Environment of Azerbaijan
The Caspian Sea is the largest lake on Earth by both area and volume, with a surface area of 371,000 square kilometres (143,244 mi²) and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometres (18,761 mi³). It is a landlocked endorheic body of water and lies between Asia and Europe. It has a maximum depth of about . It is called a sea because when the Romans discovered it they tasted the water and found it to be salty. It has a salinity of approximately 1.2 percent, about a third the salinity of sea water.
Lake Assad
The maximum capacity of Lake Assad is at a surface area of , making it the largest lake in Syria. The actual capacity is, however, much lower at , resulting in a surface area of . The proposed irrigation scheme suffered from a number of problems, including the high gypsum content in the reclaimed soils around Lake Assad, soil salinization, the collapse of canals that distributed the water from Lake Assad, and the unwillingness of farmers to resettle in the reclaimed areas. As a result, only were irrigated from Lake Assad in 1984. In 2000, the irrigated surface had risen to , which is 19 percent of the projected . Lake Assad is the most important source of drinking water to Aleppo, providing the city through a pipeline with of drinking water per year. The lake also supports a fishing industry.
The western shore of the lake has developed into an important marshland area. On the southeastern shore, some areas have been reforested with evergreen trees including the Aleppo pine and the Euphrates poplar. Lake Assad is an important wintering location for migratory birds and the government has recently undertaken measures to protect small areas along the shores of Lake Assad from hunters by downgrading access roads. The island of Jazirat al-Thawra has been designated a nature reserve.