Khazar (formerly Cheleken) is a town of 10 000 people (once 16 000), located on the Cheleken peninsula on the Caspian shore. Iron bromide (FeBr2) production started at the Cheleken plant in 1940, followed by iodine production in 1976. The production capacity of the plant is about 250 tonnes of iodine a year. The natural water (brine) found here contains radioactive elements. During iodine processing, with the coal-absorption method, radio...

The Azerbaijan capital Baku is the largest and fastest growing city with a population of over 2 million. The population has doubled in the last decade and may reach approximately 3.3 million by the year 2030 (UNPD 2005).

The Caspian region has plenty to choose from when exploring past and present civilizations and cultures, historical monuments and the beauty of its natural resources. With unspoilt beaches in the east and west, lush mountain forests in the south, and the majestic Volga in the north, coupled with a mosaic of ethnic origins and cultures, it has the potential to attract thousands of visitors. Yet, the travel trade faces major challenges in th...

Fluctuating water levels will affect the population of the coastline and can cause substantial economic damage if appropriate measurements are not taken. A rise in sea level of 1.2 metres would flood Anzali, an Iranian city on the low-lying coastal plain in the southwest corner of the Caspian, and turn it into an island, according to forecasts. This would cost the city billions of dollars and cause massive population displacement. The sce...

With the opening of the Volga-Don canal in 1952 navigation between the oceans and the Caspian became possible. Contact between the previously secluded Caspian marine ecosystem and the outside world was consequently inevitable. The connection led to the introduction of various alien species (plants and animals not native to the habitat). The most threatening event for the Caspian ecosystem was the arrival of the North American comb jelly (Mnem...

The Caspian area is the world’s main producer of wild caviar (83% in 2003) and supplies the four largest markets, the European Union, United States, Switzerland and Japan. The construction of several hydroelectric power plants and dams along the Volga river significantly altered the flow of water into the delta and destroyed about 90 per cent of the sturgeon’s spawning grounds, which can be as far as several hundreds of kilometres upstrea...

Mean sea surface temperature in winter and summer

The Caspian seal (Pusa caspica) population has declined by more than 90 per cent since the start of the 20th century, falling from more than 1 million individuals in 1900 to around 100 000 today (CEP, 2007). However, at present there are only around 7 to 15 thousand breeding females, meaning the population has very low reproductive capacity. The principle cause of the decline was unsustainable levels of hunting for seal oil and fur throug...

The comb jelly is well adapted to the habitat (salinity, temperature, and food range) and reproduces faster than endemic species. As it eats the same food as them, it has had a drastic effect on their numbers, upsetting the entire food chain. The commercial fishing industry is afraid of losing the kilka/tulka (g. Clupeonella) and other valuable catches, with consequent effects on human livelihoods and food sources for the Caspian seal and...

Ice cover changes in 70 years period on the North Caspian.

The Caspian area is the world’s main producer of wild caviar (83% in 2003) and supplies the four largest markets, the European Union, United States, Switzerland and Japan. Graph shows an overview of legal international caviar trade, 1998-2006

Illegal caviar trade in the EU in period 2000-2007 The Caspian area is the world’s main producer of wild caviar (83% in 2003) and supplies the four largest markets, the European Union, United States, Switzerland and Japan. The caviar trade reportedly fell by about 70 per cent between 1999 and 2003 but there is still every reason to monitor development of the sturgeon population and keep it on the list of endangered species. However,...

The Caspian area is the world’s main producer of wild caviar (83% in 2003) and supplies the four largest markets, the European Union, United States, Switzerland and Japan. The construction of several hydroelectric power plants and dams along the Volga river significantly altered the flow of water into the delta and destroyed about 90 per cent of the sturgeon’s spawning grounds, which can be as far as several hundreds of kilometres upstrea...

The Caspian area is the world’s main producer of wild caviar (83% in 2003) and supplies the four largest markets, the European Union, United States, Switzerland and Japan. The construction of several hydroelectric power plants and dams along the Volga river significantly altered the flow of water into the delta and destroyed about 90 per cent of the sturgeon’s spawning grounds, which can be as far as several hundreds of kilometres upstrea...

Caviar imports as reported by three main consumer markets (Japan, European Union and United States)

North American comb jelly (Mnemiopsis leidyi) was brought accidentally to the Caspian in the ballast water of oil tankers. A voracious feeder on zooplankton and fish larvae, it first arrived in the Black Sea in the early 1980s where it changed the whole ecosystem and contributed to the collapse of more than two dozen major fishing grounds. From there the comb jelly also invaded the Azov, Marmara and Aegean Seas and most recently the Caspian.

North American comb jelly (Mnemiopsis leidyi) was brought accidentally to the Caspian in the ballast water of oil tankers. A voracious feeder on zooplankton and fish larvae, it first arrived in the Black Sea in the early 1980s where it changed the whole ecosystem and contributed to the collapse of more than two dozen major fishing grounds. From there the comb jelly also invaded the Azov, Marmara and Aegean Seas and most recently the Caspi...

Apart from two large urban areas – Baku- Sumgait and Makhachkala-Kaspisk – and the Iranian coast on the southern shore, a very densely populated coastal strip where one agglomeration leads into the next, most of the population living on the shores of the Caspian is rural, with strong religious and family traditions actively maintained. Some cities such as Baku have experienced very rapid urbanisation. In the early 1900s Baku was a city of 248 3...

Public health policies during the Soviet period eliminated several traditional diseases. But for lack of adequate investment in medical equipment and drugs in the 1970s and 1980s they failed to effectively halt a worrying rise in the death rate, for infants and for the population as a whole. This setback is very noticeable all over Russia, but in much of the Caspian basin it went hand in hand with a shortage of amenities, due to the dista...

Public health policies during the Soviet period eliminated several traditional diseases. But for lack of adequate investment in medical equipment and drugs in the 1970s and 1980s they failed to effectively halt a worrying rise in the death rate, for infants and for the population as a whole. This setback is very noticeable all over Russia, but in much of the Caspian basin it went hand in hand with a shortage of amenities, due to the dista...