The Caspian Sea has been endoreic – inwardly draining – since the Pliocene era (about 5 million years ago), prompting some specialists to treat it as the world’s largest lake. Studies of its geomorphology and hydrology have revealed alternating cycles of rising and falling water levels, raising many questions, scientific for some, more down-to-earth for those living on its shores. In a century, between 1880 and 1977, the level of the se...

Most of the water flowing into the sea comes from coastal rivers – currently supplying 300 to 310 km3 a year. The Volga alone accounts for 80% of inflow. But it has dropped substantially during the 20th century, declining from about 400 km3 in the 1920-30s to from 260 to 270 km3 at present, due to various climatic factors and human activities such as dams built for hydroelectric energy production. Rainfall over the sea itself is estimated to con...

Uncertainty regarding future variations in the sea level is holding back the development of many coastal zones suitable for holiday amenities or the construction of ports. But stretches of the Caspian coast are already packed with unsustainable tourist developments. The Iranian coastal area, home to some 7 million people, has registered a 5 per cent annual increase in population over the past decade. Demographic pressure has turned the ar...

Climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of weather-related events and natural disasters such as floods, droughts, landslides, avalanches, debris flows and mud flows. For example, in the last 30 years mudflows in the Terek river basin in the north-eastern Caucasus have occurred almost annually. The most destructive mudflows were recorded in 2000 and were perhaps linked to persistent above-average summer temperatures. In Sep...

Several severe droughts have affected various parts of the region in recent years. They seem to confirm scientific models, which, in addition to higher mean temperatures, generally predict more extreme weather events. Droughts affect both crop production and the health of livestock. But the availability of freshwater, on which many sectors of the economy – and human well-being – depend, is also linked to more remote climatic processes. I...

The oil boom has changed the way the Caspian Sea is used as a transport route. In the absence of an agreement on the use of the seabed, including the laying of pipelines, crude oil is transported in tanker wagons rolled onto ferries or in small tankers. This has stimulated the ferry business. The shipyards at Nizhny Novgorod have recently delivered several 8 000 or 13 000 deadweight tonnage tankers, the largest that can be used given the ...

The surge in the exploitation of hydrocarbons in the Caspian region has changed the rules for development and engagement in many sectors, in particular oil, land and sea transport, and services. National interests multiplied after the breakdown of the Soviet Union as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan gained independence. Relationships between these states are being tested as the possibility of large profits emerges. Additionally, wi...

For many years, coastal navigation has connected republics in the former Soviet Union. It used the only outlet from the Caspian, the Volga-Don canal, which connects the Black Sea and the Russian canal system to the Baltic. It is still used to transport raw materials, timber, coal, grain, fertilisers, and other products. However, the oil boom has changed the way the Caspian Sea is used as a transport route. In the absence of an agreement...

The characteristic feature in all four post-Soviet countries is a relatively high level of education in relation to national income and rather low life expectancy, indicating high levels of poverty and deficient healthcare. In contrast the level for all three indicators in Iran is fairly balanced.

Purchasing power parity (PPP) measures how much a currency can buy in terms of an international benchmark (usually dollars), since the cost of goods and services differs between countries. PPP is below the value of a US dollar in countries where the general price index is lower than in the US (as is the case for all five Caspian states, to varying extents), and above it where the prices are higher. A dollar thus buys much more in the Caspian coun...

In the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet regime and massive market deregulation, the breakdown of total household expenditure radically changed. Its focus shifted towards basic human needs, such as food, for which spending increased two or threefold in 10 years, reducing funds available for other essentials such as education and health.

The Caspian Sea runs north and south, extending over 1 200 kilometres, with an average width of 320 kilometres, with 7 000 km coastline. It covers approximately 400 000 square kilometres (an area slightly larger than Germany). The population of the region is about 14 million, distributed over the coastal provinces of five countries: 6.5 million in Iran,3.9 million in Russia, 2.2 million in Azerbaijan, 0.8 million in Kazakhstan and 0.4 million ...

The giant Kashagan offshore field was discovered in July 2000, 80 kilometres south of Atyrau. It is the largest Caspian offshore field and one of the largest fields discovered anywhere in the world in the past 30 years. Named after a prominent 19th century Kazakh poet, it covers an area 75 kilometres long and 45 wide. The Kashagan field was formed 350 million years ago in shallow warm sea conditions, lying below salt fields at a depth of ...