h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Doesn't Uzbekistan have a border with Turkmenistan, on the Caspian Sea?

Not to mention its very own shore on the Aral Sea.

Both the Aral Sea and Caspian Sea are lakes. And the Aral probably won't be around for much longer - the conservation efforts don't seem to be working.

What makes them lakes instead of seas, is it only a matter of size?

They don't have a direct connection to an ocean. That's the definition of a lake.

Sorry, I should probably clarify that.

A body of water is a lake if it doesn't connect to either an ocean directly or another sea. Seas can be connected by straits but not rivers.

Lake Superior has a connection all the way through to the Atlantic - Thunder Bay in Wisconsin is the most inland port that can be reached by ocean-going vessels - but it is connected by rivers. The Sea of Azov in the Ukraine, which has the sea port furthest from any ocean, Taganrog, is connected to the Black Sea through the Straits of Kerch, which is linked to the Med by the Bosphorous and the Dardenelles (both straits) and to the Atlantic through the Straits of Gibraltar.

Ah, I thought it involved something subtle about what was or wasn't present in the water. I'm glad it's easy then. Thanks

So it is still a bit subtle.

According to Chambers (and w*nkipedia), a Sea can also denote a large inland saltwater lake, which goes to explain why the Caspian sea is called a sea and not a Lake. This doesn't prevent countries bordering it to be landlocked, but then I feel that by the same token, Ontario on the Lake Superior shouldn't be considered as landlocked.

Ontario actually has waterfrontage on four on four of the five great lakes.

~jwf~

As does Michigan.

It's actually debatable whether there are five Great Lakes or four: Michigan and Huron could be seen as the the same lake with just a narrow strait between the two lobes.

There's no difference in the elevation between them or water level and water mixes freely between the two. Hydrologically, it's one lake, which'd make Ontario the only province or state to border all the Great Lakes.

were the points posted for this one???

They vanished into the aether...

I'm so sorry folks

SWL 3pnts

Honest Iago 3 Pnts

MMF -5

McKay ~

What year should I put these onto ?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/F3555392?thread=7188269 will do nicely