The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake and sometimes referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia, south of the fertile plains of Southern Russia in Eastern Europe, and north of the mountainous Iranian Plateau. It covers a surface area of 371,000 km2 (143,000 sq mi), an area approximately equal to that of Japan, with a volume of 78,200 km3 (19,000 cu mi). It has a salinity of approximately 1.2%, about a third of the salinity of average seawater. It is bounded by Kazakhstan to the northeast, Russia to the northwest, Azerbaijan to the southwest, Iran to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southeast.
The Caspian Sea taken from the International Space Station, seen from the south
Separation of the Paratethys Sea from open seas formed a megalake, the basis of the Caspian Sea and other bodies of water in vicinity, resulting in confinements of oceanic faunas such as cetaceans and pinnipeds.
Caspian Sea near Aktau, Mangystau Region, Kazakhstan
Iran's northern Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests are maintained by moisture captured from the Caspian Sea by the Alborz Mountain Range.
A body of water or waterbody is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as ponds, wetlands, or more rarely, puddles. A body of water does not have to be still or contained; rivers, streams, canals, and other geographical features where water moves from one place to another are also considered bodies of water.
The Aubach, a watercourse in Germany
A fjord (Lysefjord) in Norway.
Port Jackson, Sydney, New South Wales
The Canal Grande in Venice, one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city. View from the Accademia bridge.