The Emba River in west Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

 rises in the Mugodzhar Hills

Mugodzhar Hills

Mugodzhar Hills is a series of mountain ranges in Northwestern Kazakhstan 275 miles long. Latitude : 48° 38' 38 N Longitude : 58° 32' 47 E...

 and flows some 400 miles (640 km) southwest into the Caspian Sea

Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...

. It flows through the north of the Ust-Urt plateau, and reaches the Caspian by a series of shallow lagoon

Lagoon

A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...

s, which were navigable in the 18th century. The lower course traverses an area of salt domes and the petroleum-rich Emba fields. It is considered by some experts as a boundary between Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 and Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and was first proposed as such by Philip Johan von Strahlenberg

Philip Johan von Strahlenberg

Philip Johan von Strahlenberg was a Swedish officer and geographer of German origin who made important contributions to the cartography of Russia. Strahlenberg was born in Stralsund, which then belonged to Sweden, and his original name was Philip Johan Tabbert. He joined the Swedish army in 1694...

.

See also

• Embi town