Wanderlust World Wanderlust World True "seas" entirely enclosed by land are rare. The two most prominent examples are:
The world's largest inland body of water, bordered by Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Iran. Despite its name, it's a saline lake with no natural outlet to the ocean. Its level fluctuates independently of global sea level.
Once the fourth-largest lake, the Aral Sea (shared by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan) has shrunk catastrophically due to river diversion for irrigation. It's now a fraction of its former size, split into hypersaline remnants—a stark lesson in water mismanagement.
Both are endorheic basins: water leaves only through evaporation, concentrating salts and making them sensitive to climate and human use.