states changed from two to five. Out of the five countries, Kazakhstan has the longest coastline and Iran has the shortest; if the boundary is divided according to the east-west width of the Caspian Sea, the water area of ​​Iran is also the smallest.

After the entry into force of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1994, disputes over the Caspian Sea increased.

International law stipulates that for a lake, if it is a boundary lake, the resources in the lake will be divided among the surrounding countries, or the countries will equally divide the resources in the lake through an agreement.

In the case of oceans, coastal states would enjoy a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone. All resources in this economic zone are exclusively owned by the respective country. The rest is in the high seas, where the nations of the world can freely navigate and mine.

Accordingly, the southern sea where Iran is located has relatively few oil and gas resources and is difficult to develop. As a result, Iran believes that the Caspian Sea is actually a giant lake. In addition, the part belonging to Turkmenistan territory also has very few oil and gas resources, which has led Turkmenistan to support Iran's position.

The seas containing Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are relatively resource-rich. They define the Caspian Sea as an inland sea, so each country's exclusive economic zone should be determined in accordance with the International Convention on the Law of the Sea.

However, because the average width of the Caspian Sea in the east-west direction is only about 320 km, which is less than the distance of 200 nautical miles (370.4 km) of the exclusive economic zone, according to the regulations, the special zone The economic rights of the coastal states extend to the midline of the Caspian Sea (160 km). Within this exclusive economic zone, the three countries can independently explore, develop and use natural resources.

In 1996, five Caspian countries conducted the first negotiations on the legal status of the Caspian Sea. In the end, this negotiation did not yield any results due to the huge disparity between the "sea side" and the "lake side".

In 2002, Russia and Azerbaijan, two "sea side" countries, signed an agreement on the division of the Caspian Sea according to the method of "sharing surface resources and dividing underwater resources". Later, Kazakhstan also accepted the ideas of Russia and Afghanistan.

After many negotiations, by 2014, all five countries accepted the method of dividing the Caspian Sea between Russia and Afghanistan. Finally, in 2018, five Caspian countries signed the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea.

The Convention does not define the Caspian Sea as a sea nor as a boundary lake. Stemming from the actual needs of States, the Convention creatively combined the concept of an exclusive economic zone of the ocean with the principle of sharing the resources of a lake. The Caspian Sea has become a non-sea, non-lake body of water with special legal status.