Mare Caspium was the name given to the Caspian Sea in ancient times. This is the largest inland lake in the world, but anyone who wants to know how big it really is almost always produces only a shrug of the shoulders, even in Azerbaijan. Evaporation, climatic changes and a scientifically unfathomable inflow of fresh water have caused the values of the Caspian Sea to vary again and again. Moreover, the normal level of this vast body of water is almost thirty meters below sea level. On the coast of this extraordinary sea lies Azerbaijan, and with its port in Baku, the country has access to shipping. The republic is the largest of the three former Soviet republics in the Caucasus and has the dimensions of Austria.
