Caspian Sea.

        

   

   

  Caspian Sea  washes the western part of Kazakhstan. The name of the Sea is connected with the Caspii tribes who had settled shores from time immemorial. It had had such names as Girkanskoye, Khazarskoye, Khvalynskoye. 

The first mentions about Caspian Sea and its tribes were in the works of Gerodot. The document about the Russian navigators’ visit of Caspian Sea and theirs boating is dated back to IX-X centuries. At the beginning of XVIII century Peter-I had begun the constant research of the Caspian Sea (expeditions of Bekovich-Cherkasky A. and others). Then Soimonov I.F., Ivashinsev N.A., Pallas P.S., Gmelin S.G., Karelin G.S., and others researched the Caspian Sea.

   

       The Caspian Sea is stretched from north to south to 1200km; the medium width is 320km, the length of the shore line is about 7000km (6000km of which in the territory of Russia and other countries). 

     

     The area of waterland is 371000sqkm; the sea level is lower than ocean’s level to 28,5 (1971). The max depth is 1025m (in the southern part).