Sea vs Ocean: Two wondrous seas of the world

Sea vs Ocean: Two wondrous seas of the world

Sea in the world

The Caspian Sea is a wonderful lake between Europe and Asia. It is the largest reservoir in the world surrounded by land. In terms of volume, the reservoir is similar to a full sea, but by definition it is a lake. On the other hand, the sea between the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian Ocean is the Arabian Sea. It is the largest sea in the world by volume. From ancient past to present time, the Arabian Sea has been used as a very popular trade route. In this episode we will know about two of the most wonderful seas in the world.

Caspian Sea

The Caspian is located in the west of Asia and the eastern part of Europe. To the north of the sea is Kazakhstan. Russia is located in the north, Azerbaijan in the west, Iran in the south, and Turkmenistan in the south. The size of the Caspian Sea is 371,000 km². The reservoir contains approximately 78,200 cubic kilometers of water. The maximum depth of the Caspian Sea is 3362 feet. Large amounts of starzone fish are available in this sea. The starzone fish is the largest species of freshwater fish.

From ancient times, it was considered a sea because of the huge size of the Caspian lake. Since there was no detailed map of the earth at that time, it was thought that this lake might have been mixed with a sea. Although the reservoir is actually a lake without many orientations, its water is saline like sea. Historical narratives show that the Romans saw the salinity of the sea, calling it a sea. Fresh water from the Volga River and the Ural River falls into this sea. As a result, the northern part of the Caspian Sea is fresh water, but for some reason the water in the south and in the sea remains salty. However, the salt content is only one-third of the normal sea water.


Whether it is the sea or the lake, that debate is a big problem for geopolitics. For a long time the conflict between the Caspian coastal countries was concentrated on the natural and mineral resources of the lake and the control of the watershed. The Caspian Sea has a large amount of mineral oil and natural gas reserves. If the Caspian is a sea, its territories will be divided among the neighboring countries in accordance with UN sea policy. If it is considered a lake, then each country will be able to collect mineral resources up to 15 miles from their shores. There will be an additional 10 miles for fishing. The rest of the middle, all countries will be able to use it in combination.

Due to the region’s strong neighbors such as Russia and Iran, smaller countries are reluctant to share like lakes. Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan signed an agreement recently addressing the legal position of the Caspian Sea. This agreement is known as the caspian convention. Although the agreement contains 24 paragraphs, the most important condition is that no foreign country can have military status in the sea. Besides, no foreign country will be able to transport their military equipment through this sea. Although Caspian is the largest lake, its water is not sufficient.

Arabian Sea

A special part of the Indian Ocean’s northern part is the Arabian Sea. India and Sri Lanka are on the east side of the Arabian Sea. In the north are Pakistan and Iran. The Arabian Peninsula lies to the west and the sea to the south merges with the main part of the Indian Ocean. The Arabian Sea is located in the international watershed, the most important region. Under this sea, there are multiple bays and important strait.

The Gulf of Oman and the Gulf of Aden are directly part of the Arabian Sea. In addition, the Persian Gulf through the Hormuz Strait and the Red Sea through the bab el mandeb strait are linked to the Arabian Sea. They all work like the sea, the bay and the strait, the arms of the Arabian Sea. In the past all these seas were known together as the Erythraean Sea.

Arabian sea on map

The size of the Arabian Sea is 3.862 million km². It is the largest sea in the world by volume. The maximum width of the Arabian Sea is about 2400 km. And the maximum depth of the sea is about 15000 feet. Indus River is the largest river in the Arabian Sea. So another name for this sea is the Indus Sea. The countries along the Arabian Sea are India, Pakistan, Iran, Maldives, Oman, Yemen, Somalia and Djibouti. Some of the notable cities on the shores of this sea are Mumbai and Kochi, Karachi and Gwadar, Muscat and Salalah, Aden. There were many ports built from ancient times to transport goods from Middle East to East Asia. Currently, the two main ports on the coast of the Arabian Sea are Mumbai and Karachi. Socotra, Laksha and Astola Island are notable among the islands in the Arabian Sea.

Global ocean trade

As a global trade route, no other sea in the world is as popular as the Arabian Sea. For centuries, Arab merchants have used the sea as a way to trade on different continents. Currently, a large part of the oil transport and naval trade around the world occurs through the Arabian Sea. In the case of global ocean trade, the Suez Canal was excavated to reduce the distances of the Indian Ocean along the Atlantic Ocean. Using that Suez Canal, through the Red Sea through the Arabian Sea, about 10 percent of the world’s sea trade is done. So this part is known as the artery of world trade.

The Suez Canal, known as the throat of world trade, is directly linked to the Arabian Sea. From the Persian Gulf through the Hormuz system, through the Arabian Sea, one-third of the world’s mineral oil is transported. This area is extremely popular due to its many maritime trade. I have discussed long ago the Hormuz Strait, the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. You can read them if you want.

Leave a Reply



Follow Us

Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Instagram