The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed inland body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. It is in an endorheic basin (a basin without outflows) located between Europe and Asia.
It is bounded by Kazakhstan to the northeast, Russia to the northwest, Azerbaijan to the west, Iran to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southeast. The Caspian Sea presently lies about 28 m (92 ft) below sea level in the Caspian Depression, to the east of the Caucasus Mountains and to the west of the vast steppe of Central Asia.
