The world’s largest lake, the Caspian Sea, is partly in Europe and partly in Asia.
It’s a lake, not a sea, because it is completely surrounded by land.
The Caspian is about 750 miles long (1,210 km) and 300 miles (483 km) wide at its widest point.
The Caspian contains salt water, not freshwater.
The water is salty because the lake is losing more water through evaporation than it receives from the streams that flow into it.
When freshwater evaporates, salt sediments are left behind.
The Caspian is growing smaller every year. Its northwestern shore is the lowest point in Europe, at 92 feet (28 m) below sea level.
Europe’s largest freshwater lake is Ladoga, in northwestern Russia.
Finland has the most lakes of any country in Europe, about 60,000.
