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Show The Caspian Sea. The Capian sea, the largest inland sheet of water on the earth, lies on the border line between the west of Asia and the east of Europe, with Persia Per-sia at its southern extremity. Its longest axis stretches from north to south, a distance of 760 miles, while its width varies from 115 to 2S0 miles, and its area covers 170,000 square miles. The shores are for the most part low, flat, and sandy, but show a cliff-like character along the face of the Ust-TJrt plateau, where the narrow Persian coast provinces of Gilan and Mazanderan are backed by the lofty range of the Elburz. On the west, again, the eastern extremity of the Caucasus pushes itself out into the sea. Its surface lies 85 feet below the level of the Black sea. In spite of the fact that it receives the largest river in Europe, the Volga, as well as the Ural and other small rivers, the Caspian is slowly sinking chiefly in consequence of the vast evaporation. The principal seaports on the west shores are Astrakhan, Petrovsk, Der-bent, Der-bent, Baku, and Lenkoran. |