Caspian Sea the east often changed course to empty into the Caspian through a now-desiccated riverbed called the Uzboy River, as did the Syr Darya farther north. The Caspian also has several small islands; they are primarily located in the north and have a collective land area of roughly . Adjacent to the North Caspian is the Caspian Depression, a low-lying region below sea level. The Central Asian steppes stretch across the northeast coast, while the Caucasus mountains hug the western shore. The biomes to both the north and east are characterized by cold, continental deserts. Conversely, the climate to the southwest
Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea was adopted in Aktau, Kazakhstan on August 12, 2011. The Protocol for the Protection of the Caspian Sea against Pollution from Land-based Sources and Activities was signed in Moscow, Russian Federation, on December 12, 2012 at the 4th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Tehran Convention. Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea is a regional convention signed by the official representatives of the five littoral Caspian states: Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation and Turkmenistan in Tehran (Iran)