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Page Background

Eastern Caspian

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Environment and Security

Located at the crossroads between Europe

and Asia, the Caucasus and Central Asia,

Russia and Iran, the Caspian Sea is the

world’s largest body of inland water covering

371 000 sq km, slightly larger than Germany.

It is landlocked and drains inward. For this

reason the inflow of its rivers largely deter-

mine the level of the Caspian Sea. With no

outlet the Caspian Sea is the repository of

all that is transported by and discharged into

its waters by the rivers, including pollution.

Human life and the rural economy in these

rugged conditions depend on the ecosys-

tem’s resilience and stability. Globally signifi-

cant biological species of sturgeon, Caspian

seals, pink flamingo, and about 400 endemic

species live in the sea. Sturgeons look very

much as they did 100 million years ago, in

the age of dinosaurs. Migration routes of rare

species, such as

saigak

antelope, wolves

and foxes pass along the semi-desert coast-

al zones of the Caspian Sea. The north Cas-

pian shelf, Ural river delta, Mangystau penin-

sula – which boasts impressively diverse and

unique geological sites – and the Turkmen-

bashy gulf are amongst the most important

biodiversity areas. They also hold the great-

est potential for local eco-tourism.

The coastal regions located to the northeast

and east of the Caspian in Kazakhstan and

Turkmenistan display many similarities: a dry

climate

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and a mostly desert landscape with

very low population density. The majority of

the population currently lives in urban set-

tlements along the coast. There are marked

differences between coastal and

hinterland

regions, the latter usually depending on cat-

tle farming whereas the coastal regions fea-

ture well-developed industries.

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Overview

The Caspian region