The Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea was signed in Aktau, Kazakhstan, on 12 August 2018 by the presidents of Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran,Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
History
The disputes began in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Until then, both the Soviet Union and Iran respected mutual 1921 and 1940 treaties. However, according to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, signing a new treaty was neccesary. Due to the presence of numerous oil fields on the seabed of the Caspian Sea the question of legal status was very important; some countries even tried to develop fields in disputed regions, almost causing military incidents.
Geopolitics
The first, and main question is and was that is the Caspian Sea a sea? Iran argued that it is actually a lake not a sea. The reason why this question is very important is, that if the Caspian Sea is treated as a lake, than it has to be divided equally between the countries that border it, however, if it is treated as a sea, than according to the United Nations' Law of The Sea the central parts of the sea should be treated as International Waters.
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