The upper house of the Kazakh parliament ratified a series of border agreements with its Central Asian neighbors Thursday, putting to rest one of the contentious issues left unresolved by the Soviet collapse. Also Thursday, lawmakers ratified an agreement with Azerbaijan over division of the Caspian Sea, debates over which have prevented tapping the vast oil resources lying beneath its waters. Kazakhstan\'s agreements with southern neighbors Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were first signed between the governments over the last decade. With Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan has agreed to the borders laid out in 1932 under Soviet leader Josef Stalin\'s regime. The agreement with Kyrgyzstan resolves frontiers running atop the Tien Shan mountain range, including at the Khan Tengri peak that reaches 6,995 meters and also intersects with China. The agreement with Uzbekistan clarifies a range of border crossings and settlements. The borders of the countries of Central Asia, snaking across mountains, seas and deserts, were loosely defined and rarely marked in Soviet times when residents could travel freely between the republics. With independence in 1991, the countries have increasingly sought to establish their sovereignty and strictly define and mark their borders. Stalin ordered the creation of the republics of Central Asia - once a region known as Turkestan - in the 1920s along rough ethnic divisions. But the borders have caused increasing difficulty for residents today as they now must cross international frontiers to do business, or visit family or friends. Uzbekistan mined its borders to stop incursions of Islamic militants, leading to more than 40 civilian deaths. Kazakhstan\'s borders total some 14,000 kilometers, the longest frontier of which is with its northern neighbor Russia - more than half the country\'s perimeter. Agreements between Kazakhstan and Russia on their shared border are set to be discussed next year. Another contentious issue between former Soviet republics has been the division of the Caspian Sea. The Kazakh upper house also Thursday ratified an agreement with Azerbaijan over their claims to the Caspian. Kazakhstan has also agreed with Russia on division of the sea, but an agreement between all littoral states - which also include Iran and Turkmenistan - has so far eluded negotiators. (AP)