Emba River

The Emba in west Kazakhstan rises in the Mugodzhar Hills and flows across the Sub-Ural Plateau and Caspian Depression into the Caspian Sea. It is 712 kilometres (442 mi) long, and has a drainage basin of 40,400 square kilometres (15,600 sq mi). It flows through the north of the Ust-Urt plateau, and reaches the Caspian by a series of shallow lagoons, which were navigable in the 18th century. The lower course traverses an area of salt domes and the petroleum-rich Emba fields. It is sometimes regarded as a definition for the natural boundary between Europe and Asia.