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.
Fedor Ivanovich Soimonov
Soimonov made the first thorough hydrographic survey of the Caspian Sea between 1719 and 1727, building up on the survey previously done by Karl Van Verden during tsar Peter the Great's drive for reform and modernization at the beginning of the 18th century. He led the Caspian Expedition that explored the coasts of the sea. As a result of the survey Soimonov drew a set of maps of the Caspian for the 'Atlas of the Caspian Sea' "(Atlas Kapiiskago Moria)" and wrote the 'Pilot of the Caspian Sea'. Published in 1731 by the Russian Academy of Sciences, these became the first comprehensive report and the first modern maps of the Caspian in history. Between 1730 and 1738 he was employed as a cartographer for the Russian Admiralty Board, which had been established in 1718 by Peter I the Great.