Phil Hosking, age 12, of Dothan, Ala., for his question:

WHERE IS THE LARGEST INLAND BODY OF WATER?

Largest inland body of water in the world is the Caspian Sea, a great salt lake below sea level which lies between Europe and Asia east of the Caucasus Mountains.

Russia surrounds the Caspian Sea on three sides and Iran lies against its southern shore.

The Caspian Sea is a huge body of water. It covers 143,630 square miles, an area that is almost the size of the state of California.

It is about 750 miles long and varies from 130 to 300 miles in width.

During the past centuries, the Caspian Sea has been shrinking in size because the rivers that empty into it bring it less water than it loses by evaporation. Also, large irrigation projects built by Russia in the Caspian Basin drain off much water from .these rivers.

The most important rivers that empty into the Caspian Sea include the Volga, Ural, Terek and Kura.